Representation: Media And Indentity - Gauntlett Flashcards
Anthony Giddens: traditional and post traditional culture change
We are transitioning from a society in which our identities were constructed via rigid traditions to a distinctly different phase that he called ‘late modernity’
Thus cultures based on ‘tradition’ produce fixed identities that are hard to escape from
Giddens: ‘late modernity’
The years following the Second World War - the relaxation of the rigid social roles.
Individuals in ‘late modernity’ realise, in short, that they can shape their own outlooks and beliefs
Active audience engagement
Active audiences are in control of the way they watch or interact with the media. Gauntlett would argue that activates audiences use - or make - media products to craft their own identities.
Aspirational narrative
A product that offers a means to self-improvement or offers audiences an ideal lifestyle choice
Fixed identity
Fixed identities do not give individuals a great deal of choice about who they want to be. Identities might be fixed by religious beliefs, social norms rigid family roles
Fluid identity
Our identities can be described as fluid identities when we realise that they can be changed or that we do not necessarily have to conform to the rigid categories laid down by traditional social structures
Globalisation
Globalisation, in this chapter, refers to the way that media products began to be produced and shared across the globe as a result of ownership ship changes in the 1980s.
Globalisation brought audiences into contact with a much wider range of indentity influences.
Media proliferation
Media proliferation refers to the explosion of media products and channels that started to occur in the early 1980s.
Media proliferation meant products were increasingly produced for niche or specialised audiences.
Post traditional society
A society that does not require individuals to adopt rigid social roles or identities
Reflexive project of self
A term coined by Anthony Giddens to describe the way that identities are constructed in a post traditional society. Giddens argues that individuals are able to craft and revise their own identities - that our identities are a constantly evolving and adapting project
Window to the future self
A product gives its audiences a glimpse into who they could become. Commonly used to describe magazine front covers.
Stuart Hall hypothetical criticisms evaluated
Would argue that media landscape is not diverse, but saturated with stereotypical portrayals that reflect wider social inequalities. This leads to a deeply problematic portrayal of minority groups of all persuasions.
C: Stuart Hall own criticism, oppositional or negotiated readings which reflect a post traditional society developing - in that they no longer feel the need to conform to rigid roles or identities
Bell Hooks hypothetical criticism evaluated
Hooks would argue that portrayals of black women are largely absent from the media, when they are presents they are prone to produce overly sexual portrayals
C: ‘reflexive identity construction’ as positive. When the limited role models and lifestyle templates’ of black feminity are negative - it is to enforce those in positions of authorities power (Stuart Hall - Representation) - such as the power to influence audiences via the media
Whilst audiences now recognise the blatant racism these stereotypes are cemented in - that does not mean that it could have been internalised with black women.
(+ back to bell hooks - women internalise their passive or objectified roles in media into their own identities)
Paul Gilroy hypothetical criticism evaluated
Would argue that British media narratives do not offer diversity but are stuck within a colonial midget that positions non-whites as threatening, primitive or uncivilised.
+ many still thirst over their Albionic nostalgia :( - and look for representations in media that reflect this part of their identity
C: We have progressed however as a post traditionalist society - in which we are no longer so passive to fixed, negative presentations of identity.
