Mediating Self-Representations: Tensions Surrounding 'Ordinary'
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Mediating Self-Representations: Tensions Surrounding ‘Ordinary’ Participation in Public Sector Projects Nancy Thumim Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science University of London July 2007 UMI Number: U511466 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U511466 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 F Abstract Within a contemporary context of self-revelation, which Jon Dovey has called the ‘self speaking society’ and Ken Plummer has described as the ‘auto/biographical society’, public funds are being directed towards inviting members of the public to represent themselves on public platforms. This thesis asks how processes of mediation shape these self-representations in public sector projects in the cultural sphere. The notion of mediation as a process delineates a specific form of enquiry which stresses both the multiple factors that shape meaning, and the open-ended nature of meaning-making. Within this broad concern, this study focuses on the processes of mediation implicated when public service institutions invite members of the public to represent themselves, assist them in constructing their self-representations and then frame and disseminate the finished texts. Three overlapping but distinct processes of mediation are examined: institutional, textual (including technological) and cultural The empirical analysis explores the production processes in two cases: BBC Wales’ Capture Wales and The Museum of London’s London ’s Voices. The case studies are multi-method, including in-depth interviews and observations with participants and producers, and the textual analysis of selected self-representations. The empirical research suggests that processes of mediation inLondon’s Voices and Capture Wales are constituted through a series of tensions that are both challenging and productive. The public museum and public service broadcaster constitute markedly different contexts and consequently the particular ways in which tensions emerge in each case study are distinctive. Nevertheless self-representations in both Capture Wales and London’s Voices are mediated by tensions in four areas:Purposes, Quality, Ordinary people, and Community. Institutional personnel hold varied conceptions of purpose and participants take part for a range of reasons, from imagining audiences for what they produce, to training in specific skills. Some stakeholders emphasise quality of process while others emphasise quality of outcome. The category of the ‘ordinary person’ is both strategically avoided, and invoked and, in the texts produced, the ‘ordinary person’ is both brought into being and simultaneously undermined. ‘Community’ is something which these projects aim to engender and, at the same time, is seen as always already there. In analyzing the empirical data, I draw on Nikolas Rose’s Foucauldian analysis of structures of governance to argue that the categories o f‘ordinary people’ and ‘community’, as revealed in the case studies, work to constrain how members of the public represent themselves. At the same time the empirical analyses reveal cracks in these structures of governance, which are potentially challenging to their very operation. However, I argue that it is also possible to imagine these cracks as valves, which allow the structures of governance to continue to function all the more effectively. Finally, the thesis considers the normative and critical arguments for the continuation of publicly funded projects of this kind. In particular, I suggest that projects of this kind present a challenge to the increasingly formatted representation of members of the public in media and cultural spaces that is evidenced, for example, in the expansion of reality television formats across the television channels. 2 Declaration The work presented in this thesis is my own. Nancy Thumim Table of Contents Abstract 2 Declaration 3 List of Figures 6 Permissions 7 Acknowledgements 8 Chapter 1: Introduction: Publicly Funded Self-Representation 9 Introduction 9 Two Cases: London’s Voices and Capture Wales 14 Thesis Chapter Plan 25 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework: Mediating Self-Representations 30 Introduction 30 Researching Media Audiences 32 Processes of Mediation 37 Constructs of Ordinary People and Community 44 Self Representation: A More Democratic Kind of 51 Representation? Summary and Conclusions 58 Chapter 3: Historic Context: Representing the Public in Public Culture 61 Introduction 61 Nineteenth Century: Building the Nation through Representing 62 the Public Early Twentieth Century: Building the Nation and a Wider 65 National Public Mid Twentieth Century: Anxiety about Representing the Public 68 Late Twentieth - Early Twenty-First Century: Publics Represent 70 Themselves Summary and Conclusions 80 Chapter 4: Methodological Approach: Multiple Case Study 84 Introduction 84 Case Studies 85 Participating Audiences and Audiences Participating in 90 Production Designing a Multiple Case Study ofLondon’s Voices and 93 Capture Wales 4 Data Analysis 111 Summary and Conclusions 114 Figure 1. Empirical Work: The Two Case Studies 117 Chapter 5: Processes of Institutional Mediation 120 Introduction 120 Tension over the Purpose of Facilitating Self-Representation 123 Tension over the Construct Ordinary People 140 Tension over the Construct Community 143 Tensions Surrounding Quality 147 Summary and Conclusions 152 Chapter 6: Processes of Textual Mediation 156 Introduction 156 Purpose 157 Ordinary People 164 " Community 172 Quality 177 Textual Analysis of Self-Representations and the Problems It 182 Poses Summary and Conclusions 185 Figures 2 -1 1 : Illustrations 188 Chapter 7: Participants and Processes of Cultural Mediation 196 Introduction 196 Purposes 196 Ordinary People 206 Community 211 Quality 217 Summary and Conclusions 224 Chapter 8: Conclusion 227 Introduction 227 Mediating Self-Representations: Summary 228 How Do Processes of Mediation Shape Self-Representations? 233 Policy Implications 247 Future Priorities 249 Bibliography 253 Appendices 264 Appendix A. London’s Voices and Capture Wales Project 264 Outlines Appendix B. Interview Guides 267 Appendix C. Consent Forms 274 Appendix D. Documents Cited 281 5 List of Figures Figure 1. Empirical work: The two case studies 117 Figure 2. Poem - ‘Mr Transitional’ - as it appears on the website 188 Figure 3. Poem - ‘Mr Transitional’ - enlarged text 188 Figure 4. 16-19 poems’ thumbnails webpage 189 Figure 5. 16-19 main webpage 189 Figure 6. Leaflet for Holidays o f a Lifetime exhibition 190 Figure 7. Capture Wales website homepage 191 Figure 8. Screen grab showing Dai Evans’ digital story as it is 192 presented with the viewing screen Figure 9. London ’s Voices website homepage 193 Figure 10. 16-19 photograph of girl in red as it appears on the 194 website Figure 11. Screen grab showing Val Bethell’s digital story as it is 195 presented with the viewing screen 6 Permissions Thank you to BBC Wales’ Capture Wales and to Dai Evans for permission to reproduce Figures 7, 8 and 11 from the Capture Wales website. Best efforts were made to contact Val Bethell re Figure 11. Thank you to the Museum of London for permission to reproduce Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 from the London’s Voices website and publicity materials. 7 Acknowledgements A lot of very special people have supported me throughout the process of this PhD. To all those amazing friends and family, a huge thank you; I’m not going to list names, you all know who you are, how much I appreciate you, and that you kept me going. I have had a brilliant, and engaged, supervisor in Sonia Livingstone and have learned so much along the way from her. Roger Silverstone and Nick Couldry were on my thesis committee and both of them provided insights, suggestions, and challenges that helped this work enormously; thank you to them both and I am so sad Roger is not here to see me finish this. Everyone in the Media and Communications Department at LSE provided a stimulating and supportive environment in which to work during these last few years. Of course, this research would not have been possible without the research participants. Everyone involved in Capture Wales at BBC Wales, and London’s Voices at the Museum of London - the producers, the participants, the representatives of partner organisations - were all so very welcoming, open, thought provoking and giving of their time. So many people took time to talk to me about their experiences and opinions, and cheerfully put up with my sitting watching them as they went about their work as producers and as participants. All these people really made the research come alive. I hope I have done you all justice in this thesis. Carole Gilligan - Video Nation , Karen Brookfield - Heritage Lottery Fund, Dorothy Sheridan - Mass Observation Archive, and Chris Mohr - Video Nation all helped me to think about the case studies in a wider