Video interventions in “everyday life”: semiotic and spatial practices of embedded video as a therapeutic tool in reality TV parenting programmes

摘要

Video technologies have made their way into many domains of social life; for example, as a useful tool for therapeutic purposes. Reality TV parenting programmes, such as Supernanny, Little Angels, and The House of Tiny Tearaways, all use embedded video as a prominent element, not only of the audiovisual spectacle of reality television but also of the therapy, counselling, coaching and instruction intrinsic to these programmes. The main uses of embedded video can be categorised into the following genres: live video observation/monitoring; live video relay and instruction from one space to another; and video-prompted recall. Using a multimodal conversation analytical approach, excerpts from these programmes are analysed to investigate several key phenomena: mediated space and video practice; use of embedded video to localise, spatialise and visualise talk and action that is distant in time and/or space; the translating, stretching and cutting of experience in and through video technologies; and the display and embodied mediation of professional vision. The use of video technology enables the professional to do a number of important therapeutic or counselling tasks; for example, to give timely advice and instruction to a parent in the midst of a troublesome situation involving their child(ren) or to use playback of video recordings of past conduct to prompt reflection and a perspective shift by the parent(s). These have to be managed both temporally and spatially, as sequentially organised settings in which semiotic space is designed to channel interaction and experience, and interactional space is governed from a distance through the semiotic representations afforded by the video technology.View full textDownload full textKeywordsembedded video, reality TV, parenting, media therapeutics, mediated space, recall, instruction, professional visionRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2011.548648