Iconic situations: multimodality, witnessing and collective memory

Abstract

This article deals with the multimodal components of televised situations that the author calls ‘iconic’ and that revolve around a dramatic announcement or declaration delivered on camera as part of a television broadcast. She argues that, in contemporary visual culture, iconic still photographs are gradually being replaced by iconic televised situations that become established as units of memory whose repeated airings and viewings ultimately gain an iconic status. Understanding this re-enactment has crucial importance in understanding the process by which the experience of the individual viewer or listener is interwoven with the narrative of the televised situation and in comprehending the role of witnessing. The article focuses on the spoken text, the roles of those who partake in the iconic situation and on the manner in which the fabric of verbal and visual elements helps to establish these situations as memorable. The author addresses three situations that were aired on Israeli television: the official announcement of the assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, the announcement of the death of Israeli singer Arik Einstein and the video message delivered by the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his place of captivity in Gaza.

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