RSSReview: Telecinematic Discourse
Jul 20
EDITOR: Roberta Piazza
EDITOR: Monika Bednarek
EDITOR: Fabio Rossi
TITLE: Telecinematic Discourse
SUBTITLE: Approaches to the language of films and television series
SERIES TITLE: Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 211
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins
YEAR: 2011
REVIEWER: Julia Gillen, Lancaster University
SUMMARY
This collection of articles approaches an area of media studies relatively
rarely examined by linguists. A variety of approaches are taken to the
language of films and television series across British, American and Italian
cultures. The authors offer a variety of methodologies and perspectives on the
complexities of telecinematic discourse — more specifically, films, film
trailers and television series. One key theme taken up in several chapters is
that spoken dialogues of such genres have to differ from spontaneous discourse
at every linguistic level to be acceptable; authentic rhythms, content, and a
lack of teleological efficacy of everyday talk would not be tolerated. Yet at
the same time, an impression of verisimilitude has to be established in the
audience’s minds to enable a degree of suspension of disbelief. How such
dilemmas are realised in different genres is one significant focus of the
work, as are the ways in which individual characters can be differentiated.
The authors all argue that when working from a linguistic basis, it is
necessary to combine analyses that attend to other modes and offer diverse,
always detailed, demonstrations of their empirical work.
Chapter 1. Introduction: Analysing telecinematic discourse
Roberta Piazza, Monika Bednarek and Fabio Rossi
This chapter, by the editors, sets out to differentiate the two media
discourses studied — that of cinematic film and TV series. Four key issues
are identified: the relationship between represented and interactive
participants; the interface between the verbal and visual; the definition of
characters; and the relationship between real life and fictional discourses.
The authors explain and illustrate how the re-creation or re-presentation of
the world ”is always in line with the specific socio-cultural conventions of
the society in which telecinematic texts are produced. It is also in line
with a particular ‘media logic’ (Iedema 2001: 187) which differentiates these
products….” (p. 9). This sets the agenda for the following chapters, which
take different approaches to identifying and analysing how media logic
operates in specific examples.
Part I. Cinematic discourse
Chapter 2. Discourse analysis of film dialogues: Italian comedy between
linguistic realism and pragmatic non-realism
Fabio Rossi
Rossi demonstrates how the dubbed audio track featured not just in foreign
films, but also in Italian films, compares with spontaneous real-life talk. He
finds that film genres display fewer characteristics of spontaneous speech
such as redundancy, hesitation, overlap, etc., and show a higher degree of
coherence and cohesion. However, this aligns with audience expectations; just
as camera conventions are not naturalistic, but become expected, the
introduction of an ”excess of realism” would be jarring to the viewer.
Chapter 3. Using film as linguistic specimen: Theoretical and practical issues
Michael Álvarez-Pereyre
The author demonstrates how the very qualities that differentiate film
discourse from spontaneous real-life talk make it suitable for pedagogical
purposes. He points out that the objection that dialogues in films are
different from spontaneous speech is to ignore that substantial proportions of
language as it is encountered are not spontaneous. Thus, Álvarez-Pereyre
further develops investigation of, what he terms, ‘filmspeak’ as a genre.
Chapter 4. Multimodal realisations of mind style in Enduring Love
Rocío Montoro
‘Mind style’ is a stylistics term referring to the ”linguistic features that
project the peculiarities of characters’ cognitive make-up,” (p. 70) in the
author’s explanation. Here, Montoro extends the traditional language-based
approach of stylistics into a multimodal approach. She combines the analysis
of verbal signs as ”mind style indicators” (p. 69) with the analysis of
gestures and camera perspectives. Montoro aims to increase our sensitivity to
how qualities of characterisation achieved in the novel ”Enduring Love” are
skilfully realised in the film adaptation of the same name, including through
the use of camera angles and gesture.
Chapter 5. Pragmatic deviance in realist horror films: A look at films by
Argento and Fincher
Roberta Piazza
As is the case with other authors in this volume, Piazza is particularly
interested in how unconventional characters are depicted, here, in the genre
of ”realist horror” or ”slashers.” He demonstrates how deviance,
characteristic of horror films, is communicated through violation of Gricean
cooperative maxims. As the book exemplifies as a whole, this chapter
endeavours to offer an approach to film studies ”rooted in linguistic
stylistics” (p. 86) and, through painstaking work, to demonstrate the
benefits of this. That is, rather than offer a broad critique of the films,
Piazza considers very short sections intensively, examining the pragmatics of
language used against all elements of the multimodal realisation. It is shown
how in this genre the killers infringe the maxim of relevance, thus presenting
themselves to the audience as abnormal.
Chapter 6. Emotion and empathy in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas : A case study
of the “funny guy” scene
Derek Bousfield and Dan McIntyre
The authors take a pragmatic approach to examining linguistic, paralinguistic
and kinesic manifestations of fear, seen as deriving from a lack of empathy
between two characters. The careful analysis of a two minute and 30 second
scene includes a multimodal transcript, likely to be helpful as a model to
others investigating both linguistic and non-linguistic features of film. They
demonstrate how the emotion of fear is realised in the complex interplay of
modes.
