Powell’s point
‘Denial and deception’ at the UN
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12700676 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Finn (0000-0001-9196-9420, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada,, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 25-49 |
| Publication date | 2010-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Visual Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1470-3572 • E-ISSN: 1741-3214 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1470357209356373 |
| OpenAlex | W2017879816 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 14 |
This article examines the use of visual representation in Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations on 5 February 2003. The article borrows from Charles Goodwin’s theory of professional vision to argue that Powell’s presentation failed to develop a shared vision of the material presented. The primary flaw in this regard was Powell’s failure to acknowledge and account for the differences between modes of visual representation. Projections of text, photographs, video, maps and computer-generated illustrations were presented as synonymous forms of visual evidence. By not accounting for the unique properties of these media, Powell failed to articulate the images as evidentiary statements. What was to be a convincing display of visual evidence was instead a weak and discontinuous PowerPoint slide show. Using Powell’s presentation as a case-study, the author stresses the need to be more critically aware of one’s representational choices in acts of communication
Cognitive science · Deception · Denial · Epistemology · Multimedia · Point (geometry · Political science · Politics · Presentation (obstetrics · Psychoanalysis · Representation (politics · Visual media · Computer Science · Global Security and Public Health · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social Psychology
The Burden of Representation
Empire and Communications
Laboratory Life
Deconstructing the Map
The map as a kind of talk
Witnessing Identification
The Eye of Everyman
The fixation of (visual) evidence
The externalized retina
Understanding media
The Body and the Archive
The Image of Objectivity
Action and embodiment within situated human interaction
Professional Vision
| Citations per year | 0.15 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2016 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |