Absence in Visual Narratives: The Story of Iran and Pakistan across Time

Durrani, S

Absence in Visual Narratives: The Story of Iran and Pakistan across Time

Durrani, S

Permalink

Publisher:: Springer
Publication Type:: Chapter
Citation:: Exploring Silence and Absence in Discourse Empirical Approaches, 2018, pp. 65-93
Issue Date:: 2018-12-18

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	19992028_9710852610005671.pdf	Published version	382.01 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Durrani, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8740-8388
dc.contributor.editor	Schroeter, M
dc.date.accessioned	2022-12-12T23:21:21Z
dc.date.available	2022-12-12T23:21:21Z
dc.date.issued	2018-12-18
dc.identifier.citation	Exploring Silence and Absence in Discourse Empirical Approaches, 2018, pp. 65-93
dc.identifier.isbn	3319645803
dc.identifier.isbn	9783319645803
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164324
dc.description.abstract	The stories we tell about places and people are structured not just by what is said, but also by what is not said. This narrative strategy acquires great significance when applied to the stories of nations, as told in the prestigious outlets of the global news media, e.g. Time magazine. How a country is portrayed in news narratives influences how it is perceived, and thus treated, by the international community. Applied to two geopolitically significant nations viewed as ‘problem cases’ in the international press, Iran and Pakistan, this chapter examines the stories told through photojournalism in the pages of Time, over the course of 30 years (1981–2010). In doing so, it departs from two key trends in relevant existing research. This study moves beyond the tendency to study visuals within a synchronic context, and it diverges from the trend of examining national images within textual news coverage only. It suggests, therefore, the need for a paradigm shift within Semiotics, and calls for an expansion of research on national images to the realm of visual analysis. With the help of a triangulated methodology that draws on both quantitative and qualitative techniques—content, semiotic and narrative analysis—this study traces the construction of the visual narratives of these two countries. The significance of the data trends is viewed through the lens of a syncretic theoretical framework that draws on the work of van Leeuwen, Homi Bhabha, and Judith Butler. Visual analyses are interpreted using their notions of power, identity, and representation. In this way, the chapter interrogates the workings of the visual lens through which the stories of Iran and Pakistan are told and understood in modern media narratives.
dc.format.extent	13
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Springer
dc.relation.ispartof	Exploring Silence and Absence in Discourse Empirical Approaches
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/978-3-319-64580-3_3
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.title	Absence in Visual Narratives: The Story of Iran and Pakistan across Time
dc.type	Chapter
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Public Communication Program
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2022-12-12T23:21:18Z
pubs.place-of-publication	Switxerland
pubs.publication-status	Published
dc.location	Switxerland

Abstract:

The stories we tell about places and people are structured not just by what is said, but also by what is not said. This narrative strategy acquires great significance when applied to the stories of nations, as told in the prestigious outlets of the global news media, e.g. Time magazine. How a country is portrayed in news narratives influences how it is perceived, and thus treated, by the international community. Applied to two geopolitically significant nations viewed as ‘problem cases’ in the international press, Iran and Pakistan, this chapter examines the stories told through photojournalism in the pages of Time, over the course of 30 years (1981–2010). In doing so, it departs from two key trends in relevant existing research. This study moves beyond the tendency to study visuals within a synchronic context, and it diverges from the trend of examining national images within textual news coverage only. It suggests, therefore, the need for a paradigm shift within Semiotics, and calls for an expansion of research on national images to the realm of visual analysis. With the help of a triangulated methodology that draws on both quantitative and qualitative techniques—content, semiotic and narrative analysis—this study traces the construction of the visual narratives of these two countries. The significance of the data trends is viewed through the lens of a syncretic theoretical framework that draws on the work of van Leeuwen, Homi Bhabha, and Judith Butler. Visual analyses are interpreted using their notions of power, identity, and representation. In this way, the chapter interrogates the workings of the visual lens through which the stories of Iran and Pakistan are told and understood in modern media narratives.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164324