http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_%28arts)
Representation refers to the construction in any medium of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures
* Thematically: e.g. class, age, gender, ethnicity, or more broadly via identity, stereotyping, ‘prejudice’ (typically racial) or ‘bias’ (typically political); also topics such as royalty, motherhood, childhood, nationhood etc.
* Generically: e.g. ‘bias’ in news, class in soap operas or sitcoms, gender in ads.
* Media-specifically: e.g. in TV, film, comics, magazines (mags useful for representations aimed at specific audiences)
Contemporary theories of representation stress the construction of particular realities. Teachers who focus on ‘bias’, ‘prejudice’ or ‘stereotypes’ risk implying that there is a single unchanging ‘true’ reality.
