Abstract:

Mamali, C. (2006).
The value of images for exploring the functions of social representations: toward
self-generated pictorial social representations. A Comment on “History, emotions
and hetero-referential representations” by Sen and Wagner (2005).
Papers on Social Representations, 15, pages 3.1-3.9
[http://www.psr.jku.at/]

The comment is focused on the hetero-referential representations studied by the help of visual 
stimuli as it has been achieved in the article co-authored by Ragini Sen and Wolfgang Wagner. 
The comment points out the advantages of the approach developed by Sen and Wagner that 
has at its core the use of iconic stimuli that record information and symbolic meaning related 
to important events that marked the relations between Hindus and Muslims. The comment 
aims also at discussing the epistemic valence of what could be called pictorial (figural, iconic) 
social representations produced by the insiders of any community that could complement the 
predominant verbal approach of social representations which, by their content and expression, 
cannot cover the pictorial representations that are used naturally at different levels of social 
complexity from individual level up to community level and even global level.