Article published in:
Discourse Theory: Ways forward for theory development and research practiceEdited by Benjamin De Cleen, Jana Goyvaerts, Nico Carpentier, Jason Glynos, Yannis Stavrakakis and Ilija Tomanić Trivundža
[Journal of Language and Politics 20:1] 2021
► pp. 145–161
“Symbolic photographs” as floating and empty signifiers
Iconic transformation of news photography
Ilija Tomanić Trivundža | University of Ljubljana
Andreja Vezovnik | University of Ljubljana
The article discusses the use of “symbolic photographs” – images in news reporting which have no direct connection to
reported events – in news reporting. Such images deviate not only from the self-professed journalistic norm of factual reporting but also
fundamentally challenge the act of civic eyewitnessing constitutive for visual journalism. Concepts of floating and empty signifiers from
Discourse Theory are applied to “symbolic photographs” to analyse their ambivalent act of signification, their particular mode of iconicity
and, by extension, the journalistic and political implications of their repetitive use.
Keywords: symbolic photographs, news photography, floating signifier, empty signifier, iconicity, iteration
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.“Symbolic photographs” and iconic tendencies of news photography
- 3.Empty and floating signifiers
- 4.Migrants on crowded boats between floating and empty signifiers
- 5.Conclusion
- Note
-
References
Published online: 14 December 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.20050.tom
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.20050.tom
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Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
De Cleen, Benjamin, Jana Goyvaerts, Nico Carpentier, Jason Glynos & Yannis Stavrakakis
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