Imaginative geographies in the popular media

Imaginative geographies in the popular media
The significance of the popular media to geography Imaginative geographies and the dramatisation of geographical objects: some basic arguments The media and imaginative geographies of spatiality Mediated senses of place Introduction. In the two preceding weeks we have been looking at a variety of studies of cultural portrayals of such geographical objects as places and of the experience of place. In the current lecture I wish to continue to look at what might be termed 'imagative' or 'imagined geographies' and their relationships to such things as social inclusion, exclusion and exploitation. However, I want to switch the focus in two ways. First temporally: so far we have been looking at historical images; specifically images produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the next set of lectures, and indeed really from now on, I want to focus on more contemporary cultural products: that is products produced within, at the very least, the 2nd half of the twentieth century and generally within the last 10 or so years. The second switch in focus will be towards more 'popular' imagery, that is, imagery which is viewed by a mass of people rather than by a small but powerful minority or elite. This switch in focus could be seen as a movement from the concerns of a classical and humanistic geography towards more radical and postmodern cultural geography It is certainly the case that for many years geographers have largely ignored the output of the mass media until relatively recently. For many years there ahs,for example, been only one geography textbooks that addresses the issue of geography and the media directly. Most significant is Burgess and Gold's Geography and the media, although a number of other textbooks do contain some useful material, such as Pam Shurmer-Smith and Kevin Hannah's Worlds of desire, realms of power and Rob Shields Places on the margin.

The significance of the media to geography
Major element in contemporary everyday life - 99% of households in UK have at least one television - 98% of US households have a TV, and average no. of TVs per household = 2.3 - over 80% of UK households owned or rented a video - the average adult viewing time = 25 hours per week in 1988 - the average child viewing time = 18 hours per week in 1988 - over 10 million people purchased a daily newspaper in 1988 (Figures from Phillips and Mighall, 2000; Burgess, 1990) The significance of the popular media to geography Despite some signs of a rising interest in popular culture and the media, the level of research is very limited if one compares it to the significance of popular culture and the media in the lives of most people. Burgess (1990), for example, has noted that figures produced in 1988 revealed that: - 98% of households in the U.K. have at least one television - over 50% own or rent a video - the average adult viewing time was over 25 hours per week - the average child viewing time was approximately 18 hours per week - over 10 million people are said to purchase a daily newspaper (and many more read one!)

Major element in contemporary everyday life The media is "saturated with geographical messages and meanings" (Burgess, 1990) Burgess also argues the the media is "saturated with geographical messages and meanings". As she puts it, "Consider , for example, the coverage in the press and television of issues relating to environmental pollution, water quality, natural disasters, nature conservation, development pressures on the countryside, the design of cities, green politics and long term climatic change. Think of the extent to which advertisement use particular landscapes to sell their products or the rise and manipulation of people's desire to purchase 'environmentally friendly ' goods. Reflect on the kinds of settings used in the film and television drama to lend realism to the fictions of their narratives" (Burgess, 1990, p. 141).

Major element in contemporary everyday life The media is "saturated with geographical messages and meanings" (Burgess, 1990) "Consider , for example, the coverage in the press and television of issues relating to environmental pollution, water quality, natural disasters, nature conservation, development pressures on the countryside, the design of cities, green politics and long term climatic change. Think of the extent to which advertisement use particular landscapes to sell their products or the rise and manipulation of people's desire to purchase 'environmentally friendly ' goods. Reflect on the kinds of settings used in the film and television drama to lend realism to the fictions of their narratives" (Burgess, 1990, p. 141). Burgess also argues the the media is "saturated with geographical messages and meanings". As she puts it, "Consider , for example, the coverage in the press and television of issues relating to environmental pollution, water quality, natural disasters, nature conservation, development pressures on the countryside, the design of cities, green politics and long term climatic change. Think of the extent to which advertisement use particular landscapes to sell their products or the rise and manipulation of people's desire to purchase 'environmentally friendly ' goods. Reflect on the kinds of settings used in the film and television drama to lend realism to the fictions of their narratives" (Burgess, 1990, p. 141).

The media is full of imaginative geographies, and may be the most significant mechanism creating these geographies John Thompson (1994) argues that there has emerged in the modern world a 'mediated worldliness': 'our sense of the world that lies beyond the sphere of personal experience, and our sense of our place within this world, are increasingly shaped by mediated symbolic forms' (Thompson, 1994, p. 34). The media is a key agent geographical 'dramatisation' In other words, the media is full of imaginative geographies, and indeed may be the most significant mechanism for deriving those geographies. John Thompson(1994) for example, has suggested that there has emerged in the modern world a "mediated worldliness", or a 'mediated imaginative geography' if you like, in that, "our sense of the world that lies beyond the sphere of personal experience, and out sense of our place within this world, are increasingly shaped by mediated symbolic forms". The focus of this and next session will be on the imaginative geographies in the mass media, and their relationship to social differentiation, exclusion, inequality and exploitation. In this session I want to focus particularly on the form that imaginative geographies can take in the mass media In order to do this, it is useful to return to the basic idea or definition of imaginative geography. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the term imaginative geography stemmed from the work of Edward Said and can be seen to refer to the 'dramatisation; of geographical objects whereby these objects are given particular meanings and associations.