Chapter 7. Quantifying the emotional tone of James Bond films: An application
of the Dictionary of Affect in Language
Rose Ann Kozinski
Kozinski shows how the language of ”official” James Bond films differs from
Austin Powers parodies in the expression of emotionality. She deploys the
Dictionary of Affect in Language (Whissell 2009) to enable quantitative
analysis. The parodies adopt a distinctive tone she terms ”pleasant and
active”, whereas the Bond films demonstrate greater variety over time. Their
tone relates partly to the specific actor and partly according to temporal
cycles of variation in plot.
Chapter 8. Structure and function in the generic staging of film trailers: A
multimodal analysis
Carmen Daniela Maier
This chapter demonstrates an approach to the analysis of comedy film trailers
through examining their narrative structure. The author creates a framework
for investigation drawing on the work of Labov & Waletzky (1967). Applying
this reveals how all the nine stages of the prototypical comedy film trailer
contribute to the purpose of promotion, some implicitly and some explicitly.
Each stage is also associated with certain kinds of information given and
functions. Each specific trailer varies in how many of the stages are used and
their precise sequencing, but overall the model appears robust.
Part II. Televisual discourse
Chapter 9. “I don’t know what they’re saying half the time, but I’m hooked on
the series”: Incomprehensible dialogue and integrated multimodal
characterisation in The Wire
Michael Toolan
This chapter combines quantitative and qualitative analyses of TV series texts
with audience research. Toolan makes use of Kozloff’s (2000) idea of
”linguistic opacity” as part of the aesthetics of the TV series,
demonstrating how a strategy of deliberately inducing comprehension problems
in the audience is, at first sight, paradoxically, one of the means through
which the audience is engaged. So the police officers’ struggles to interpret
the gang’s intercepted communications involve the audience in this process.
Toolan ends by examining how dialogues are embedded multimodally and explains
how, for many viewers, this work was exceptional in conveying psychological
depth and sociological plausibility.
Chapter 10. The stability of the televisual character: A corpus stylistic case
study
Monika Bednarek
Stability of characterisation is usually assumed to be important to TV series,
i.e., that they do not change drastically over time. Using a corpus
linguistics approach, Bednarek demonstrates how stability of characterisation
is achieved, while still permitting the character some room for stylistic
differentiation, important for engaging the audience. Central to her
investigation of the ”Gilmore Girls” are analyses of a character’s
diachronic language variation across seasons and variation according to
interlocutor. For example, a term may appear far more frequently in earlier
episodes as the audience is encouraged to identify a character’s likes and
dislikes, but can later become more implied as the character has become more
established.
Chapter 11. Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven of Nine: A case study of language and
character in a televisual text
Susan Mandala
Here, the development of a character through a TV series, an essential part of
the plot, is shown to be achieved in large measure through changes in
(im)politeness strategies. In this case, the character focussed upon makes a
journey from cyborg to near-human, linguistically realised through adaptation
to politeness norms. For example, her early lack of negative politeness (Brown
& Levinson 1987) is gradually modified as she mitigates face-threating acts.
Chapter 12. Relationship impression formation: How viewers know people on the
screen are friends
Claudia Bubel
Using conversation analysis, Bubel investigates alignment patterns among four
central characters of the TV series Sex and the City. The specific interest is
the negotiation of friendship through shifting alignment patterns and
interpersonal affiliation/disaffiliation. In analysing shifting alignment
patterns Bubel considers both the negotiation of intersubjectivity and the
display of common cultural attitudes. She also illustrates the ways in which,
during conversation the four central characters affiliate with, for example,
one other and thus disaffiliate, at least momentarily, with at least one
other.
Chapter 13. Genre, performance and Sex and the City
Brian Paltridge, Angela Thomas and Jianxin Liu
Drawing on Butler’s (2004) notion of performativity, the authors analyse how
gendered identities are performed through the genre of casual conversation. A
major issue here is multimodality: non-linguistic modes of expression
belonging to the character such as dress and gesture are significant, as well
as the means by which these are framed. This chapter links strongly with the
last in providing theorised readings of this TV show that, for many, was a
significant cultural event.
Chapter 14. Bumcivilian: Systemic aspects of humorous communication in
comedies
Alexander Brock
Brock explores the creation of humour at various levels of language in terms
of linguistic deviance or incongruity by discussing a wide variety of
examples. He shows how incongruity can reside at any level of language, for
example, phonological, semantic or in the construction of an alternative
reading of the world. Brock demonstrates how incongruities can become
predictable, thus endangering the effect of humour. He concludes that the
development of a more complex understanding of humour is needed.
