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The Act of Watching Documentary

Hill, Annette LU (2022) p.65-76
Abstract
In The Act of Documenting (2016), Winston, Vanstone and Chi connect production studies with reception studies in docmedia. This work signals how the act of documenting, a performative practice within the media industries, is intrinsically connected with the act of watching, a performative practice within cultures of viewing. There are challenges in conducting documentary audience research, in particular reflecting on the meaning of engagement for documentary studies. A pragmatic meaning of engagement as a metric, or marker of impact, limits our ability to capture the complex engagement of audiences as they reflect on the meaning and value of documentaries that matter to them. The act of watching documentary is a multi-faceted performance... (More)
In The Act of Documenting (2016), Winston, Vanstone and Chi connect production studies with reception studies in docmedia. This work signals how the act of documenting, a performative practice within the media industries, is intrinsically connected with the act of watching, a performative practice within cultures of viewing. There are challenges in conducting documentary audience research, in particular reflecting on the meaning of engagement for documentary studies. A pragmatic meaning of engagement as a metric, or marker of impact, limits our ability to capture the complex engagement of audiences as they reflect on the meaning and value of documentaries that matter to them. The act of watching documentary is a multi-faceted performance that signals the significance of context and subjectivity for audiences of factuality. By asking audiences themselves about their documentary engagement hopefully we can expand our horizon of understanding of the resonance of documentary in people’s lives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
documentary, media audiences, media engagement
host publication
It's the Media, Stupid! : Essays in Honour of Brian Winston - Essays in Honour of Brian Winston
editor
Keeble, Richard Lance
pages
65 - 76
publisher
Abramis
ISBN
9781845497965
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6587e261-6c43-41f8-adac-87054c49b72d
date added to LUP
2022-08-31 12:48:23
date last changed
2022-09-06 14:42:57
@inbook{6587e261-6c43-41f8-adac-87054c49b72d,
  abstract     = {{In The Act of Documenting (2016), Winston, Vanstone and Chi connect production studies with reception studies in docmedia. This work signals how the act of documenting, a performative practice within the media industries, is intrinsically connected with the act of watching, a performative practice within cultures of viewing. There are challenges in conducting documentary audience research, in particular reflecting on the meaning of engagement for documentary studies. A pragmatic meaning of engagement as a metric, or marker of impact, limits our ability to capture the complex engagement of audiences as they reflect on the meaning and value of documentaries that matter to them. The act of watching documentary is a multi-faceted performance that signals the significance of context and subjectivity for audiences of factuality. By asking audiences themselves about their documentary engagement hopefully we can expand our horizon of understanding of the resonance of documentary in people’s lives.}},
  author       = {{Hill, Annette}},
  booktitle    = {{It's the Media, Stupid! : Essays in Honour of Brian Winston}},
  editor       = {{Keeble, Richard Lance}},
  isbn         = {{9781845497965}},
  keywords     = {{documentary; media audiences; media engagement}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  pages        = {{65--76}},
  publisher    = {{Abramis}},
  title        = {{The Act of Watching Documentary}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}