Imaginative geographies and the dramatisation of geographical objects
The content of the study of 'imaginative geographies' is determined by your (and other peoples) 'geographical imagination' I.e. determined by decisions over what is 'geography' and what is a 'geographical object of study' At least three geographical objects which might usefully be taken as delimiters of imaginative geography Spatiality Places People and environment Imaginative geographies and the dramatisation of geographical objects: some basic arguments Such a definition clearly raises the issue of what is a 'geographical object' and decisions over what constitutes 'geography' and a 'geographical object of study' are clearly closely connected with what might be included under the remit of the term 'imaginative geographies'. What therefore do you feel geography is? - The study of space (what is space, does it exist) - The study of spatiality: the distancing, proximity, interconnetion, concentration, dispersion, localness, globalness, of an object. - The study of places - The study of people and environment. I want to suggest that there are at least three geographical objects which might usefully betaken as delimiters of imaginative geography.: spatiality, place and peopel and environemnt relations. The study of imaginative geographies may hence encompass such issues as the images, perceptions and imaginative experiences of spatiality; the images, perceptions and imaginative experiences of places; and the the images, perceptions and imaginative experiences of people and their environments. In this session I want to illustrate each of these imaginative geographies in turn, and then discuss the issue of how, if at all, these geographies might be connected to the issue of power and their relationships to such things as social inclusion, exclusion and exploitation. I will begin by looking at the issue of spatiality .

The media and imaginative geographies of spatiality
Deleuze and Guattari distinguish between 'striated' and 'smooth' space Striated space = bounded space Smooth space = directionless variation and effortless movement Distinction not clear-cut but does highlight 2 possible connections between the media and spatiality The 'media' may be key agent in changing social experience of space The 'media' may be key agent in representing 'smooth ' space The media and changes in the imaginative geographies of spatiality There are a wide range of interpretations of spatiality. In the present context I want to draw on a distinction made by two French philosophers and pyschologisst, Deleuze and Guattari. As Pam Shurmer-Smith and Keven Hannam remark in their book 'Worlds of desire, realms of power', Deleueze and Guattari argue that people live in two forms of spatiality: 'striated' and 'smooth space'. In the former, one lives in bounded spaces, either physically bounded as with rooms, or symbolically boundied as in cartographic grids. In 'smooth space' there are no boundaries: it is a space of directionless variation and of seemless movement. NOPTION OF GLABOALISATION & RISING SIGNIFICANCE OF SMOOTH SPACE - > HYPERSPACE. EXAMPLES - USE OF MOVEMENT IN MEDIA. DANGER OF OVER-DOING THIS; MANY PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO GLOBAL MOVEMENT AN DCOMMUNICATION. MANY PEOPLE< LIVE< IN WHAT FOLLOWING DELEUZE AND GUARTTARI WE MAY TERM 'STRIATED SPACE', OR LESS ABSTRACTLY IN 'BOUNDED SPACES' OR 'PLACES. LETS NOW LOOK AT THE IMAGINATIVE GEOGRAPHIES OF SPACES AS CREATED WITHIN THE POPULAR MEDIA.

Changing experiences of space
Is space becoming 'smoother'? Movements across space have increased in length and speed (time- space compression; globalisation; culture as media of information transmission) Movements may be increasing in frequency - looking at things from mobile positions see Wilson (1992) and Cresswell (1993) on the 'the view from the road' Boundaries to cultural movement may becoming less significant - globalising culture Soja (1986) argues that Los Angeles has become 'fully global' in that its image, and thereby its influence, 'is everywhere' Any one place may have may places present within it Smooth space = 'hyperspace'

The media and imaginative geographies of spatiality
Representations of smooth space Television, cinema and computer graphics can move viewers instantaneously through space Inter-cutting of scenes 'Fly-by' shots and simulations Multi-directional movements Pastiche and montage

Mediated senses of place
Geographers have suggested that places becoming 'encoded' with meaning Shields (1991): Mediated senses of place As mentioned earlier, the conceot of imaginative geographies relies on the notion that geographical object come to have meanings associated with them. A number of cultural geographers have drawn on the notion of places becoming 'encoded' with meaning. Shields (1991), for example, argues that within 'imaginative geographies' geographical spaces become 'coded' "with particular values, historical events, and feelings", and in turn these "imaginary geographies" are "used interchangeably as metaphors" for other values: places become 'symbols' of cultural notions, such as moral and social and moral distinctions such as betwen good and bad,safe and dangerous, interesting and dull, and also more sunstantive social distinctions, such as between poor and rich, powerful and weak, civilised and non-civilised. For this reason, Shields uses the term 'social spatialisations' to refer to the imaginative geographies of 'sites', 'zones' or 'places' which are encoded with, and frequently used to allude to, social differences. 'Social spatialisations' = the imaginative geographies of 'sites', 'zones' or 'places' which are encoded with, and frequently used to allude to, social differences

Shields distinguishes between: 'Core images' - widely circulated and commonly held views 'Peripheral images' - more varied, more individualistic, more transitory Place images combined 'core' and 'peripheral' images Short (1991) distinguishes between: Myths: "(re)-presentations of reality which resonate across space and over time, which are widely used and reproduced, which are broad enough to encompass diverse experiences yet deep enough to anchor these experiences in a continuous medium of meaning" (Short, 1991, p. xvi) Ideologies: nationally specific representations of reality Shields suggests place images are commonly created through the processes of 'simplification' (reducing places to a few characteristics', 'stereotyping' (the amplification of one or two traits), and labelling (where a place is deemed to have a certain nature). He adds that many place images are widely disseminated and commonly held. These are, he suggests 'core images', to which are added "a range of more subtle", "more idiosyncratic" and more "transitory" images, more as he terms it 'peripheral images'. Taken together 'core' and peripheral images go up to make particular images of place. A rather similar approach has been adopted by John Short who argues, in his book, 'Imagined country' that images of the countryside, and the city, can be understood as being constituted out of 'myths' 'ideologies' and 'texts'. He defines myths not as 'false consciousness' but rather as,"(re)-presentations of reality which resonate across space and over time, which are widely used and reproduced, which are broad enough to encompass diverse experiences yet deep enough to anchor these experiences in a continuous medium of meaning" (Short, 1991, p. xvi). In other words, myths are imaginings which are widely cirrculated, commonly held and which underlie the more particular imaginings of places which Short describes as 'ideologies'. A range of 'core'/'mythical' and 'peripherial'/'ideological' imagings of place have been identified by the 'new' cultural geographers. I will introduce you to work on **** of these. I will be broadly running from the abstract/general imaginings of core/mythical 'spatialisations' to the more particular imagings of place, although one persons abstract sense of spcae may well ee soemone else's particular.

