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Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais

Print version ISSN 0102-6909


MENEZES, Paulo. Representification: the (im)possible relationship between documental cinema and knowledge. Rev. bras. Ci. Soc. [online]. 2003, vol.18, n.51, pp. 87-98. ISSN 0102-6909.

This article discusses the appearance of the documental cinema by means of analyzing its original variants ­ the documentary, the social documentary, and the ethnographic movie ­ in their relationships with the knowledge possibilities they offer, or the access to knowledge, of the social reality from their positivist foundations. It also discusses the role of "fiction" and the staging of the "real" in such movies. Questioning their epistemological potentialities while investigating what kind of information those images propose. Finally, the author proposes the "representification" as a concept that overcomes both the problems and the notions commonly used to analyze the relationship between imagery and reality ­ reproduction, performance and double ­ as it recovers the documental cinematographic discourse essential building character, regarding as significant the relationship between image and spectator.

Keywords : Documentary; Sociological movie; Ethnographic movie; Representification; Documental movie.
