Name: Annika Diane Wium
Student number: g17W6920
Year of study: 2021
Course: JMS4 Thinking Tools and Frameworks: Representation and Identity
Lecturer: Nyx Mclean
Assignment: Creative Output And Reflexive Essay
Word count: 1134 words
Due date: 29 May 2021
Declaration of Plagiarism Conduct:
“I hereby declare that this essay is my own work. I have acknowledged all other authors’ ideas and referenced direct quotations from their work. I have not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work.”
CREATIVE OUTPUT
REAL DRIVEN BY NIKKA GRACE
I am driven
My mission,
Find me in my ambition,
I communicate with others
My life experiences I share
To empower and inspire
Passionate, I care
Be it audio, or visual,
Written or art,
Music and lyrics,
I will always heart
Integrity,
Honesty,
Responsibility,
Ethicality,
Human Rights Activism,
Amongst many other values I know,
In this industry I aim to grow,
To tell my story
And that of others,
Is an important responsibility,
One of the upmost to uphold,
To go into the world,
Everyday,
Motivated and bold,
These stories hold power,
They are more than just words,
This is why we have to make sure that they are heard,
To uplift and transform,
In the material I create,
To love and empower,
And never to berate,
To turn language into beauty,
And poetry into time,
At the end of the day,
I want to be proud of the work,
They call,
Mine
Encouragement amongst those
Disempowered, hurt and needing an outlet to vent,
My media umbrella of values and skills acts as a tent,
For those to come,
And lighten their load,
And save themselves from further trauma down the road,
Sharing is cathartic,
Writing, even more,
That is why it’s important
To always have your door,
Open
And
More doors will be opened for you
Listen
And your story will be heard too
Write for those who have no voice,
Fight for those who have no choice,
Spread love, not hate,
If you don’t like your destiny,
Don’t/change accept your fate,
And last but not least,
One final most important truth that will never cease,
I will never ever my feelings or life conceal,
My life motto,
Raw,
Revealed,
And,
Real
[288 words]
REFLEXIVE ESSAY
In this essay I will reflect critically on my creative output discussing the reason for my choice in output and how it is representative of my identity.
I chose to present my creative output in written form because I believe in the power of language. I specifically chose to write a poem rather than prose. I feel I resonate with poetry more. I believe I have good linguistic skills and am able to express myself through writing. Writing poetry and lyrics is as an effective way of expressing myself, my thoughts and conveying a message to my audience.
Hall argues that “Our shared conceptual map must be translated into a common language, so that we can correlate our concepts and ideas with certain written words, spoken sounds or visual images” (Hall, p.4)
Representation, identity, language and power are all inextricably linked. It is difficult to view or discuss them as separate entities. The media has a role to play in each of these concepts.
Hall states that “Representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either the ‘real’ world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events” (Hall, p.3)
Representation is how we identify ourselves. We all have different perspectives which help inform others of who we are as people and how we view the world. Representation is important as it helps us to understand the world in which we live. Representation is extremely important in media production because minorities or marginalised communities are given the opportunity to be heard by society.
“In our consumption-oriented, mediated society, much of what comes to pass as important is based often on the stories produced and disseminated by media institutions. Much of what audiences know and care about is based on the images, symbols, and narratives in radio, television, film, music, and other media. How individuals construct their social identities, how they come to understand what it means to be male, female, black, white, Asian, Latino, Native American—even rural or urban—is shaped by commodified texts produced by media for audiences that are increasingly segmented by the social constructions of race and gender. Media, in short, are central to what ultimately come to represent our social realities.” (Brooks and Hebert p.297)
“Because we interpret the world in roughly similar ways, we are able to build up a shared culture of meanings and thus construct a social world which we inhabit together. (Du Gay et al., 1997)” (Hall, p.4)
“It is social actors who use the conceptual systems of their culture and the linguistic and other representational systems to construct meaning, to make the world meaningful and to communicate about that world meaningfully to others” (Hall, p.11)
Media practitioners have the power to influence the content that is communicated or mediated, such as the language used, images and graphics, and whose story is being told and represented, and in what manner.
“Media provide…people with symbolic resources for constructing or expressing their own identities” (Buckingham 2008: 5)
According to Wodak, “Language is integral to identity construction because we use language to convey ideas about ourselves and about others.” (Wodak p.216)
“To belong to a culture is to belong to roughly the same conceptual and linguistic universe, to know how concepts and ideas translate into different languages, and how language can be interpreted to refer to or reference the world. To share these things is to see the world from within the same conceptual map and to make sense of it through the same language systems” (Hall, p.8)
Identity is constructed through representation and language. The media enables us to create and construct our own identities and the identities of others.
Hall (1996) reinforces this when he suggests that identity is never complete but is defined, inscribed and accessible in language (quote).
Identity creation is linked to power and marginality. Kay 2005 states that dominant groups have the power to define and the ability to subordinate alternative identities, values and perceptions of either past or present realities. (Kay 2005: 2) Annemarie van Niekerk (1998) states that systems of dominance inscribe themselves primarily though language. In South Africa, Gqola argues that apartheid language continues to determine the manner in which we speak against its discursive construction.
According to Kadaalie, systems of power are constructed, resisted, subverted and mediated in and through linguistic agency (Kadalie 1995, Mbembe 2000, Wicomb 1998).” (Gqola 2001: 95)
Media practitioners have the responsibility to ensure marginalised groups are given a voice, the opportunity to represent themselves.
“Marginalised people often use identities, both individually and collectively as a means of challenging normative assumptions and prescriptive values.” (Kay; 2005; 2)
Striking the balance in power relations is a delicate matter. If the dominant group feels its power is threatened, it may isolate or marginalise the marginalised even further.
Media is capable of shaping our lives. It not only informs but it influences us and society and has untapped power.
[1134 words]
REFERENCING/SOURCE LIST:
Mclean, N., 2021. 20210406 TTF Representation and identity lecture one slides.
Mclean, N., 2021. 20210412 TTF Representation and identity lecture two slides.
Mclean, N., 2021. 20210419 TFF Representation and identity lecture three slides.
Mclean, N., 2021. 20210503 TFF Representation and identity lecture four slides.
Mclean, N., 2021. 20210510 TFF Representation and identity lecture five slides.
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