Semiotic analysis of stock photographs of monks

Abstract

Culture often controls how viewers see and interpret photographs, defining ways that have been agreed upon by members of that society. As a photograph often contains culturally-specific elements such as people, places or ceremonies primarily belonging to one culture, people from the same culture typically understand photographs which have content related to their own cultural background (Peesapati et al. 1). Conversely, they may understand photographs presented with content from other cultural backgrounds differently. Therefore, understanding cultural differences is important because different interpretations can lead to problems and create stereotyping in cross-cultural communication when people are from various cultures and do not share the same beliefs, ideas or expectations. This study investigates the different interpretations of Buddhist monks in stock photos. Data was collected from a total of fifty images found through keyword searches using two different languages: English and Thai. The analysis explores stereotypes reflected in these photographs of monks. This study focused on photographs of monks, and monks play an important role in the cultures of both Thailand and Buddhism. In Thai culture any misunderstandings or misconceptions about monks are considered to be controversial and sensitive. In order to understand the different possible meanings of the photographs, semiotic analysis and Multimodality under the theory of Kress and van Leeuwen were used in the study. The results showed that 'monk' and 'Pra-song' have different cultural meanings. Buddhist Monks in Western society are stereotyped as strange or unusual. They are shown as "Other", being depicted through the photographs using long distance shots, the 'offer gaze', an oblique view and by cropping the images to show only parts of their bodies. These disconnect English speaking viewers from the monks. In contrast, Pra- song in Thai culture are considered as "one of us" who always belong to Thai society. As Pra-song play an important role in the spiritual life of Thai people the people feel psychologically connected to monks. As a result, this constructs the meaning and concept of monk as a person who is a member of Thai society. Therefore, it can be said that these monk photographs show the different power of monk in the different cultures. Specifically, the 'monk' is viewed as powerless in an English speaking culture while they are respected in the Thai culture.