Rural and urban space Widely used 'social spatialisations' Short (1991) identifies three widely held place myths: 'wilderness' 'country' 'city' Each myth contains opposing but widely held codings Wilderness as a place to fear or revere Countryside as a 'pastoral idyll' (place of nature /community) or an 'antipastoral view' (place of poverty/backwardness) Pro-urban and anti-urban John Short introduces the notion of place myths and ideologies in a discussion of images of the countryside. He argues that there exists wildely shared, but often opposing codings of 'wilderness', 'country' and 'city'. He notes, for example, that wilderness areas, that is areas seemingly beyond human control and/or habitation have been coded both as places to fear and places to revere. The countryside is seen to lie between the wilderness and the city and as frequently been portrayed by what Short terms the 'pastoral idyll' which sees the countryside as a place of 'nature' and of 'human community', and also as an 'anti-pastoral which portrays the countryside as a place of poverty and backwardness Finally, Short identifies 'pro-urban' and 'anti-urban' traditions of thought. We will be looking in more detail later at the codings of the countryside and the city. For the momment I just want to introduce you to two which demonstrate how these myths are often 'reproduced' through contemporary media products.

Countryside documentaries and the reproduction of a rural idyll First, with reference to the countryside I would like to briefly outline some argument advanced by Martyn Youngs in a study of a series of documentary films produced for Granada Television in the late 1960s and 1970s. Youngs interviewed some of the the film-makers and examined some of the visual and audio techniques used in the documentaries themselves. Countryside documentaries and the rural idyll Martin Young studied documentary films produced for Granada Television in the late 1960s and 1970s. Interviewed the film-makers and examined the visual and audio techniques of film production 'Core image' of the documentaries was a "nostaligic, pastoral, arcadian vision of the English landscape" Suggests that the images and sound tracks created impression of an 'English countryside' inhabited by 'local craftsmen' and made up of beautiful, peaceful and unchanging landscape Impression created through using 'chains of signification' running from the 'denotative' (the visual/aural signal) to the 'connotative' (the meaningful) He argued that these documentaries - despite some immediate apparent differences (or peripheral images to use the terminology of Shields) - all acted to establish a "nostaligic, pastoral, arcadian vision of the English landscape" (Youngs, 1985, p. 161) - this was there core image if you like. Youngs focuses in particular on how this core image is created through particular methods of film construction. In particular, he suggests that the images and sound track of the documentaries createthe impression of a English countryside inhabited by 'local craftsmen' and being made up of a landscape as being beautiful, peaceful and unchnaging. The creation of this impression can be seen to have been created through using 'chains of signification' which run from what cultural theorists like Sturat Hall have called the 'denotive' (that is the visual/aural stimuli or signals observed) through to the 'connotative' (the meaningful).

The audio-visual signals of localness in a Granada documentary
Initial shot: "an elderly man over looking Swaledale". Man has a 'weather beaten face and a strong accent'. Connotations viewer asked to draw: this man is a local Second shot: Go to 'Bill-up steps' and following conversation heard: DAVID WRIGHT: 'Seen a few changes then?' BILL: 'Oh aye, by gum aye. Dale folk was full 'folk, good folk. We're getting a lot of Incomers now. some of 'ems alright and some of 'ems now't; Foreigners'" Cut to shot of 'hikers' Connotations viewer asked to draw: Things have changed here (and not for the better: the viewer should be nostaligic for a lost world). The hikers are the foreigners and there is a conflict between local and hikers: First, with reference to the portrayal of people, Youngs notes how one of the documentaries begins with "an elderly man over looking Swaledale". This image is quite deliberately chosen, Youngs argues, to bring into the viewers mind a sense of a 'local character'. We are in a sense, invited to make such connections between the portrayed image and accent. The next imagemoves to 'Bill-up steps' and a conversation ensues:DAVID WRIGHT: 'Seen a few changes then?'; BILL: 'Oh aye, by gum aye. Dale folk was full 'folk, good folk. We're getting a lot of Incomers now. some of 'ems alright and some of 'ems now't; Foreigners'" Immediately after the words 'foreigner 'the image cuts to hikers". The connotations being created in the minds of the viewers are, Young suggests, that, first, things have changed here (and not for the better: the viewer should be nostaligic for a lost world). Second, the hiewers are invited to construct hikers as unwelcome incomers who are in conflict with the locals.

Further audio-visual signals of nostalgia
"Bill .... stands at the top of his steps in an ancient collarless shirt and braces. From here we travel to men building a dry-stone wall We return to Swaledale, the old man talks of the hay crop and we cut to people racking hay. A tractor appears, but this quickly goes out of our view as a close-up begins of an elderly women hay-making .. On then to a churchyard, where another elderly man, replete with cloth cap, is shown scything" (Youngs, 1985, p ). Denotative focus is on "on bygone skills" (Youngs, 1985, p. 156). People in the countryside documentary are portrayed as 'craftsmen'. Connotations viewer asked to draw: 'craftsmen embody skills and freedoms are in danger of being lost in a modern industrial society' The invitation to be nostalgic is heightened by the subsequent images in the documentary:"Bill .... stands at the top of his steps in an ancient collarless shirt and braces. From here we travel to men building a dry-stone wall We return to Swaledale, the old man talks of the hay crop and we cut to people racking hay. A tractor appears, but this quickly goes out of our view as a close-up begins of an elderly women hay-making .. On then to a churchyeard, where another elderly man, replete with cloth cap, is shown scything" (Youngs, 1985, p ). In these images the denoative focus is on "on bygone skills" (Youngs, 1985, p. 156). People in the countryside documentary are portrayed as 'craftsmen'. The viewer is being asked to construct the rural population as people who embody skills and freedoms (the craftsman is seen to be a person with great autonomy - and I am using the gendered term deliberately) which are in danger of being lost in a modern industrial society. The emphsis is quite 'conservative', with a small c. That is the emphaisis is on perserving the countryside and resisting development.

The encoding of the rural landscape
Suggests encoding produces a 'petrified', 'idealised' and 'universalised' image of the countryside Petrified = unchangeable countryside Created through presentation of "images of a slow moving, little changed and largely upland agriculture" which appears as " a picture of streams and hills, lanes and farmyards and picturesque stone walls" . Idealised = a blissful countryside where everybody would wish to live People express satisfaction with area The sun is always shining! Universalised in that places in the countryside are described as 'typical rural villages', or as a 'characteristic' market towns Youngs argues that it is not only the people who are portrayed as nostalically, but indeed the whole landscape of the area, the whole character of the place is portrayed places "though a filter of nostaligic romance" (Youngs, 1985, p. 159). Youngs argues that this leads to a 'pettrified', 'idealised' and indeed 'universalised' image of the countryside. By the term 'petrified', Youngs is referring to an impression of unchangeability which is created by the documentaries. He argues that the documentaries present images of "a slow moving, little changed and largely upland agriculture". The landscape appears ageless. Second, as well as ageless, the landscape appear "blissfull"; that is the landscape appears as a place where everybody would wish to live. Finally, the places in the countryside are, Youngs argued, universalised in that they are described through a set of similar categories : places are described as 'typical rural villages', or as a 'characteristic market town'. This universalisation occurs even though the documentaries attempt to create distinctive and autonomous identities for places: places are described as "unique", "special" or "curious". Youngs suggests that although the style of description is individual it is still a "forced idiosyncratic point of view" and behind it appears to hang a universalised image of the countryside as some past, blissful rural world (Youngs, 1985, p. 160). In the analysis of Youngs, the documentaries are constructed in a way which 'invites' people to make particular interpretations about the programme.

The encoding of the rural landscape
Denotative Connotative Chain of significance Craftmen Slow pace Historic Petrified landscape Upland Happy pop Sunny Idealised landscape Universalised landscape Typical Nostalgic romance Localised

Semiotic analysis Conventional view (Post-)Structuralist view
Youngs adopts a 'semiotic' or 'semiological' approach Semiology = 'a science which would study the life of signs within society' (de Saussure) Link to linguistic structuralism and post-structuralist claims that language does not simply reflect reality Youngs effectively adopts what is know as a 'semiotic' or semiological' approach to interpreting the media. This approach has its origins in the structuralism of people such as de Saussure, which if you remember back to your concepts lectures last year Conventional view (Post-)Structuralist view Word 1 Word 2 Word 3 Word 1 Word 2 Word 3 Object 1 Object 2 Object 3 Objects

Semiotic analysis Range of different semiological analysis associated with people such as de Saussure, Barthes, Eco and others Often make use of a distinction between signs, signifier and the signified Signifier Signified Sign Signifier Signified Sign Denotative Connotative Connects to denotative/connotative distinction Signs work in chains of association

Mediated senses of place: The encoding of the inner city
Quite a similar analysis, but with regard to urban places is developed by Jacqueline Burgess in her study of the reporting of the social unrest in British cities in the summer of 1981 (see Burgess, 1985). Burgess argues that not only did these reports apply the social category 'riot' to a wide range of social disurbances, but they also drew on, and thereby help perpetuate, 'the myth of the inner city'. Notion of media encoding of 'core' place images/myths also evident by Burgess (1985) Argues that newspaper reports apply the social category 'riot' to a wide range of social disturbances Argues that they also drew on, and thereby perpetuated, 'the myth of the inner city' Identifies 4 'core codings' of the inner city: A landscape of 'derelict terraces and rundown tatty streets' A place of white and working class culture A place of race conflict A place of 'street culture' Her use of the term myth can be seen to closely connect with the use of the term by John Short, as 'widely used and reproduced representation which are broad enough to encompass diverse experiences', although Burgess also uses the term in a perjorative sense to mean a 'false' consciousness. With reference to the more desriptive sense, Burgess argues that newspapers drew on four widely accepted interpreations of the inner city. These were, first, that the inner city was a landscape of 'derelict terraces and rundown tatty streets'. Second, that, the culture people of the inner city were white and working class and hence could be described as revolving around povery; families with a large number of children (and hence poor parenting and domestic over-crowding'; illicit sex, theft, hooliganism; poor educational acheivement and despair over employment and opportunities for development. Third, a focus on cultural dislocation and conflict related to race, and in particular a West Indian population which is seen to be 'immigrant', 'attached to foreign homelands, volatile and exciteabl. Finally, there is a focus on 'street culture': action, and in particular, conflict is seen to be enacted in the 'public space' of the street. Burgess argues that these constructions of the inner city were drawn on repeatedly within reporting on the 'so-called riots', and indeed was used more widely.

The use of the 4 myths of the inner city: an example
Pre-riot report in the Daily Mail: "Four grainy black and white pictures, one an inset showing a bloodied policeman, the others showing different views of derelict Toxteth. The vandalised, burnt-out car carries reminders of riot photographs; the men sitting on the ledge of a boarded up, crumbling mansion convey ideas of what Toxteth once was before the collapse of 'civilised life'; the 'posed picture with the two little girls is a romanticised comment on racial harmony" (Burgess, 1985, p. 208). She comments, for example, on how the portrayal of Toxteth in the Daily Mirror before the riots there drew on these four elements of the myth of the inner city: "Four grainy black and white pictures, one an inset showing a bloodied policeman, the others showing different views of derelict Toxteth. The vandalised, burnt-out car carries reminders of riot photographs; the men sitting on the ledge of a boarded up, crumbling mansion convey ideas of what Toxteth once was before the collapse of 'civilised life'; the 'posed picture with the two little girls is a romanticised comment on racial harmony" (Burgess, 1985, p. 208). The selected images are once more pushing the reader into constructing particular meanings. The use of black and white photographs, for example, whilst partly explainable in terms of costs, tends to lend itself to the creation of images of despair. It may also assist in the construction of the inner city as a place of 'black/white' racial contrast The inclusion of an injured policeman and vandalised cars creates an impression of anarea of criminality and conflict. The images of vandalised cars also adds to a sense of the place about which people have no sense of responsibility, once more it is being denoted as a a place of despair. The presence of men sitting on the street may further reinforces the notion of this as a place of despair. Why, because these men must be the unemployed if they have time to sit on street corners, or else it is evidence of the importance of a working class, or indeed criminal, street culture. Finally these pictures are contrasted through a clearly posed picture of racial harmony and with images suggestive of a better past. In other words, we are given a series of visual signals which lend themselves to be interpreted according to the established myth of the inner city as a run-down, white working class area with a declining street culture and experiencing racial conflict.

