Social Representation in Ghanaian Cinema

Abstract

All societies tell stories. Story telling can take many forms like myths, histories, films and many others. Storytelling can be seen to serve many different social functions from entertainment to cultural, social or religious instructions. These stories are consumed by people of different backgrounds like, race, sex, age and class. Cinema, television and the related media fascinate their audiences in a variety of ways, but entertainment is what most people want when they pay for leisure products. However, most spectators want films to give them a buzz through the arousal of intense emotions. Spectators and audiences according to reception theory bring identities consciously or unconsciously to the cinema. Audiences have also been defined by their ethnicity, class and environment that inform them in their reading of films. Over the years cinematic representations of Ghanaian society have lived up to the basic ideas that informed the setting up the film industry, to educate and entertain. But beyond educating and entertaining, cinema has also formed and nurtured an interesting relationship with society. Cinema is sometimes said to mirror society and vice versa. This is because somehow a thing seen directly or through some visual representation brings us closer to some actual reality. The representation of the concept of class in Ghanaian cinema has become a topic for inquiry in the view of the fact that the industry has experienced paradigm shifts since its inception and the country also and has also experienced social changes since independence. The different perceptions about the existence of a class structure remain a debate even though the concept of class and status form the subject matter of most of the films made in Ghana. These concepts most often are useful for the development of the narrative. Ghanaian society and her understanding of a class structure has historical links from the pre–colonial, colonial and post –colonial eras. But in serving a dramatic purpose, what are the rules of engagement in the representation of class in Ghanaian cinema? This thesis will examine the concept of class in relation to Ghanaian films and Ghanaian society. Is what divides us more or less significant than what unites us? There will be a thorough investigation into the concept of class and status with Ghanaian social constructions of these concepts. The different types of filmmakers who produce film and their understanding and representation of the concept of social class. There are quite a number of ambiguities about the concept of class and status. Each filmmaker‘s social realities contribute to the understanding and representation of this concept. There is also a very interesting generational interpretation and representation of the concept of class in film. An important principle of representation is that the image is not the thing itself but a thing itself. The processes of representation reflect the social world - not a mental one. As many sociologists have stated, no society is flat neither do the individuals who exist in these function in vacuum. Where these individuals find themselves also influences their beliefs, thoughts and actions. People conform most often to their immediate environment. It is evident that society through its different constructions is responsible for the appropriation and prescription of class and status.