Rhetoric and representation in nonfiction film

by Carl R. Plantinga

Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film examines the basic theoretical issues that ground any in-depth study of nonfiction film and video. Exploring the legitimacy of the distinction between fiction and nonfiction, Carl Plantinga here characterizes nonfiction film in a new way. He surveys the functions of moving images in visual communication and shows how nonfiction discourse presents information through structure and style, among other topics. Plantinga also examines several fundamental philosophical issues that are at the heart of nonfiction representation and communication, including the nature and functions of objectivity, reflexivity, and truth-telling. Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film takes a "critical realist" perspective on these issues and offers an alternative to the dominant postmodernist and poststructuralist theories of nonfiction film.