Context: general, personal, composer

It is important to remember that whenever we approach a visual text, we are communicating with another person. In any given text there is a responder (audience or viewer) and a composer (illustrator, painter, photographer, representer). One way of remembering this is to think of each text as a dialogue.

Think to yourself, if you were drawing a picture (a visual text) what factors would influence the way that you draw? Will the picture that you draw be different if you are drawing it for your mother, your grandmother, your teacher? Will it change if you were drawing a picture for your friend in class? How would the picture change if you were drawing a picture that ridiculed a person or if you were trying to impress somebody? Is the way that you draw and what you draw affected by your personality?

If you can answer some, or all, of these questions, then you already understand the concept (idea) of context. The same idea is used when composing or responding to all types of visual texts. Now it is a matter of recognising when matters of context arise when you are composing or responding to a visual text.

Context

The context, put simply, is the situation in which an individual or text is located. These situations refer to anything that may influence the content (what the text is about) of a visual text or the way in which the visual text is presented. Read on to understand this idea more completely.

Personal Context

Think about your own personal context or personal circumstances. The factors that influence the way you perceive (look at) the world can include

• family
• ethnicity (cultural background)
• gender (male/female)
• neighbourhood
• friends
• school and teachers.

It can also include interests and hobbies from sport and music to model-building and stamp- collecting, educational background. It can even include personal likes or dislikes. All these factors influence how you relate to the world and what you think is important. They are responsible for defining you as a unique person as they shape your beliefs and your values.

Refer to the 'Personal context' animation for an interactive demonstration of personal context

Now, considering that you are a unique individual, how is somebody else different from you? This will affect the way in which we, as individuals, analyse a text.

A person with a keen interest in football, for example, will have a clearer understanding of a photograph of a football match (this is a visual text). A person who comes from Poland will have a different understanding of a postcard from Poland compared with a person who knows very little about Poland. The person who has never been to Poland might be amazed or intrigued by the architecture. A person who came from Poland might be reminded of the time they lived there.

Let's have a look at a specific visual text. The following is a painting that Mark has painted (composed) after visiting the Zoo.

Text one

How would different people respond to this text?

If Fran were an animal lover she would be most interested in Mark's painting (representation) of the animals.

Her response might be something like this:

FRAN: I love elephants! They look so happy in your painting!

Text Two

If Fran were a 'sweet tooth' (a person who likes sweet, sugary food) she would be mostly interested in the chocolates and fizzy drink.

Her response might be something like this:

FRAN: Did your Dad buy you chocolates and fizzy drinks? I really love to eat Mars bars and drink Fanta. What did you get?

Text Three

Complete the 'Personal Context Activity' animation to practise using the concept (idea) of personal context.

Composer's context

Just as you have a personal context which affects the way that you respond to a text, composers also have personal context. Let's look at Text One and instead of using the responder's context, we will use the composer's context.

How does our reading of the text change if Mark's context includes that his father has been away working for a year? Our reading will change because now we understand that the focus of Mark's painting is on the fact that he spent the day with his father, rather than the animals or the food.

Fran's response might be something like this:

FRAN: I am really happy that your father is back in Australia! It looks like you had a really good time!

Text Four

How does our understanding of the text change if Mark's context includes that he has always been afraid of the zoo?

Fran's response may be something like this:

FRAN: It is so great that you finally went to the zoo. It is a lot of fun isn't it? Maybe we can go together next weekend?

Text Five

Complete the 'Composer's context activity* to practise using the concept (idea) of composer's context.

In this chapter

In this chapter we have examined the effects that context has on how visual texts are composed and how responders interpret visual texts.

Personal context is the way a responder brings their own interests and ideas to a visual text. These factors will influence the way in which a responder interprets a visual text. Texts Two and Three demonstrate how one spoken text can be perceived in a different way according to the responder's interests or context.

A composer's context is the effect of context on the way a visual text is represented (painted, drawn, photographed). This will influence the images, colours and subject matter that a composer uses. In Texts Four and Five we can see how Fran's knowledge of Mark's context changes the impact and meaning of her reply.