Media Theorists

Question 1

What is Barthes theory of semiotics?

Answer 1

• Texts communicate their meanings through a processor signification (symbols)
• 2 levels of meaning: denotation, connotation
• All elements of a media texts are codes that need to be read

Question 2

What is Todorov’s theory of narrative?

Answer 2

• All narratives share a basic structure that involves movement from one state of equilibrium to another
• These 2 states of equilibrium are separated by disruption
• Eq, Disruption, Solution, New Eq

Question 3

What is Neale’s theory?

Answer 3

• Genre is recognisable, but does change over time and share characteristics from other genres
• Genre is important to institutions because it helps with marketing in industries

Question 4

What is Levi Strauss theory of binary opposition?

Answer 4

• The meaning of texts is dependent upon and produced by pairs of oppositions
• The conflict between binary opposites create meaning and drives forward the narrative

Question 5

What is Curran and Seatons theory of power in the media industry?

Answer 5

• The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
• Media concentration generally limits variety and creativity
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions fore adventurous production

Question 6

What is Livingstone and Lunt’s theory of regulation?

Answer 6

• The idea that regulation may not be able to keep up with new media technologies
• Who is regulation for?

Question 7

What is Baudrillard’s theory in media language?

Answer 7

• In postmodern culture the boundaries between the real world and the world of media have collapsed
• We are immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to anything real
• Media images have come to seem more real than the reality they supposedly represent
• eg) instagram models seem ‘real’

Question 8

What is Hesmondhalgh’s theory of cultural institutions?

Answer 8

• Companies maximise audiences through vertical and horizontal integration
• The largest companies operate across a number of different cultural industries
• Industries use tried and tested strategies to appeal to us - we should be concerned that only a few companies hold a lot of power

Question 9

What is Hall’s theory of representation?

Answer 9

• The representation is the production of meaning through language and signs
• Relationship between concepts and signs in governed by codes
• Stereotyping reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
• Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power

Question 10

What is Gauntlett’s theory of identity?

Answer 10

• The idea that the media provides us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identity
• The modern media offer a more diverse range of stars from whom we may pick and mix ideas

Question 11

What is a short summary of Liesbet Van Zoonen’s feminist theory?

Answer 11

Men and women are represented differently in the media, and women are objectified as a result of Western Culture

Question 12

What is Liesbet Van Zoonen’s feminist representation theory?

Answer 12

• Gender is constructed through discourse, and its meaning varies according to cultural and historical contexts
• The display of women’s bodies as objects is a core element of a western patriarchal culture
• In mainstream culture, the visual and narrative codes that are used to construct the male body differ from those used to objectify the female

Question 13

What is a short summary of bell hooks’ feminist theory?

Answer 13

Feminism is a political struggle to end patriarchal domination, other factors also affect this including race and class

Question 14

What is bell hooks feminist representation theory?

Answer 14

• The idea that feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination
• Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice
• Race and class as well as sex determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against, or oppressed

Question 15

What is a short summary of Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory?

Answer 15

Gender is a social construct - masculine and feminine are created through repetition

Question 16

What is Judith Butler’s gender perfomativity representation theory?

Answer 16

• the idea that there is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender
• the idea that performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual

Question 17

What is a short summary of Paul Gilroy’s ethnicity and post colonialism theory?

Answer 17

Even though we no longer have colonies, the representation of these groups is still affected by this time

Question 18

What is Paul Gilroy’s ethnicity and post colonialism theory?

Answer 18

• The idea that colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post colonial era
• Civilisation constructs racial hiérarchies and sets up binary oppositions

Question 19

What is a short summary of Albert Bandura’s audience effects theory?

Answer 19

If the audience sees a certain type of behaviour, specifically violence and aggression, they are likely to mimic it

Question 20

What is Albert Bandura’s audience affects theory?

Answer 20

• The idea that the media can impact ideas in the mind of the audience directly
• The idea that audiences acquire attitudes and emotional responses through modelling
• Media representations of violence and physical aggression can lead to audience members imitating those behaviours

Question 21

What is a short summary of Gerbner’s cultivation theory?

Answer 21

The more we see the same representations and messages, the more we believe they are true, cultivation reinforces mainstream values and dominant ideologies

Question 22

What is George Gerbner’s cultivation theory?

Answer 22

• The idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world around them (cultivating particular views and opinions)
• Cultivation reinforces mainstream values and dominant ideologies

Question 23

What is a short summary of Stuart Hall’s reception theory?

Answer 23

Producers want audiences to respond in a particular way to a text. Some audiences do (preferred reading), some audiences don’t (oppositional reading), and some audiences are in the middle (negotiated reading)

Question 24

What is Stuart Hall’s reception theory?

Answer 24

• The idea that communication is a process involving encoding by producers and decoding by audiences
• There are 3 hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded: the preferred reading, the negotiated reading or the oppositional reading
• The preferred reading the is producers intended message, negotiated is when the audience understand the message but adapt it to suit their own values, and the oppositional is where the audience disagrees with the preferred meaning

Question 25

What is a short summary of Jenkins’ participatory culture theory?

Answer 25

The internet has allowed fans to gather and create their own texts and easily share their work. Instead of just consuming the texts, audiences are creating them