Week 7 - Why is narrative important?

"Narrative starts with the very story of mankind. There is not, there has never been anywhere any people without narrative; all classes of human groups have their stories.. Like life itself, it is there, international, transhistorical, transcultural" (Barthes, 1975).

A narrative is basically story-telling. In a narrative there has to be the story itself and the discourse. The story is the content of what is being told which originally exists as an idea thus it needs discourse, which is the arrangement of how the idea is structured to tell the story. A narrative discourse is an account of events that applies verbs of speech, motion and action to describe a series of events that are dependent on one another thus the discourse is concerned with how the narrative is being presented.


Genre is a part of discourse. The narrative, that is the content, for both film and book can be the same but due to the fact that they are in two different mediums, it changes the way the story is being told for example in books there are no complete visual aids as opposed to films. Hence, readers will have to personally interpret certain actions and events. As a result, it changes the affectiveness of the story on the audience.

against

Some say the book is better, some say otherwise. Why?

Narratives are important because in any medium or genre, they are ways to constructing and representing lived experience (Huisman, 2005). In order for a visual image to be successfully shaped, narratives allow the producer to express their points of view (from their perspective) in a way to ensure the audience will understand and react according to their expectancy.

Mieke Bal wrote her book "Narratology: Introduction to the theory of narrative": narrative has 3 parts; fabula, plot and text. 

• The fabula refers to the what and why of the story. 
• The plot is developed based on selection of fabula to form a constant and comprehensible whole. 
• The text is no other than the representation of details through a series of language signs by a proxy.

Greek philosopher Aristotle decribed in his "Poetics" a set of guidelines to style an 'ideal narrative'. The plot must be a "whole" with a beginning, middle and end.


This short movie below demonstrates Aristotle's narrative theory as it comprises of a beginning, middle and end.

"Heavenly Appeals" by David Lisbe (Youtube)

Narrative in media is separated in 2 different types of theory; structuralist and post-structuralist. The Aristotlian narrative structure is structuralist. It follows the conventions of the chronological sequence of the events which includes the subject, the framework and discourse and temporality and focalization. (Huisman, 2005). It focuses on linguistic structures that make the story as it is. The post-structuralist however relates to the study of the actual story; what the information is and what is being presented. 

"Tick-Tock" by Ien Chi (Youtube)

"Tick-Tock" is an example of a post-structuralist narrative short film. It does not follow Aristotle's narrative structure but it has fabula, plot and text. Also, it emphasizes the information conveyed. It enables viewers to interpret their own conclusion and create their own ideas about the content presented.

As we can see from below, this holiday advert has narrative and follows the narrative structure.

Without narrative or these set of guidelines, advertisers would not be able to promote their product successful and the audience will not be able to understand or receive the message as what was intended by the advertisers.

This advertisement below is considered a post-structuralist or post-modern advertisement because it is modern in the sense of having no big title of the product presented along with price, company, location and etc. Thus it is not in the norm. Alternatively, it just shows the audience the benefit of buying this particular product. Narrative is important in advertisement because it helps advertisers to come up with ideas on how to create better adverts to persuade potential buyers.

Pilot advertisement

 As Barthes says "narrative start with the very story of mankind," it shows us how narratives has always been and will always be an important part of our lives. It allows us to understand and be understood.

References:

Huisman, R. (2005). Narrative concepts. In Fulton, H., Huisman, R., Murphet, J. and Dunn. (eds.), Narrative and Media (pp. 11-27). Cambridge: Cambridge Universty Press.

Lamarque, P. (1994). Narrative an invention: The limits of fictionality. In Nash. C. (ed.), Narrative in culture (pp. 131-132). New York and London: Routledge.

Week 6 - Rhetoric in Advertising

As studied by scholars, rhetoric concerns with how things are being said rather than what are being said. The style of presentation is more focused on than the content (McQuarrie and Phillips, 2007).

While rhetorics are traditionally verbal and written, we can easily spot them in films, comics, images and  advertising which uses both images and words.

I have selected an advertisement by CORDAID which is a dutch development agency with aims to fight poverty and abolish inequality. The picture presents a person posing with a handbag. The person is possibly from Africa because of the background resembling features of african landscape. There is also words found near the handbag saying 'HANDBAG € 32.-' and 'Food for a week €4.-' Based on the information given, we can tell that the argument is that donating food to Africa which could lasts them for a week is cheaper than buying a handbag. The explanation of how we can come up with that lies in the words found on the advertisement which acts as an anchor. Although it does not directly states that donating food is cheaper or handbag is expensive, it does create a contrast between these two elements due to the involvement numbers (price). 

