WHEN MYTH OVERSHADOWS HISTORICAL ARTEFACTS: A SOCIAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS USING CROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abstract

The go-to images representing the history of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (IRS) are of identifiable Indigenous children—often digitized Crown photography now used to teach difficult history. The choice of digital image in online education may perpetuate the exploitation of children and distract from historical context that facilitates critical inquiry among learners. This social semiotic research analyzed a Crown photograph for paradigmatic relationships with similar themed images to answer the question of missing context and its effect on truth value around a society’s ideologies. Second order semiotics informed by Barthes’ Signification process ending in myth reveals false beliefs associated with images of children and the IRS: enforced institutionalization, child advocacy, presentation of a comprehensive history, and cultural genocide. Notably, image presentation is habitually contrary to social norms related to the protection of children. Further research into ethical reflexivity of digital image choice in education is warranted.