Page 188 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

PERSUASION

PERFORMANCE

The semiotics of self. The concept of performance has gained ground
in recent cultural analysis; it encompasses both institutionalised,
professional performances (drama, ritual), and a non-psychologistic
approach to individual people’s self-presentation and interaction. It
also seems to suffuse American popular culture and everyday
encounters.
The appeal of performance as a general analytic category is twofold.
First, its very generality: the term has been applied not only to what
actors and other professionals do but also to the ‘performance’ of
unrehearsed cultural practices in everyday life, to the actions of
audiences, spectators and readers. Although performances in everyday
life will differ markedly from theatrical or media performances, there
are sufficient connections to make comparison worthwhile. You can
analyse the differences between fictional and public performance
(drama and politics); between acting conventions (naturalistic and
ritualistic); between media (cinema and television); between genres
(soap opera and Shakespeare); and so on.
Second, the concept of performance directs the analyst’s attention
not to the internal psychological state or even the behaviour of a given
player, but to formal, rule-governed actions which are appropriate to
the given performative genre. If you start looking at ordinary
encounters in this way, from doctor–patient interviews to telephone
calls, it is clear that there are performative protocols in play that require
skill and creativity in the manipulation of space, movement, voice,
timing, turn-taking, gesture, costume and the rest of the repertoire of
enactment.

PERSUASION

The act of motivating or influencing the behaviour, opinions, values
and beliefs of groups and individuals. Persuasion in the media is both
political (political parties, lobbyists, interest groups, spin) and
commercial (advertising, product placement, public relations). In
communication practices such as marketing and PR, persuasion
techniques are designed to ‘influence how receivers choose or decide
which information to process’ (Ross, 1990: 4)
The genre of public service advertising is an example of the
employment of persuasion techniques. Such campaigns are concerned

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