分析哲学视野下纪录片的定义

The Definition of Documentary from the Perspective of Analytical Philosophy

自20世纪80年代后期始,西方一些分析哲学家在语言哲学启发下,思考如何界定纪录片的问题,并提出大致四种解决方案。一是以与符号学理论中的“索引性”非常接近的“印迹”概念为核心,确立了一套纪录片之所以成为纪录片的新原则。二是从创作意图出发来界定纪录片,即当创作者的创作意图是让观众相信影片内容是在呈现现实世界时,影片就是一部纪录片。三是从观众接受角度出发来界定纪录片。四是主张纪录片的身份是由多重维度、多种因素共同决定的。

In the late 1980s, inspired by the philosophy of language, some western analytical philosophers began to work on the definition of documentary film. There are roughly four approaches they proposed. The first is based on the concept of “trace”, which is very close to “index” in semiotic theory. By it, the principle of how a documentary gets its status as a documentary is established. The second is to define a documentary from the filmmaker’s creative intention, that is, when the intention is to make the audience believe that the film is presenting the real world, the film is a documentary, and vice versa. The third is to define a documentary from the perspective of audience reception. The fourth is to deny all the three mentioned above. It is argued that the status of a documentary is determined by multiple factors in multiple dimensions.