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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which looks in detail at Williamson's theories of advertising, with reference to the influence of Althusser and Lacan on her work, and the part played by advertising in the construction of representation. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLadsstrc.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
theories of Althusser and Lacan, whose works are significant in the construction of Williamsons perspective on advertising. Althusser (1989) asserts that
our assumptions about the existence of an objective real world are inaccurate: we do not know this real world directly, but only our representations of it, or our representations of
how we relate to it. In effect, our ideologies are not based on reality, but on an imagined version of what we think reality is. Since we cannot access an
objective reality directly, instead we use signs and symbols to create representations of reality: in the course of this process, we construct our own real world out of representation.
Hall (1997) states that there are two systems of representation, shared concepts and public language. The first defines the shared
set of concepts within categories which give us a mental "map" of what we experience and give us common ground for communicating with one another and understanding each others experiences.
The second links concepts with signs and symbols. There are certain words, sounds and images which are correlated with particular concepts, and these are related to a shared understanding of
what specific symbols mean. Representation, therefore, refers to this linking of the three elements: objects, concepts and signs. Meaning comes
about through the system of representation, since it is constructed and defined through the code which links the concept system and the language system. If the signs which are used
by one individual do not tally with the concepts formed by another, then no meaning can be conveyed. Both culture and language are important here: there are complex layers of
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