All Media Theories !!

Question 1

Who’s theory is the semiotic theory??

Answer 1

Roland Barthes

Question 2

What’s the semiotic theory??

Answer 2

Media products are embedded by codes that create meaning.
- Enigma
- Action
- Semantic
- Symbolic
- Referential

Question 3

Who’s theory is the theory of structuralism??

Answer 3

Claude Levi-Strauss

Question 4

What is the theory of structuralism??

Answer 4

Meaning is dependent upon pairs of binary oppositions

Question 5

Who’s theory is the theory of representation??

Answer 5

Stuart Hall

Question 6

What is the theory of representation??

Answer 6

The idea of stereotyping (reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits)

Question 7

Who’s theory is the theory of identity??

Answer 7

David Gauntlett

Question 8

What is the theory of identity??

Answer 8

The media provides the audience with ‘tools’ to construct our identities with

Question 9

Which 2 women created the 2 feminist theories??

Answer 9

bell hooks
Van Zoonen

Question 10

What is Van Zoonen’s feminist theory??

Answer 10

• The display of women’s bodies as objects is a core element of western patriarchal culture
• The male body is often portrayed as a spectacle

Question 11

What is bell hooks’ feminist theory??

Answer 11

• Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice
• Race, class & sex determine the extent to which an individual is exploited or discriminated

Question 12

What’s the postcolonial theory??

Answer 12

• Colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era
• Civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness
• We trust those that we ‘recognise’ better (e.g. female more likely to sit with females)

Question 13

Who’s theory is the end of audience theory??

Answer 13

Clay Shirky

Question 14

What is the end of audience theory??

Answer 14

Traditional passive audiences have become active content creators

Question 15

Who’s theory is the media effects theory??

Answer 15

Bandura

Question 16

What is the media effects theory??

Answer 16

(Bobo doll experiment)
- The media can directly implant ideas in the mind of the audience
- Audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct through modelling

Question 17

Who’s theory is the fandom theory??

Answer 17

Henry Jenkins

Question 18

What is the fandom theory??

Answer 18

Fans are active participants of the construction and circulation of textual meanings.
Textual poaching (fans take and interpret media texts in ways not intended by the media producer)

Question 19

Who’s theory is the theory of postmodernism??

Answer 19

Baudrillard

Question 20

What is the theory of postmodernism??

Answer 20

In a post-modern world, media products create ‘representations’ of reality and call them ‘simulacra’
Suggests audiences can’t tell the difference between these simulacra and reality

Question 21

Who’s theory is the male gaze theory??

Answer 21

Laura Mulvey

Question 22

What is the male gaze theory??

Answer 22

The representation of women as objects feeds the demand of male audiences.
- Women are objectified because heterosexual men are in control of the camera
- Women are considered the passive gender (to be looked at) and men are the active gender (to do the looking)