The myth of youth: Visual representation patterns of youth in the example of photographs in magazine Mladý svět in 1970s and 1990s
Abstract
The general issue of this text is mythologization of reality in photographic images. Particularly, the research deals with the construction of the “myth of youth” in the example of photographs in Czech magazine for youth, Mladý svět, in 1970s and 1990s.
The aim is to find out how Czech visual culture has been historically formed by specific ideologies, to be able to understand the process of changes in the production of meanings, which is part of the development of communication in our society. The theoretical context of this text is built upon a visual studies approach to culture.
It is inspired mostly by the issues of visual literacy, critical analysis of visual culture and image based research. The concept of ideologies analysed in terms of social knowledge, society and discourse is adopted from van Dijk’s multidisciplinary theory.
The basic approach of this work is a critical theory of visual culture with focus on media discourse. A semiotic analysis is used to uncover stereotypic patterns of representations and layers of latent social and culture meanings carried by images.