EVALUATION
This is a genuinely innovative collection of texts, examining aspects of media
discourse from a variety of different linguistics-based approaches. I can
imagine that a number of the chapters will be much cited as they lead to
promising directions of further investigation. However, I do own to two
questions that keep lingering as I have read and then re-read this book,
wondering how best to communicate its qualities to prospective readers. I want
to achieve something more useful in an evaluation than a mere reflection of my
own subjective responses to the chapters, grounded in my personal experiences.
I find it difficult to move far from my subjective responses with what became
my first major question: Is it necessary for the reader to have engaged with
the particular film or TV series in question in order to relate to the
chapters, and does a depth of engagement (i.e. in practice a liking for the
film or TV series) help? I have to admit that in general, I did often more
vividly appreciate the authors’ approaches when I was already familiar with
the media product. So, for example, my own strong positive responses to ”The
Wire”, ”Sex and the City” and ”Star Trek: Voyager” assisted my
understandings of some of the chapters about TV series. In particular,
Toolan’s multifaceted approach to the language of ”The Wire” seemed
extremely informative and original. When I was not familiar with the topic, I
sometimes struggled to understand the authors’ points. For example, it was
completely reasonable of Piazza, Bednarek and Rossi to illustrate their
introductory arguments in Chapter 1 through an extract from ”No Country for
Old Men,” a 2007 Coen brothers film, as a substantial proportion of likely
readers may be assumed to have seen it. As it happens, I regret to admit I
have not. For me, the extract the authors chose to discuss seemed hackneyed
and lifeless. Two unsubtle pieces of characterisation jump off the page as
indicative of psychopathic travelling baddie first encountering a hapless,
defenceless victim. I emphasise, of course, that this is no comment against
the film, but rather a reference to how the text seemed narrow and clichéd to
me when unfamiliar with the full multimodal presentation. As a result, I
doubtless lost something in my understanding of the discussion.
Yet, to return to my original question, it was not always the case that
familiarity with the media product led to my learning more from or further
appreciating the chapters. Rossi’s chapter, working with dubbing in
mid-twentieth century Italian films, conveyed fascinating insights into the
nature of film language. There are many very good chapters in the book; each
possesses some good qualities, but space precludes me from writing a proper
appreciation of them all. In my opinion, Rossi’s and Toolan’s chapters were
the most informative, multifaceted and enjoyable to read. Toolan’s energy in
combining a number of different approaches positively fizzes off the page.
Through willingness to combine methods including audience research, he wisely
avoided the presumption of homogeneity of reception, that for me at the very
least flavoured some interpretations in other chapters.
My second question remains one that still genuinely puzzles me. For me, there
is a glaring dividing line between the two approaches taken in the book. Did
the editors expect this dichotomy to emerge? The issue here is between two
approaches to telecinematic discourse. The first approach, that is most
clearly introduced by the editors, and exemplified in most chapters, is an
explicit recognition of the crafted nature of telecinematic discourse. Both
Rossi and Toolan, among others, never lose sight of the artificiality of the
media product. All authors, whether explicitly or implicitly, contribute
insights into how scripts are written and become effective. However, some tend
to occlude attention to the realised character as crafted, and instead analyse
the language of characters virtually as if they were real. Personal intentions
and communicative means through which they are pursued are ascribed to the
character herself or himself. There is always some reference to the context as
a media product, but nonetheless, I felt the tone to be very different from
the more dominant recognition of media product as craft. I regret that the
editors did not choose to discuss this issue and matters arising — a
concluding chapter could have been fascinating.
In sum, this is a thought-provoking book, appropriate for those who wish to
experiment with diverse approaches to media discourse from linguistic
perspectives that take account of other modalities. The editors and publishers
have done an excellent job of presentation; the texts are enhanced by careful
figures and tables, and the composite index is admirable.
REFERENCES
Brown, Penelope & Stephen Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in
language useage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Butler, Judith. 2004. Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.
Iedema, Rick. 2001. Analysing film and television: a social semiotic account
of Hospital: an unhealthy business. In van Leeuwen, T. & Jewitt, C. Handbook
of visual analysis. London: Sage (183-204).
Kozloff, Sarah. 2000. Overhearing film dialogue. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Labov, William & Joshua Waletzky. 1967. Narrative analysis: oral versions of
personal experience. In J. Helm (ed). Essays on the verbal and visual arts.
Seattle: American Ethnological Society (12-44).
Whissell, Cynthia 2009. Using the revised Dictionary of Affect in Language to
quantify the emotional undertones of samples of natural language.
Psychological Reports 102: 469-483.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Julia Gillen is Senior Lecturer in Digital Literacies in the Literacy Research
Centre and Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster
University, UK. Her teaching responsibilities include supervising
dissertations in language and the media and convening an undergraduate course
called Understanding Media. She researches language in multimodal
interaction, approached through a sociocultural perspective. Fields of study
include: virtual worlds; Twitter; early childhood; sports journalism and the
Edwardian postcard.
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