Publisher's Synopsis
Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film examines the basic theoretical issues that ground any in-depth study of non-fiction film and video. Exploring the legitimacy of the distinction between fiction and nonfiction, Carl Plantinga here characterises nonfiction film in a new way. He surveys the functions of moving images in visual communication and shows how nonfiction discourse presents information through structural and stylistic analysis, among other topics. The author also examines several fundamental philosophical issues that are at the heart of nonfiction representation and communication, including the nature and functions of objectivity, reflexivity, and truth-telling. Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film takes a 'critical realist' perspective on these issues and offers an alternative to the dominant post-modernist and post-structuralist theories of non-fiction film.
