ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of representation, why it has been so appealing for so long and continues to be in the digital era, and what kind of questions about media images, their production, and their viewers/consumers/users should we ask when analysing representations. The film Orlando is discussed and analysed throughout the chapter to illuminate these questions. By drawing on feminist, queer, and postcolonial critiques of representation, the chapter discusses the complex relations between reality, visibility, and power; the notion of the ‘stereotype’ and its ambivalence; and hopes placed on self-representation in digital media. Finally, the chapter reflects on contemporary debates on and critiques of the notion of representation: what it can and cannot do analytically. In the essay accompanying the chapter, Yuanwanruo Chen analyses the representation of bisexuality in the film Chasing Amy and argues that the film challenges bisexual stereotypes by providing a complex portrayal of sexuality and relationships beyond binaries.
