Structural and Poststructural Analysis of Visual Documentation: An Approach to Studying Photographs

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1 Structural and Poststructural Analysis of Visual Documentation: An Approach to Studying Photographs 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. This PDF has been generated from Research Methods Datasets.

2 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets Structural and Poststructural Analysis of Visual Documentation: An Approach to Studying Photographs Student Guide Introduction Analyses of visuals are often complicated by their location and the devices of presentation and re-presentation contrived for consumption by particular audiences. Many are embedded in non-visual contexts, for example accompanied by words. Other images may link to a multiplicity of other data requiring you to use discourse or content analysis as well as some form of visual analysis. Another complicating factor is the question of who should interpret visual images when they have been collected by participants: should it be you? Your participants? Both? Two approaches to analysing visual documentation are the structural and poststructural approaches. These approaches may be useful for all visual documents: film, media images, all forms of artwork, architectural buildings, photos, clothing, graffiti, to name but a few. These two approaches - structural and poststructural - have completely different orientations and outcomes. This dataset exemplar uses photographic images to demonstrate the two types of analysis. Structural Analysis Historically the structuralist approach dominated visual analysis and involved the Page 2 of 9

3 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets identification of contextually based signs and patterns, then the development of classification groupings and taxonomies and finally the interpretation of the meanings of these. The assumption was that any visual images (signifiers/ symbols) were connected to concepts and meanings (signifieds) which were widely recognised and understood in particular cultures. Certain classificatory groupings for symbols have been generally accepted: a realistic representation or strong resemblance between image and object e.g. a picture of a horse (iconic); a learned symbol such as a crown representing royalty and the power of the monarchy (symbolic); physical links to natural events e.g. steam to hot water or a red sky at night is seen as relating to good weather the following day (indexical). Clearly all of these signs or symbols can operate on more than one level and the boundaries may overlap. For example a crown is both iconic, indexical (sign of a particular kind of administrative organisation) and symbolic (power). In addition, signs are often not just single entities; they can be made up of other signs. The openness and widespread availability of visual images means that those viewing images may well come up with a range of analyses, but the underlying assumption is that these will have common codes (systems to which signs refer and into which they can be organized) identified and categorised through similarities and oppositions. To help break down the process of structural analysis, there are three steps: Step One: Identify content and context Step Two: Identify and classify visual signs Step Three: Interpret images on the basis of culturally accepted Page 3 of 9

4 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets meanings Poststructuralist Analysis: Deconstruction The process here is not one of identifying content and context and visual signs in order to classify them or seek commonly accepted meanings, as in structural analysis. Instead, the poststructural approach pulls the image apart by using deconstruction. This method involves sceptical reading together with identification of the arguments. These are positioned against each other to clarify ideas, metaphors, contradictions, generalisations and binary opposites. Images present and images missing also need identification and alternative readings and multiple interpretations are essential in the recognition of the transitional and open-ended nature of images. A poststructural analysis is about identifying the questions one can ask about the image and how this leads to interpretation. In seeking threads to rupture the text, there are six steps to be considered: Step One: Allow the arguments to challenge each other Step Two: Identify any contradictions and generalisations Step Three: Disentangle the complexities of all dichotomies Step Four: Seek marginalized voices Step Five: Seek links to other texts Step Six: Avoid finite interpretations; seek transitions and alternative readings Data Exemplar The photos used in this data exemplar were taken in Beira, Mozambique in January, They show a Swiss woman, Barbara Hoffmann, in three related settings along with orphaned children. Since 1989 and after seeing the reality of war, Barbara set up a charity to provide shelter for children. Author Carol Grbich Page 4 of 9

5 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets demonstrates the analytical techniques on the image shown (Figure 1). There are two further photographs provided in the downloadable pack. Figure 1: Image of Barbara Hoffman alongside orphan children. A Structural Analysis of the Photograph Step One: Content and Context This is a photo of Barbara Hoffman, a Swiss woman who has set up a charity in order to provide for children in Mozambique who are abandoned, orphaned or abused. The photo is largely taken within the shade of a building. Barbara is centrally located and stands head and shoulders within and above a group of approximately 30 children. Most of the children are watching the camera unsmiling and are physically close to Barbara but not in contact. There is an apricot-coloured Page 5 of 9