The use of the 4 myths of the inner city: an example
Denotative Connotative B & W Photographs Vandalised cars Injured policeman Men on ledge Posed girls Riots Dereliction Working class Race conflict Street culture Inner city Conclusion: Decoding Blade Runner The studies of Burgess and Youngs both indicate how cultural and social meanings become attached to geographical places, or striated spaces. What I want to do now is to get you to watch a short extract from one film and look out for denotaors of geographical objects, such as spatiality, places or people and environment relations. Next week we will be returning to this film and also exploring a few other imaginative geography of the contemporary mass media. Inauthentic harmony Signifier Signified = (Denotation) (Connotation) (Myth (Sign))

Decoding 'Blade Runner': the questions
1. What sense or senses of 'spatiality' are present in the film, and what techniques are used to construct them? - 'Striated space' of the city; - Smooth space above the city. 2. What connotations are attached to the denotion(s) of spatiality? - People living in the striated space are of lower social status and power than those who live in or have access to smooth space - i.e. film denotes different spatialities, we interpret power of space as social power 1. What sense or senses of 'spatality' are present in the film, and what techniques are used to construct them? 2. What connotations are attached to the denotation(s) of spatiality? 3. What is the role of 'the Orient' in the film? 4. Do you agree with the claim that the film acts 'as a key dystopia of our time'. 5. To what extent does the film's opening sequence draw on the 4 elements of the 'inner city myth' as outlined by Burgess. 6. How does the film subvert established 'geographical myths' Film denotes vertical differentiated spatiality: there is the city floor, high 'pyramidal buildings' and the space above the city: we interprete these spatial differentiations as being social differentiations - the powerful live in the upper parts of the city. 3. What is the role of 'the Orient' in the film? Blade Runner's opening sequence is a good example of the continuing influence of 'Orientalism' in the modern media. Shurmer-Smith and Hannam (1993) have argued films, advertisements, magazine articles, novels and computer games have all tended to rely on people seeing the 'Orient' as either romantic and exotic or a place of "cruelty, coldness, starkness and intrigue". It is this later myth which the film Blade Runner uses to reinforce its spatial differentiation of Los Angeles. The striated space of the city is coded as a place of criminality, cruelty, deviancy. There are a couple of other aspects of the 'Orient' which are also contained in this film. First, as already mentioned there is the 'pyramidal shape of the building'. Second, and perhaps easier to interpret, the are references to what Shurmer and Smith call, 'techno-Orientalism', which both values and fears the economic and technical power of Far Eastern countries such as Japan and Korea. As Shurmer-Smith and Hannam (1993, pp. 23-4)put it, "the United States in particular, is constructing new Oriental discourses... Whilst many older people in Europe and America are taking refuge in an unpleasant revival of the 'yellow peril' clichés, constructing an East Asia of callous inscrutability, lacking in spontaneity, hard working and humourless, they seem unaware that their children and grandchildren do not just buy Japanese hardware but are reorienting themselves, longing to visit the land of Sega and Nintendo, watching Japanese cartoons dubbed into European languages, accepting as a fact of life the importance of Japan in their youth culture". The introductory scenes from Blade Runner very much seem to make use of this techno-orientalism.

Decoding 'Blade Runner' Denotative Connotative The urban future
Does the film's opening sequence draw on the 4 elements of the 'inner city myth' as outlined by Burgess? Denotative Connotative The urban future 5. To what extent does the film's opening sequence draw on the 4 elements of the 'inner city myth' as outlined by Burgess. The four elelemnts of the inner city myths identified by Jacqueline Burgess were that the inner city was: a) a derelict landscape, b) a place of white working class culture, c) a place of class conflict and d) a place of street culture. The arguments of Burgess cannot be directly transferred to Blade Runner. Rather than draw on notions of the British Inner City, the opening sequence of Blade Runner can be seen to use a variety of signifiers to connect to widely circulated images of Los Angeles as a place of pollution, of impersonal urbanity, of Orientalism. It does share with much urban imagery a focus of the street. Flames Huge Buildings Chinese food/people Purge control Los Angeles 2019 Polluted landscape Oriental mercantilism Urban dystopia Race conflict Street culture Corporate city = Signifier Signified (Denotation) (Connotation) (Myth (Sign))