 

This is what Aristotle's logic is all about. According to him, the persuasive strategy of rhetoric is called enthymemes which are incomplete forms of syllogism that is a deceptive form of argument. 

A syllogism is described as "a particular kind of argument containing three categorical propositions, two of them premises, one a conclusion." (Kahane, 1990). For example:

A is based on B

B is based on C

Then, as a conclusion C is based on A

Aristotle commented that there are two types of syllogisms, perfect and imperfect. A rhetoric is the imperfect syllogism because it does not gives the reader an exact equation for them to come up with an perfect conclusion, thus creating argument. In the case of the above advertisement:

A handbag costs €32

Food for a week costs €4

Thus:

Is food cheaper than the cost of the handbag? (argument)

Is handbag more expensive than food? (argument)

Moreover, the images come into play. Since it is based in Africa where poverty strives, the reader may conclude that they should donate food rather than buy an expensive handbag. 

Advertising companies purposely leave a proposition unstated which is very important to the logic. This draws the audience to participate in its own persuasion by filling in the unexpressed premise (Blair, 2004). This is very effective because by using rhetorics, audience will think for themselves (argue) and feel that they are the ones making a decision and not pressure by the advertisers. However, CORDAID ensures their audiences thinking by stating a brief information on how to donate and lastly gives another rhetorical text 'People In Need' on the bottom. This technique is how advertisers persuade their audience.

This concept of personal relevance is a psychological context (McQuarrie and Phillips, 2007). Advertisers give a proposition which is relevant to the audience (handbag and food) thus acquiring their attention because the audience feel a connection between them and the advertisers.

References:

Blair, J. A. (2004). The rhetoric of visual arguments. In Hill, C.A, and Helmers, M. H. (eds). Defining visual rhetorics (pp. 41-61). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbau, Associaties.

McQuarrie, E. F. and Phillips, B. J. (eds) (2007). Advertising rhetoric: An introduction. Go figure! New dimensions in advertising rhetoric (pp. 3-18). New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

Kahane, H. (1990). Logic and Philosophy: A Modern Introduction (pp. 270). Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Wiener, J. (1995). Aristotle's Syllogism: Logic Takes Form. Retrieved 11th September 2012 from http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/GreekScience/Students/Jordana/LOGIC.html

Gestalt Effect and Schema Theory

 Everyday we experience the life through our five senses; touch, hearing sight, taste and smell. 

The hardness of a rock, the sound of chirping, the sight of the blue ocean, the sweetness of an apple and the aroma of coffee are all example visual sensations that trigger nerve cells inside our sense organs. From there, signals are then passed towards the brain allowing us to make sense of them all. These kinds of sensations are all combined to create perceptions and that is how we understand the world as we know it. 

The idea of the Gestalt effect was brought forth by psychologist Max Wertheimer which specifically refers to the visual sensations and perceptions. He is the man behind this important statement: "The whole is different from the sum of its parts." Wertheimer created five principles regarding the Gestalt effect called The Principles of Perpetual Organization.

Proximity:

When elements are sited close together, we tend to perceived them as a group.

Even though each object differ in size, shape, colour and etc, they will still be seen as a group due to their proximity to one another.

                                                    

Objects that are grouped together can create illusion of familiar shapes, even without the objects touching.

 

Different shapes assorted together to form the letter U.

The illusion of a flower created by different shapes and colours.

Similarity:

We often notice objects that are alike to one another. In fact, we find pleasure in similarity especially as a mind-exercising game.

An example of a "Spot The Difference" game.

Is the dissimilar arrangement of the tiles bothering you?

So due to our quirk, we tend to group objects that are equivalent in size, shape, colour and etc. 

Most people can see a triangle made out of 9 circles and a square made out of 33 squares.

(I can't help but feel that you will recount the number of squares, please do.)

We see columns of squares and circles rather than rows of square-circles because of their similarity in shape.

Common Fate:

This law refers to the theory that we see visual directions in text cognitively. 

A viewer mentally groups five arrows or five raised hands pointing to the ky because they all point in the same direction. An arrow or a hand pointed in opposite direction will create tension, because the viewer will not see it as part of the upwardly directed whole. (Lester, 2006). 

We can see where the cats are going.