6 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets wall with white wire-meshed windows behind the group. Step Two: Symbols White woman, closed mouth smile, averted gaze, above the crowd modest saviour, elevated above the masses (symbolic) A large group of children of colour positioned lower than Barbara in the photo, most stare, few are smiling deserving but distrusting poor (symbolic) Meshed windows protection? Or imprisonment? (symbolic) Step Three: Interpretation A European woman of high ideals and commitment has made it her life s work to raise money in order to improve the lives of children at risk in war-affected Mozambique. A Poststructural Interpretation of Photograph Step One: Allow the Arguments to Challenge Each Other Elevated woman set above the group modestly avoiding the camera s gaze while young children mill about. They are close in proximity but no closeness with her is evident. The black and white race mix emphasises the social and political contrasts between Switzerland and Mozambique. Educated and privileged contrasts with uneducated and economically poor, with the assumption that educated is desirable to provide life choices. Financially endowed vs financially unendowed individuals. Poverty seen as bad and education as good or as having value in the Page 6 of 9

7 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets marketplace. Step Two: Identify Any Contradictions and Generalisations We may make the assumption that setting up an orphanage is a good thing to do but what about colonisation? What arguments can be made taking this into account? What about the plans of the Mozambique government? How does the presence of these private charitable groups reflect on the government of Mozambique? Step Three: Disentangle the Complexities of All Dichotomies Should white Europeans interfere in the politics of black Mozambique? Is it right for Europeans to impose their cultural ideals on an emerging African country? Is Hoffman actually filling a need (hers or theirs?) or is she creating one for the purpose of self-aggrandisement? Step Four: Seek Marginalized (Missing) Voices Where are the children s voices? Who are their day-to-day carers at the orphanage (Mozambicans)? Are there any living parents/extended family? Step Five: Seek Links to Other Texts What has been written in this field regarding the support of children in underdeveloped countries by citizens in developed countries? How does your analysis fit with these views? Page 7 of 9

8 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets Step Six: Avoid Finite Interpretations; Seek Transitions and Alternative Readings What is Hoffman seeking to achieve here? Who really benefits? What are the outcomes for these children potentially caught between the values of two societies? Are her good deeds improving the lives of these children or imprisoning them in the values of European culture a culture with ideals which may not be the same as those of emerging African nations? Is this white European woman seeking to increase her status in both European and Mozambican societies by rescuing children in need and housing and educating them in the hope that she may do good within the Christian ethic and increase her chances of adulation in this life or preferment in another life? Or does this woman provide a perfect example of generosity of spirit and compassion for those in need an example against which the rest of us need to measure our own lives? Remember when conducting an analysis of this sort: Structural analysis is a useful tool for making sense of visual images; the static nature of signifier and signified doesn t allow for rapid changes in meaning and doesn t allow for the researcher to explore the image in greater depth. Although poststructural analysis enables in-depth analysis of visual images as they are deconstructed within cultural and historical contexts, the multiple readings and multiple conclusions mean there are no finite answers, everything is transitional. Poststructural analysis raises a multitude of questions! The analysis of visual images does require any available context to be taken into account. Reflective Questions Page 8 of 9

9 2015 Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Research Methods Datasets 1. Working through the example presented here, consider how you would answer the questions that the author, Carol Grbich, has posed. What are the challenges in drawing conclusions from single images? 2. What is the difference between the way we analyse images in everyday life and the way we analyse images in the social sciences? What is the difference between a structural and a poststructural analysis? 3. Using the two further pictures from the data exemplar, analyse and contrast them structurally and poststructurally following the 3-step and 6-step processes. 4. Examine your findings in relation to the above analysis. Does the original analysis need to be adjusted to take into account the additional information provided by the two extra photographs? Page 9 of 9