Decoding 'Blade Runner' 6. How does the film subvert established 'geographical myths'? Blurs human/nature/machine divide Represents new experiences of spatialities: "Blade Runner is, in many ways the quintessential city film: it represents urbanism as lived heterogeneity, an ambiguous environment of fluid spaces and identities" (Bukatman, 1997, p. 12) "Blade-Runner explores ... the postmodern condition ... of flexible accumulation and time-space compression ... with all the imaginary power that the cinema can command" (Harvey, 1989, p. 313) 6. How does the film subvert established 'geographical myths'. The final question you were asked was how does the film subvert 'geographical myths. Well one of the key elements of the film is the notion of a replicant, a robot who effectively emulates people in every detail, and even surpasses them in many respects. To deal with this 'blurring' of the human/machine divide, the replicants are banished to the offworld and given a limited life-span. A number of them however come to Los Angeles to try to over-come this constraint and are then hunted by and killed - or 'retired'- by Harrison Ford, the Bade Runner. The film ends, with it being revealed that Harrison Ford is himself a replicant, and hence the conventions of people and machines as being distinct is completely removed. As Shurmer-Smith and Hannam (1993, p. 70) put it, "The dystopia of Blade Runner has its roots in the great ecological questions which seek to understand status of humans in nature as well as the relationship between humans and nature ... Reproduction of humans through biotechnology in one form or another is a recurrent dystopian theme. It is inevitably associated with the absence of the family as the family as a basic unit of social organisation and with emotionally distant but all-seeing controllers". Another geographer who has analysed the meaning of the film Blade Runner is David Harvey. He notes the different 'spatialities' and 'temporalities in the film, and how the different between image and reality becomes blurred as 'proof' of being human can come down to whether or not one has a photograph of a a family. Furthermore, Harvey implies that the 'imaginary geography' of the film 'Blade Runner' rather more accurately, and certainly more persuasively, demonstrates the contemporary conditions and trends of urban society than do countless dry academic texts.

Decoding 'Blade Runner' 6. How does the film subvert established 'geographical myths'? Blurs human/nature/machine divide Represents new experiences of spatialities: Blurs relationship between image and reality 6. How does the film subvert established 'geographical myths'. The final question you were asked was how does the film subvert 'geographical myths. Well one of the key elements of the film is the notion of a replicant, a robot who effectively emulates people in every detail, and even surpasses them in many respects. To deal with this 'blurring' of the human/machine divide, the replicants are banished to the offworld and given a limited life-span. A number of them however come to Los Angeles to try to over-come this constraint and are then hunted by and killed - or 'retired'- by Harrison Ford, the Bade Runner. The film ends, with it being revealed that Harrison Ford is himself a replicant, and hence the conventions of people and machines as being distinct is completely removed. As Shurmer-Smith and Hannam (1993, p. 70) put it, "The dystopia of Blade Runner has its roots in the great ecological questions which seek to understand status of humans in nature as well as the relationship between humans and nature ... Reproduction of humans through biotechnology in one form or another is a recurrent dystopian theme. It is inevitably associated with the absence of the family as the family as a basic unit of social organisation and with emotionally distant but all-seeing controllers". Another geographer who has analysed the meaning of the film Blade Runner is David Harvey. He notes the different 'spatialities' and 'temporalities in the film, and how the different between image and reality becomes blurred as 'proof' of being human can come down to whether or not one has a photograph of a a family. Furthermore, Harvey implies that the 'imaginary geography' of the film 'Blade Runner' rather more accurately, and certainly more persuasively, demonstrates the contemporary conditions and trends of urban society than do countless dry academic texts. Human simulation (the replicant as (or more) real than real) Spatial simulation 'Cinematic movement becomes an essential mode of comprehension: the camera often takes on a subject, first-person point of view … Blade Runner … build[s] worlds' (Bukatman, 1997, p. 9)

Travel movies: some initial remarks
The travel movie In the preceding section we have looked at the 'imaginative geography' of the film Blade Runner and how the image relies on us 'decoding' particular 'signifiers' to decode meaning tfrom the film. In the film 'Blade Runner' all of the three geographical objects - place, spatiality and nature - I identified as part of the geographical imagination are used as important signifiers to construct the meaning of the film. I now want to turn to another film, which variously draw on these geographical elements to construct their meaning, but which also has as a key component, travel though space. This is because the film in a 'travel movie'. Cresswell (1991) claims that travel is of major importance to American culture Two major themes : disillusionment with places the joy and power of mobility Suggests themes are 'counter-hegemonic' to 'hegemonic culture' "ensconced in the family/small town/home ownership nexus of the American dream" Travel became a signifier of power Travel imagery a 'duplicitous'/'hybrid' image American travel movies. The issue of whether movies act to change or reinforce established social relations is well illustrated in the American travel movie. As Tim Cresswell (1991) has highlighted, the notion of travel has been of major importance within American culture. Two major themes of these movies are disillusionment with places, and the experience of mobility. He adds that these two themes represented a 'counter-hegemony', that is a view which reacts against the predominant values held by, or propagated within, mainstream society. He claims that American culture has long been "ensconced in the family/small town/home ownership nexus of the American dream" and that the notion of travel was a way of imaging, and indeed experiencing, a different experience. Travel became a signifier of power, either lack of it in narratives of flight and escape, and/or having the capacity to break way. Cresswell notes that whilst frequently appearing coded as a rejection of established power relations, many of the American travel novels and movies have also drawn on socially conservative myths, such as that only able bodied, highly masculine men can successfully take to the road, and although they may meet up with women on the way, it is the man who will always get up and leave. I want to show you two extracts of movies that both illustrate the two 'geographical themes' of place and mobility, and which in various ways can be seen to be 'counter-hegemonic'.

Decoding Thelma and Louise
Start: Reluctant travellers, critical decision makers ends "What's going on - nothing' 'Not going to give up on me,a re you Black junkie - chase End. Decoding Thelma and Louise 1. What is the social codings of spatiality at the beginning of the movie? 2. What signifiers are given to suggest this spatiality? 3. What signifiers are given to suggest change from this spatiality? 4. On which of the myths of travel does the film draw (escape from place or love of travel)? 5. Discuss how the changing physical landscape is used as a signifier in the film 6. Draw a chain of significance chart detailing how the film is both 'counter- hegemonic' and 'hegemonic' Thelma and Louise 1. What is the social codings of spatiality at the beginning of the movie? Thelma and Louise are in the 'striated spaces' of the home and the 'dead-end' job. 2. What signifiers are given to suggest this spatiality? Chauvinistic husband and boss; concern over safety 3. What signifiers are given to suggest change from this spatiality Increased movement; behaviour which breaks boundaries of striated space (e.g. smoking; letting the hair down; drinking). 4. On which of the myths of travel does the film draw (escape from place or loves of travel) Both - general drift from escape to joy of travelling) 5. Discuss how the changing physical landscape is used as a signifier in the film. General movement from respectability to liminality/wildness reflected in increasing 'spectacle'/'unnaturalness of the landscape; ending with the icon of majestic freakish nature, the Grand Canyon 1. Draw a chain of significance chart for one of the movies detailing how it is both 'counter-hegemonic' and 'hegemonic'.

