해당사항없음

해당사항없음

The purpose of this study is to explore the representational conventions of television history documentaries in different countries. Since television history documentary performs a ritual function to integrate the divided individual experience into th ...

The purpose of this study is to explore the representational conventions of television history documentaries in different countries. Since television history documentary performs a ritual function to integrate the divided individual experience into the collective one and to form social consensus on national identity, it is very important to examine the ways in which documentaries construct their own nations' history. This study attempts to try to find how narrative strategies and representational devices differ by countries. This study especially concerns the role of 'mythological narrative' of television documentaries' which reassures the existing social value and orderings.
This study examines television documentaries dealing with the nation's history of the twentieth century in four countries - Korea, the United State, France, and Japan - broadcast since 1995. By employing the quantitative and qualitative methods, this study closely analyzes formal elements, narratives, representational codes of the selected one episode. The analysis distinguishes the 'realistic' and 'expressionistic' representational conventions. The realist convention means the representational device emphasizing the correspondence between authentic images and real, concrete events. On the other hand, the expressionist convention, along with the use of asynchronous audio track and distortion of time and space, emphasizes the artificially created symbolic world.
The findings illustrate the different narratives and representational convention employed by four countries' documentaries. Each documentary defines the nation's 20th century within the different narrative framework, upholding certain social values such as 'democratization', 'frontierism', 'internationalism' and 'liberty, equity, fraternity'. This narrative is supported by the representational codes and conventions. In sum, each documentary constructs the past privileging a mainstream version of national identity. Despite differences in their narratives, it is noticeable there is a tendency towards a more symbolic, expressionistic convention of history representation.
The results of the study are discussed in relation to cultural, political impact of the 'mythic' version of history and the 'expressionistic' representation of history. The mythic mode of representation serves specific political needs for social control. The prevalent use of expressionistic devices in television documentary also has an ideological implication. History may become images and spectacles, which are divorce from real life and their real needs. It suggests a need for more comprehensive research on visual representation of history and the political impact of cultural popular memories.