Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook
Drawing upon Gunther Kress' and Theo van Leeuwen's work on the meta functional grammar of visual design, this paper studies how visual se-lections in an Atlantic Canadian social studies textbook deflect attention from the political, particularly in sections narrating contentious events. Lo...
Published in: | Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie |
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Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing
2002
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:737641ca5ef64fcea8a74eb306a7a7bf 2023-05-15T17:22:19+02:00 Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook Tracy Whalen 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/737641ca5ef64fcea8a74eb306a7a7bf EN FR eng fre Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing https://journals.sfu.ca/dwr/index.php/dwr/article/view/485 https://doaj.org/toc/2563-7320 doi.org/10.31468/cjsdwr.485 2563-7320 https://doaj.org/article/737641ca5ef64fcea8a74eb306a7a7bf Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, Vol 17, Iss 2, Pp 5-30 (2002) Discourse analysis P302-302.87 article 2002 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.31468/cjsdwr.485 2022-12-31T03:31:32Z Drawing upon Gunther Kress' and Theo van Leeuwen's work on the meta functional grammar of visual design, this paper studies how visual se-lections in an Atlantic Canadian social studies textbook deflect attention from the political, particularly in sections narrating contentious events. Looking closely at one section from the book, '~ Focus On Fine Art," this discussion first examines visual realizations in the interpersonal metafunction (specifi-cally modality choices) and how low-modality, artistic renderings of conflict effectively make it a site of speculation rather than engagement. It then analy-ses the ideational work of the visuals and suggests that conceptual (and not narrative) representations invite a generic rather than specific understand-ing of, in this case, forced relocation in Newfoundland. Finally, the paper studies the organizational choices of visuals in the book and, focussing on the before and after picture, proposes a new visual phenomenon-the visual ergative-for understanding how visual selections can sidestep important questions of agency and power. The paper ends by situating visual analysis within a larger project of critical literacy and everyday practice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie 17 2 30 May |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English French |
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Discourse analysis P302-302.87 |
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Discourse analysis P302-302.87 Tracy Whalen Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
topic_facet |
Discourse analysis P302-302.87 |
description |
Drawing upon Gunther Kress' and Theo van Leeuwen's work on the meta functional grammar of visual design, this paper studies how visual se-lections in an Atlantic Canadian social studies textbook deflect attention from the political, particularly in sections narrating contentious events. Looking closely at one section from the book, '~ Focus On Fine Art," this discussion first examines visual realizations in the interpersonal metafunction (specifi-cally modality choices) and how low-modality, artistic renderings of conflict effectively make it a site of speculation rather than engagement. It then analy-ses the ideational work of the visuals and suggests that conceptual (and not narrative) representations invite a generic rather than specific understand-ing of, in this case, forced relocation in Newfoundland. Finally, the paper studies the organizational choices of visuals in the book and, focussing on the before and after picture, proposes a new visual phenomenon-the visual ergative-for understanding how visual selections can sidestep important questions of agency and power. The paper ends by situating visual analysis within a larger project of critical literacy and everyday practice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tracy Whalen |
author_facet |
Tracy Whalen |
author_sort |
Tracy Whalen |
title |
Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
title_short |
Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
title_full |
Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
title_fullStr |
Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
title_full_unstemmed |
Defusing Controversial Topics: Visual Semiotics in an Atlantic Canadian Textbook |
title_sort |
defusing controversial topics: visual semiotics in an atlantic canadian textbook |
publisher |
Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/737641ca5ef64fcea8a74eb306a7a7bf |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, Vol 17, Iss 2, Pp 5-30 (2002) |
op_relation |
https://journals.sfu.ca/dwr/index.php/dwr/article/view/485 https://doaj.org/toc/2563-7320 doi.org/10.31468/cjsdwr.485 2563-7320 https://doaj.org/article/737641ca5ef64fcea8a74eb306a7a7bf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.31468/cjsdwr.485 |
container_title |
Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
30 |
op_container_end_page |
May |
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1766108890247725056 |