Pragnanz (Figure/Ground):

The principle demonstrates our natural likelihood in distinguishing some figures from others in a whole text based on different features like colour, shape, size and form. The figure is the main text while the ground is the background.

Like the pun? There is an obvious difference between the "woman" and the "baby".

This picture can be of two individuals facing one another or a chalice or both.

When one or more things are the figure, the rest will be the ground. Hence it can change according the viewer's perception of which is the figure.

Closure:

As what the title says, we tend to 'close' up images even with missing objects. Our mind creates logic by thinking that the missing objects or gaps are part of the text itself hence creating a different whole.

We can see a rectangle, a circle and a triangle even without the lines touching.

You are being watched. Our brain creates logic by ensuring to us that this is an eye. However, the image is made of a circle and two crescents.

The Schema theory

Why do people view things as they do? Why isn't all text similar to what you and the rest of the world know?

Marvin Minsky (1927-Present) has said that when an individual encounters a new setting, he or she will select the closest possible memory called a Frame that relates to the foreign object. 

We see things based on how we organize everything in our lives, for example people, settings, objects, animals, languages, systems and skills. This is all built by our personal experiences hence each schema will differ from one another.

This can be exemplified as me knowing more about my Kampong Pasai because I grew up there hence I have a more detailed schema of Kampong Pasai as opposed to those living further like Kampong Mentiri.

The Top-Frame and Lower-Frame

The Top-Frame of the text is always the ones that are true and the Lower-Frame contain many details or slots that can be modified.

The Top-Frame of a car are the tires, the windows, the doors and the spotlights.

The Lower-Frame are the colour, the design, what is it made of and so on.

Schema Congruity and Incongruity in advertisements

Congruity in an advert means that it is acceptable, friendly, familiar and has a lower congruity process.

As you might have guessed, incongruent adverts are strange, often controversial and acquires a higher congruity process.

References:

Spoken Falls Community College (n.d.). The Gestalt Principles. Retrieved September 15th, 2012 at http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm

Desktop Publishing (n.d.). Gestalt Principles. Retrieved September 15th, 2012 at http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/gestalt_principles.htm

Lester, P.M. (1995). The sensual and perceptual theories of visual communication. Visual communication: Images with messages (pp.52-58). California: Wadsworth Publishing.

Semiotics elaborated

A language theory as "a naming-process only--a list of words, each corresponding to the thing that it names" was discarded by Ferdinand De Saussure (1916).

According to him, such a theory:

 Assumes that ready-made ideas exist before words; it does not tell us whether a name is vocal or psychological in nature . . . finally it lets us assume that the linking of a name and a thing is a very simple operation.

Saussure continues to explain that:

The linguistic unit is a double entity, one formed by the associating of two terms.

These two terms are known as the signifier, the sound-image or representation of the particular text, for example, a word on a sign, and image or even a body gesture. The signified is the meaning or the idea produced. However the connection between the signifier and the signified is at random. This is discussed by Sausser as he argues that "the link between [signifier] and [signified] is arbitrary." 

There are no ture reasons why a car is called a car and why the concept of a car is linked with the car and this is confirmed by the existence of multiple languages. Also, signified(s) of certain signifiers are arbitrary. There are no rules or orders fixing a signifier and signified together.

Here is a simple example of a signifier and a signified:

The signifier is the sound-image of a sign with  'Welcome, We Are Open' (found at the entrance of Cheezbox, Gadong)

The signified is that we can go inside the restaurant to dine or purchase food. It can also mean that the employees are able to tend to us (customers)

Connotation involves the cultural meaning behind the signifier and it is always in multiples. An easy example would be the colour blue as the signifier. The connotation would be based on where the colour is placed/found. If it were to be a room painted blue, it *could connote boy, masculinity. 

On a dress however, it *could mean that it is soft, innocence or the sky (pure, infinite, high) because it is on a dress, which affects the connotation of the colour blue.

*Note: connotations varies based on people, situation/society and context.

References:

Bryson, M. (n.d.). Ferdinand De Saussure--Course In General Linguistics. Retrieved September 15th, 2012 from California State University, Northridge, Academic Website: (http://www.brysons.net/academic/saussure.html

Scott, A. (2001). Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics. Retrieved September 15th, 2012 from http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/saussure.html

Ferdinand de Saussure , from Course in General Linguistics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15th, 2012 from http://faculty.smu.edu/nschwart/seminar/saussure.htm