Documentary and Stereotypes

Beschreibung

This book studies how documentaries, and factual media in general, can contribute to the reduction of social stigma and prejudice. It adopts models from social psychology, media studies and cultural studies and is intended for scholars and media makers who aim to increase social inclusion and diversity by deconstructing harmful boundaries between social groups. Such boundaries may be based on the stereotyping of ethnicity, culture, age, dis/ability, gender and sexual orientation, for example. The first part of the book outlines the functionality of stereotypes as essential processes for social cognition both in real life and during documentary viewing. The second part establishes a classification system for stigmatising media stereotypes and formulates a methodology based on critical discourse analysis to analyse them in narrative and audio-visual representations. The third and final part of the book conceptualises a set of methodologies to reduce stigmatising stereotypes. These methodologies are based on 1) representations that prompt perspectival alignment with screen characters, and 2) the perceived salience of multiple, intersecting social identities.
Catalin Brylla is Principal Lecturer in Film and TV at Bournemouth University, UK, where he is Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice. He also chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image, and he has co-edited Documentary and Disability (2017) and Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film (2018).



This book studies how documentaries, and factual media in general, can contribute to the reduction of social stigma and prejudice. It adopts models from social psychology, media studies and cultural studies and is intended for scholars and media makers who aim to increase social inclusion and diversity by deconstructing harmful boundaries between social groups. Such boundaries may be based on the stereotyping of ethnicity, culture, age, dis/ability, gender and sexual orientation, for example. The first part of the book outlines the functionality of stereotypes as essential processes for social cognition both in real life and during documentary viewing. The second part establishes a classification system for stigmatising media stereotypes and formulates a methodology based on critical discourse analysis to analyse them in narrative and audio-visual representations. The third and final part of the book conceptualises a set of methodologies to reduce stigmatising stereotypes. These methodologies are based on 1) representations that prompt perspectival alignment with screen characters, and 2) the perceived salience of multiple, intersecting social identities.
Makes an explicit theoretical connection between the spectatorship of factual media and stigmatising stereotypes Establishes narrative and audio-visual representation methods that reduce stigmatising stereotypes in viewers’ minds Considers the intersection of multiple social identities in media representations

Autor*in

Catalin Brylla

Themen in »Documentary and Stereotypes«

Documentary Stigma Stereotypes Media representation Social cognition Parasocial contact Perspective-taking Intersectionality Prejudice

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“Written with clarity and passion, this book is packed with illustrations and case studies that offer innovative ways of critiquing representational issues with regards to stigmatised groups in non-fiction screen media. Given its focus on the intersection of marginalised identities, it is an impressive contribution to a variety of disciplines, such as post-colonial and gender studies. Strongly recommended for scholars, students and filmmakers whose work align with principles of equity and social justice.” (Florence Ayisi, Professor of International Documentary Film, University of South Wales)“Dr. Brylla has done the world a great service by providing a thorough, carefully researched, and elegantly explained treatise on the potential of factual media to decrease discriminatory attitudes. At the heart of every major media effects theory is the belief that people learn through consuming media. Dr. Brylla walks the reader carefully through scholarship in social psychology, sociology, and media studies to explain how stereotypes are formed, transmitted, and—fortunately—combatted. Though scholarly, the book is also practical as it lays out the necessary steps for factual media to reduce stereotypes. I highly recommend this book.” (Edward Schiappa, John E. Burchard Professor of the Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)“This book is groundbreaking in its approach to lessening stigmatizing portrayals of many diverse groups in mass media. It puts forth a plan to mobilize media industries that produce documentaries and other reality-based content to reduce negative stereotypes. It gives media production teams, industry executives, and the academic community practical tools to help transform documentaries into spaces for more authentically diverse and inclusive content.” (Beth Haller, Professor of Communication Studies, Towson University)“This perceptive and well-argued book develops effective new models for analyzing and reducing harmful stereotypes in nonfiction media. As both an experienced documentary filmmaker and practiced scholar, author Catalin Brylla is exactly the right person to accomplish this task. This book is not only a notable expansion of documentary film theory and theory of spectatorship, but also provides concrete strategies for documentary filmmakers.” (Carl Plantinga, Professor of Film and Media Studies, Calvin College; Author of Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film)“How factual media shapes relationships between viewers and ‘Others’ is a matter of urgent concern for documentary scholars and makers. This original volume explores stereotypes in factual media, from journalism and digital media to documentary film and television, showing how they appeal to, and potentially amplify, deeply held implicit attitudes. The book is richly interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship from fields as diverse as psychology, ethics, and media/documentary studies. It is jam packed with case studies and draws on the author’s own experience of documentary production. In Documentary and Stereotypes Brylla makes a compelling argument for the value of cognitive approaches to the study of factual media and provides a clear and practical method for documentarians committed to challenging stigmatising stereotypes in their practice.” (Kate Nash, Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds; Co-Editor Studies in Documentary Film)“Brylla’s book combines an original inquiry into the processes of contemporary stereotyping with a sharp analysis of how documentaries work to promote or question them. It breaks important new ground in the closeness of its attention to the variety of routes by which misunderstandings and prejudices become established. This knowledge is then used to recommend ways for media production to work as a positive, corrective force in the circulation of ideas about social identity.” (John Corner, Professor in Documentary Studies, University of Leeds)  
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