Source: The Guardian |
We revise from the following summary of Sohn-Rethel's work on realism and look for examples of the three realism codes:
- Martin Sohn-Rethel (2016, Reel To Reel asserts that films cannot be 'windows on the world' and can only be constructs. He explains how 7 codes make them appear real. Realism is not a given reflection of the world but rather a construction that must, often laboriously, be worked at.
Film and television are not windows on the world, transparent, reflective and neutral. Sohn-Rethel coined his approach “anti-window-on-the-world-ism”.
For Sohn-Rethel, there is not one single ‘real world’ realism in film, but many constructed ones.
Realism is a constructed effect.
So why do texts look ‘real' ? Sohn-Rethel proposes a set of 7 codes of realism in analysing texts, such as the requirement of surface realism, that the representation looks and sounds like the real world it claims to show; the code of ideological truth, that is, does the fictional representation construct a compelling, persuasive truth; the code of psychology and character motivation, that is, the fictional representation invests greater realism in the psychology of its characters than in other codes.
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