Denoted elements Geographical connotations Social connotations 6. Draw a chain of significance chart detailing how it is both 'counter-hegemonic' and 'hegemonic'. To do this, you might want to think about distinguishing between denoted elements - things you can see and hear in the film, and geographical and social connotations - the way you interprete these elements. So, what has the film been about? In terms of geography - understood in terms of space, place or landscape? And what has it been about socially - what was its social meaning or message, if indeed it had one? It might be useful to start with, what did it mean socially? Patriarchy and the creation of a space of feminine power - where women are not controlled by men. What was it about geographically? In terms of space? A movement from a constrained space of the home/workplace to the freedon of the road. This geography and the social connotations are insoluably intermixed: the striated spaces are the spaces of patriarchy, the smooth spaces the spaces of feminity. However, note that smooth space, or liminal space, is also presented as a space of male danger. But lets stick with the predominant coding of social-spatiality: the film can be seen as being predominately about 2 women fleeing the straited space of patriarchy to the smooth space of feminine power. Do you agree with this? The next issue to consider is what in this chain of signification can be considered hegemonic and what counter-hegemonic? Hegemony - equals the cultural values of the powerful groups in society, or the mainstream. Therefore to answer this, you need some notion of what is the dominant culture. Note that last week I had suggested that road stories and movies were seen by people like Tim Cresswell to be 'counter-hegomonic' to mainsteam American soicety and its emphasis on the nuclear family, property ownership and work ethic. To what extent is Thelma and Louise typical of this? -> PATRIARCHY, RACE AND FEMININITY. Constraining striated spaces of the home/workplace Emancipatory smooth space of 'the road' Patriarchy Feminine power What are key denotative elements ? What is hegemonic and counter-hegemonic? Patriarchal/striated space = hegemonic Feminine power/smooth space = counter-hegemonic

Denoted elements Geographical connotations Social connotations 6. Draw a chain of significance chart detailing how it is both 'counter-hegemonic' and 'hegemonic'. To do this, you might want to think about distinguishing between denoted elements - things you can see and hear in the film, and geographical and social connotations - the way you interprete these elements. So, what has the film been about? In terms of geography - understood in terms of space, place or landscape? And what has it been about socially - what was its social meaning or message, if indeed it had one? It might be useful to start with, what did it mean socially? Patriarchy and the creation of a space of feminine power - where women are not controlled by men. What was it about geographically? In terms of space? A movement from a constrained space of the home/workplace to the freedon of the road. This geography and the social connotations are insoluably intermixed: the striated spaces are the spaces of patriarchy, the smooth spaces the spaces of feminity. However, note that smooth space, or liminal space, is also presented as a space of male danger. But lets stick with the predominant coding of social-spatiality: the film can be seen as being predominately about 2 women fleeing the straited space of patriarchy to the smooth space of feminine power. Do you agree with this? The next issue to consider is what in this chain of signification can be considered hegemonic and what counter-hegemonic? Hegemony - equals the cultural values of the powerful groups in society, or the mainstream. Therefore to answer this, you need some notion of what is the dominant culture. Note that last week I had suggested that road stories and movies were seen by people like Tim Cresswell to be 'counter-hegomonic' to mainsteam American soicety and its emphasis on the nuclear family, property ownership and work ethic. To what extent is Thelma and Louise typical of this? -> PATRIARCHY, RACE AND FEMININITY. Constraining striated spaces of the home/workplace Emancipatory smooth space of 'the road' Patriarchy Feminine power Relationship to other road movies and other movies: Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, Paris Texas, Natural Born Killers Hegemonic/striated space = capitalist/familial Counter-hegemonic = men taking to smooth space Thelma & Louise as counter-counter-hegemonic?

Considerable debate amongst feminists about the film: Representation of female emancipation and empowerment? Betrayal of feminism? Successful women emulate men Masculinist film? "a savvy male director used the buddy movie genre to please the males in the audience by having attractive actresses accentuate their sexiness with their gun-wilding, fast-driving shenanigans, and simultaneously pacify the female viewers as their characters shoot male chauvinist characters" (Roberts, 1997, p. 63) A white feminist/masculinist film? 6. Draw a chain of significance chart detailing how it is both 'counter-hegemonic' and 'hegemonic'. To do this, you might want to think about distinguishing between denoted elements - things you can see and hear in the film, and geographical and social connotations - the way you interprete these elements. So, what has the film been about? In terms of geography - understood in terms of space, place or landscape? And what has it been about socially - what was its social meaning or message, if indeed it had one? It might be useful to start with, what did it mean socially? Patriarchy and the creation of a space of feminine power - where women are not controlled by men. What was it about geographically? In terms of space? A movement from a constrained space of the home/workplace to the freedon of the road. This geography and the social connotations are insoluably intermixed: the striated spaces are the spaces of patriarchy, the smooth spaces the spaces of feminity. However, note that smooth space, or liminal space, is also presented as a space of male danger. But lets stick with the predominant coding of social-spatiality: the film can be seen as being predominately about 2 women fleeing the straited space of patriarchy to the smooth space of feminine power. Do you agree with this? The next issue to consider is what in this chain of signification can be considered hegemonic and what counter-hegemonic? Hegemony - equals the cultural values of the powerful groups in society, or the mainstream. Therefore to answer this, you need some notion of what is the dominant culture. Note that last week I had suggested that road stories and movies were seen by people like Tim Cresswell to be 'counter-hegomonic' to mainsteam American soicety and its emphasis on the nuclear family, property ownership and work ethic. To what extent is Thelma and Louise typical of this? -> PATRIARCHY, RACE AND FEMININITY.

