media language

Question 1

what is Barthes semiotics theory?

Answer 1

• texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification
• signs can function at the level of denotation which involves the literal or common common sense meaning of the sign and at the level of connotation which involves the meanings associated with us and suggested by the sign

Question 2

what is Todorov’s narratology theory?

Answer 2

• all narrative share a basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another
• these two states of equilibrium are separated by a period of imbalance or disequilibrium

Question 3

what is Steve Neale’s genre theory?

Answer 3

• genres are dominated by repetition but also marked by difference variation and change
• genres change develop vary as they borrow from an overlap with one another

Question 4

what is Levi-Strauss structuralism theory?

Answer 4

• meaning is dependent upon pairs of oppositions

Question 5

what is Baudrillard’s postmodern theory?

Answer 5

• in postmodern culture, the boundaries between the real world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation
• in a postmodern age of simulacra we are immerse in a world of images which no longer refer to anything real
• media images have come to see more real than the reality they supposedly represent hyper reality