I. Visual Representation and the Contemporary World: The image is the privileged “sign” of contemporary culture
    A. An old view of representation:
        1. To present an image
            a) re-present a meaning that
            b) is already there
        2. Standing in for and/or taking the place of
            a) for example, political or social leaders
        3. Representation is the way in which meaning is given to the things depicted
        4. Gap in representation: the difference between “true meaning” and how it is presented in media
    B. A new view: Representation as constitutive
        1. Events in the world do not have one, essential, fixed or true meaning against which distortion can be measured
        2. Things are happening in the world but the meaning of those events depends upon how they are represented
            a) Therefore, whomever controls the means of representation determine the meaning
            b) Until the event/thing is represented it has no “meaning”
            c) Therefore representation is constitutive of the event.  Reality does not exist outside the process of representation.
        3. Culture as primary
            a) Culture is the way we make sense, give meaning to the world
            b) Shared culture allows us to interact
                (1) We use “maps of meaning” or frameworks of intelligibility
    C. Conceptual Maps
        1. Classifying the world
            a) A principal way we give meaning and order to our lives
            b) The capacity to classify is a basic genetic feature of human beings
            c) The particular system of classification used in a society is learned
            d) Culture is a system of classification
        2. Language and communication
            a) In order for one person to know that s/he shares a culture is to communicate that to another via language
            b) Language externalizes, gives “sign” to, the meanings that we are making of the world
        3. Reality and discourse
            a) Not just language and meaning
            b) FALSE: “Nothing exists outside of discourse”
            c) TRUE: “Nothing meaningful exists outside of discourse”
            d) For example, a football has meaning only in the context of the discourse which determines its function and use
            e) Without language meaning could not be exchanged
        4. The practice of signification
            a) The practices that produce meaning
            b) The media are not the only means by which meanings are exchanged
                (1) Ordinary conversation and dialogue
            c) The question of who controls this production of meaning leads to considerations of power
        5. Meaning and absence
            a) What is the meaning of the image in Linford Christie photo?
            b) This meaning has to do with what you expected to find (image of British citizen)—which is nowhere visible in
                the image—contrasted with what actually is in the image
            c) Absence signifies as much as what is present
            d) Every image we see is being read against what isn’t there
        6. Identity, Identification and the Viewer
            a) Every image makes an identity claim (e.g., advertisements)
            b) We seek to identify with the image
            c) Advertising tries to construction a position of identification for the viewer in relation to what is depicted in the image
            d) The viewer is implicated in the production of meaning
            e) The meaning depends on that engagement between the image and the viewer
            f) If we are barraged with images, we care not about their number but rather the fact that we become engaged in them
            and identify with them
        7. Meaning is interpretation
            a) Images have no fixed meaning
            b) They have a wide range of varying images
            c) Making meaning is always a process of interpreting what is represented
            d) Interpretation is dependent on historical and cultural context
        8. Ideology and Power Fixes Meaning
            a) Meaning must be fixed but it is not constantly fixed
            b) Power and ideology attempt to fix the meaning of images and language
            c) Because the fixing of meaning cannot be guaranteed, it can be unfixed—it can “loosen and fray”
            d) The relative openness of meaning makes change possible
            e) Meaning can only be changed because it cannot be finally fixed
            f) The attempt to fix the meaning is when power and ideology enter in
II. Contesting Stereotypes: Positive Images
    A. Stereotyping fixes the meanings that are given to groups
        1. The limited images of black men affect how the society perceives black men in the “real world”
        2. Images produce knowledge about the world
        3. Contesting stereotypes means increasing the diversity of images in the media
        4. Diversity opens up new possibilities of identity
        5. This is the politics of image
III. Contesting Stereotypes: Taking Images Apart
    A. Closure in representation
        1. It naturalizes the meaning of images
        2. It hides the process of representation
    B. Opening up the practice of representation poses questions:
        1. Where do images come from?
        2. Who produces images?
        3. How is meaning closed down in representation?
        4. Who is silenced in the production of images?
    C. Interrogating stereotypes makes them uninhabitable
        1. It destroys their naturalness and normality
IV. What is at stake in representation?
    A. New knowledges
    B. New Identities
    C. New Meanings