Translating the Public Imaginary: The Narrative Aesthetics of Public Engagement in Canadian Broadcasting Policy

Abstract

Background In public proceedings, professionalized discourses often reflect markedly different communicative strategies than those used by members of the general public. Analysis This article describes the findings of an aesthetic discourse analysis of public submissions to one of the largest public processes ever held by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Let’s Talk TV review of television regulation in Canada. Conclusions and implications Public submissions demonstrated heartfelt, affective, psychologically complex, and sometimes ambiguous expressions of desire. A routine tactic engaged in public submissions was “narrative aesthetics”—the implicit and explicit use of story structures to shape aspects of discourse legitimacy. The discursive landscape revealed gaps between public sensibilities and those legitimized by policy decisions, suggesting a territory of public experience more complex than the social realities reflected in policy discourse outcomes.