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Chapter Seven Functional Interpretations In his communications research, George Gerbner presents the basic elements of a communications perspective: A central concern of the study of communication is the production, organization, composition, structure, distribution, and functions of message systems in society.l While Gerbner refers to mass communication, we have shown how his first five elements relate equally well to home modes of communication. It remains for us to discuss his sixth point: the functional dimensions of the home mode. We have seen how a model of sociolinguistics can be adapted to work with the systems, codes, and modes of visual-pictorial communication. One major contribution of sociolinguistic theory is the realization that functions of speaking vary across situational, social, and cultural contexts. People perform and engage in speech for a variety of culturally appropriate reasons. Dell Hymes reminds us that: ... the tendency to generalize about channels, such as speech and writing, as if they were everywhere uniform in function, must be overcome, and the specific roles allotted to various modalities of communication in a given culture carefully delineated.2 The concept of functional variability in the use of communication channels and modes can also be applied to society's use of photographic Images. Many questions regarding functional relationships are inevitably reduced to asking "why" people do what they do. But in this book, discussion of "why" questions has been relegated to a late chapterfor several reasons. One intention of this presentation strategy is to balance a common tendency to ask for psychological explanations first and foremost. People are generally more anxious to speculate on "why" rather than to explore questions related to how, what, when, or where.3 But certain "why" questions cannot be addressed in a competent manner until we have a clearer understanding of the behavior under study. This is especially important in an area defined by stereotypes, or when the behavior is mistakenly thought to be so simple as to be beneath comment. Thus, considerable time and attention have been given to outlining and 131 132 Snapshot Versions of Life illustrating the how, what, when, and where of behavior that we will now attempt to interpret in functional terms. In summary, we have prepared a groundwork for understanding the functions of symbols as described by Gerbner: Symbolic functions are the consequences that flow from a communication, regardless of intentions and pretensions. To investigate these functions one must analyze the symbolic environment and particular configurations of symbols in it. In this way one can obtain information about what the actual messages, rather than the presumed messages might be. . .. The human and social consequences of the communication can be explored by investigating the contributions that the symbolic functions and their cultivation of particular notions might make to thinking and behavior.... That is what culture does.4 In the home mode, this is what Kodak culture does. The psychological, social, and cultural functions associated with home mode communication are considerably more complicated than most people initially expect. Stanley Milgram has suggested that photography "is a technology that extends two psychological functions: perception and memory. "5 But this statement addresses itself to the level of the psychology at the individual; since we have concentrated more on social and cultural levels, we should be able to add more. We should not be thinking in terms of single functions, but in terms of multiple ones. People do the same things, and "use" the same materials, for a variety of reasons-reasons which are best discovered by examining their social context. At the same time, we must avoid the infinite regression of "why" questions; for any type of reason or interpretive statement, another "why" can always be asked. The choice of certain cutoff points will satisfy some readers and frustrate others. Functional questions can be studied through use of the "do for" dimension (mentioned in Chapter Six). What people expect their home mode collection to "do for" them can now be connected to what people "do with" their images. People will often be able to simply say what they expect photos to do-but there are other functions which operate in latent, unconscious, unacknowledged ways. These must be discovered through the analyst's observations, speculations, and conclusions. Thus, our functional interpretations must come from several sources, namely picturemaking informants, photography guides, and analysis. Using several sources counteracts any deficiency or limitation that might result from using only one kind of information. Informants tend to limit their explanations to something like: "It's just a...

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