The work of representation

Representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. It does involve the use of language, of signs and images which stand for or represent things. Representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either ‘real’ world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events. Meaning depends on relationship between things in the world – people, objects and events, real or fictional – and conceptual system, which can operate as mental representations of them. At the heart of meaning…