Key Terms Flashcards
representation key terms
What is feminised masculinity
A representation of masculinity that moves away from traditional stereotypes
representation key terms
Define ‘gender trouble’
A media product that subverts heteronormativity, offering an alternative representation of masculinity or feminist to traditional stereotypes
The idea that gender is created through repetitions and interacting with one another
representation key terms
What is socially constructed gender
A sociological view that argues that our gender based identities aren’t derived as a result of a biological disposition, but are formed as a result of social learning. It is suggested that the media plays an important role in terms of defining the kinds of gender specific behaviours we ought to exhibit as men and women
representation key terms
Define gender binary
The presentation of gender as either masculine or feminine, male or female. Media products, it is argued, reinforce this simplified view of gender identity.
representation key terms
What is ‘gender as performance’
An idea forwarded by Judith butler that our gender identities aren’t who we are but what we do. As such, our gender identities are a performance rather a given
representation key terms
What is a heteronormative representation
A traditional representation that asserts heterosexuality and the simplified gender binary of male/female as natural
representation key terms
What are fixed identities
A term used by David gauntlett to describe the process of fixing an individuals identity through the application of rigid social rules. Gauntlett argues that fixed identities were dominant in the 1950s and ‘60s when rules regarding gender, class, and ethnicity were heavily prescribed by society.
representation key terms
What are fluid identities
A term used by David gauntlett to describe the contemporary process of identity construction. Gauntlett suggests that individuals use a range of role models and social influences to continuously craft their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes. Gauntlett argues that media plurality and the resulting diversity of media representations available to a contemporary audience facilitates fluidic identity construction
representation key terms
What is a post-traditional society
A term used to describe a society that has transcended traditional expectations regarding gender roles
Define action code
Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow, for example in a scene from a soap opera, a couple are intimate in a bedroom and the camera shows the audience the husband’s car pulling up at the front of the house.
Define active audience
Audiences actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpreting their meanings.
Define anchorage
The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute to the meaning associated with that image. If the caption of voice-over is changed then so may the way in which the audience interprets the image. An image with an anchor is a closed text; the audience are given a preferred reading. A text without an anchor is an open text as the audience can interpret it as they wish.
The same image of a school in a local newspaper could include a negative or a positive headline, which may change the way in which the same image is viewed by the reader.
Define appeal
The way in which products attract and interest an audience, e.g. through the use of stars, familiar genre conventions etc.
Define arc of transformation
The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative. The events in the story mean that they will ‘transform’ by the end of the story.
Define audience positioning
The way in which media products place audiences (literally or metaphorically) in relation to a particular point of view. For example, audiences may be positioned with a particular character or positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective.
Define audience segmentation
Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.
Define binary opposites
Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values; for example, good versus evil, villain versus hero. These can be apparent in the characters, narrative or themes.
What is a broadsheet
A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, for example The Daily Telegraph has maintained its broadsheet format.
Define channel identity
That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel. Presenters, stars, programme genres and specific programmes all contribute to a channels
Identity
Define circulation
The spreading of media products to audiences/users - the method will depend on the media form e.g. circulation of print magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.
Define conventions
What the audience expects to see in a particular media text, for example the conventions of science fiction films may include: aliens, scientists, other worlds, gadgets, representations of good and evil, etc. Useful headings to discuss conventions are: characters, setting, iconography, narrative, technical codes and representation.
Define convergence
The coming together of previously separate media industries and/or platforms; often the result of advances in technology whereby one device or platform contains a range of different features. The mobile phone, for example, allows the user to download and listen to music, view videos, tweet artists etc. All this can be done through one portable device.
Define cover lines
These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.
Define cross platform marketing
In media terms, a text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media formats or platforms. This may include film, television, print, radio and the Internet.
Define Denotation
The literal meaning of a sign, e.g. the car in the advert is red.
Define connotation
The suggested meanings attached to a sign, e.g., the red car in the advert suggests speed and power.
Define diegetic sound
Sound that comes from the fictional world, for example the sound of a gun firing, the cereal being poured into the bowl in an advert, etc.
Define encoding and decoding
Media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded, or interpreted, by audiences.
What is the enigma code
A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, for example teasers in a film trailer or narrative strands that are set up at the beginning of a drama/film that make the audience ask questions; part of a restricted narrative.
Define equilibrium
In relation to narrative, a state of balance or stability in Todorov’s theory the equilibrium is disrupted and ultimately restored).
Define ethnocentric
A belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture.
For example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns.
Tabloid and local papers only tend to cover international news stories if they can relate them specifically to their readers.
Define ethos
The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media organisations. In television, for example, what the channel believes in and what it sees as its role. The ethos is usually set out in the channel’s charter.
Define franchise
An entire series of, for example, a film including the original film and all those that follow.
Define gate keepers
The people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper ‘through the gate’.
Define hegemony
This derives from the theory of cultural hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas. For example, the dominant social position in society is taken by men and the subordinate one by women
Define horizontal integration
Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers. For example a company with interests in film, TV, magazines newspaper.
What is a house style
The aspects that make a magazine recognisable to its readers every issue. The house style is established through the choice of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and the general look’ of the publication.
Define the hybrid genre
Media texts that incorporate elements of more than one genre and are therefore more difficult to classify are genre hybrids. Dr Who, for example, is a science fiction/fantasy television drama.
What is the hypodermic needle model
Generally acknowledged to be an out of date media effects theory which suggests that an audience will have a mass response to a media text. The idea is that the media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way.
Define iconography
The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre; for example, in a police series you would expect to see, uniforms, blue flashing lights, scene of crime tape and police radios.
Define ideology
A set of messages, values and beliefs that may be encoded into media products.
Define intellectual property
A legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which the owner’s rights are recognised. These rights cover such intangible assets as music, literary and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