Counter-hegemonic travel movies
So far I have been trying to demonstrate how films are constructed in such a way as to invite people to add meanings, but only a particular set of meanings, to a film. It has been argued that films, and indeed many other modern media products work through a process of 'appellation' in which 'signals' are 'encoded' into a product so that they 'hail' or 'call us' to add particular meanings to the product, to read them in a particular way. Followed by range of other 'counter-counter-hegemonic' travel movies Masculinity/heterosexuality My Private Idaho The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Ability/disability Rainman They are able to do this, so it is argued because there are widely circulated and generally accepted cultural codes which we all recognise and use to construct meanings. To construct a successful media images and narratives, the producers have to make use of some established 'codes of meaning'. This has a number of important consequences, not least because it means that the mass media is in some senses always 'culturally conservative', even when it may try to be 'counter-hegemonic'. Mass media products' simply cannot afford (not least commercially) to reject all establish cultural conventions. They may, however, act to transform some. People have therefore describe cultural products as 'duplicitous' and 'hybrid' in character. It is possible, however, to over-emphasise the conservative nature of the mass media in that there is some evidence that although cultural producers seek to utilise generally accepted cultural codes to encode particular meanings in their cultural products, some people do not 'decode' these products in the way that they were intended. This point is particularly well illustrated by Jacqueline Burgess's study of environmental advertising. I will briefly end by illustrating this point.

Imaginative geography of the mass media: some concluding remarks
Conclusion Such findings reveal the need for rather more work to be conducted on the imaginative geographies of the media, and particularly by those seeking to promote a critical interpretation of the media. In particular, I would end by highlighting three features which seem to require particular consideration within a critical analysis of the media Are imaginative geographies central to mass media products? If so, what 'imaginative geographies' can be 'decoded'? Place People/nature relations Space Movements through space Relationship between imaginative geographies and social identities Imaginative geographies as 'socio-spatialisations' (socio-environmentalisms, social-landscapes) Has study of imaginative geographies been symbolic or critical? First, a number of author's have suggested that there is a need to address the political economy of the media, to consider the social organisations and interests which are involved in its production. It is, however, often difficult to tie the media to specific social interests. e.g. public sector broadcasting does not have clear commercial interest, and in Britain, is not directly controlled by the state. It is however subject to considerable lobbying and the is coming under pressure to be market orientated. On the other hand other parts of the media have clearer connection with the market - e.g. commercial television and the media. Even so, as John Short (1991, pp ) has remarked, with respect to the American movie industry,"Movies in America are, above all else, a commercial enterprise. Companies make them to make money. This is the major constant of the movie industry. However, .... [w]e cannot read off the subject of the movies from the profit motive. It is always there like the keel of the ship but it is not the rudder. The dynamic of the industry is the work of creative people to meet the demands of a fickle audience". Others have argued for more reception research, both to enable the understanding the diversity of readings, and because some people, such as John Thompson, have argued that it is the audience, or more precisely, producers perceptions of their audience, which underpin the construction of media images and such features as their use of standardised social interpretations. It is also important to recognise that the mass media is far from uniform. One can, for example, find many different geographical imaginations present in the media, many of which would seem to culturally contest social hegemony: witness for example,travel movies we have discussed today.. Indeed, media images can be seen to encourage social difference and contestation:(1995), for example, argues that today the media enables people "in a certain sense to experience events, observe others and, in general, learn about a world*****).

Imaginative geography of the mass media: some concluding remarks
Conclusion Such findings reveal the need for rather more work to be conducted on the imaginative geographies of the media, and particularly by those seeking to promote a critical interpretation of the media. In particular, I would end by highlighting three features which seem to require particular consideration within a critical analysis of the media Critical dimensions of imaginative geography might include: Incorporation of notions of hegemony/counter-hegemony and ideology Recognition of a 'political economy' of the media "Movies in America are, above all else, a commercial enterprise. Companies make them to make money. This is the major constant of the movie industry. However, .... [w]e cannot read off the subject of the movies from the profit motive. It is always there like the keel of the ship but it is not the rudder. The dynamic of the industry is the work of creative people to meet the demands of a fickle audience" (Short, 1991, p ). Also need for audience research to: Explore the convergence and divergence of meanings Explore how producers perceptions/expectations of audiences impacts the creation of cultural texts First, a number of author's have suggested that there is a need to address the political economy of the media, to consider the social organisations and interests which are involved in its production. It is, however, often difficult to tie the media to specific social interests. e.g. public sector broadcasting does not have clear commercial interest, and in Britain, is not directly controlled by the state. It is however subject to considerable lobbying and the is coming under pressure to be market orientated. On the other hand other parts of the media have clearer connection with the market - e.g. commercial television and the media. Even so, as John Short (1991, pp ) has remarked, with respect to the American movie industry,"Movies in America are, above all else, a commercial enterprise. Companies make them to make money. This is the major constant of the movie industry. However, .... [w]e cannot read off the subject of the movies from the profit motive. It is always there like the keel of the ship but it is not the rudder. The dynamic of the industry is the work of creative people to meet the demands of a fickle audience". Others have argued for more reception research, both to enable the understanding the diversity of readings, and because some people, such as John Thompson, have argued that it is the audience, or more precisely, producers perceptions of their audience, which underpin the construction of media images and such features as their use of standardised social interpretations. It is also important to recognise that the mass media is far from uniform. One can, for example, find many different geographical imaginations present in the media, many of which would seem to culturally contest social hegemony: witness for example,travel movies we have discussed today.. Indeed, media images can be seen to encourage social difference and contestation:(1995), for example, argues that today the media enables people "in a certain sense to experience events, observe others and, in general, learn about a world*****).

Imaginative geographies in the popular media

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