Representation: Represenation Theory - Stuart Hall + Gilory - Post Colonial

Question 1

Why does Hall think stereotyping is important

Answer 1

• Media stereotypes reflect social attitudes
• The media contributes to the construction of stereotypes
• Stereotypes can be reshaped or repurposed

Question 2

Why does Hall argue stereotypes are an effective medium for social control

Answer 2

• the increase the visibility of key groups
• They infer that negative traits are natural

Question 3

The process of transcoding

Answer 3

Hall argues that media producers who want to challenge pre-existing negative stereotypes generally have to graft new meanings onto those existing presentations.

Question 4

What are 3 strategies that makers can deploy to shift negative stereotypes

Answer 4

• Appropriated representations - repurposing negative stereotypes as iconic or powerful
• Counter typical representations
• Deconstructed representations - add contextual information that helps audiences to forge a deeper understanding of the experiences of the group being stereotyped.

Question 5

Closure and exclusion

Answer 5

Media products exclude groups from power through representation - often positioning marginalised groups as unworthy of social inclusion

Question 6

Internalisation

Answer 6

Internalisation occurs when marginalised groups or individuals assimilate the behaviours of negative media representations

Question 7

Naturalisation

Answer 7

The repeated messages of stereotypes can suggest that groups have a natural disposition towards certain types of behaviour

Question 8

‘Other’

Answer 8

Hall suggests tat those groups who are excluded from social power or mainstream culture are ‘others’

Question 9

Power circularity

Answer 9

Stereotypes both reflect social attitudes and simultaneously reinforce them through processes such as internalisation

Question 10

Symbolic violence

Answer 10

Stereotypes that demonise groups offer us moments of symbolic violence in that they lead to exclusion of those groups from social power

Question 11

Transcoding

Answer 11

Refers to representation strategies that contest stereotypical assumptions

Question 12

Hypothetical challenge from Stuart Hall (himself) evaluated

Answer 12

Hall himself provides a substantial challenge to his own ideas. His reception theory model suggests that audiences can resist the facts of the media through the production of oppositional or negotiated readings.

C: Audiences don’t always pick up on the process of Naturalisation and our internalisation of stereotypes - unless we are aware - we will remain compliant therefore falling into the category of aligning with the proffered reading.

However both of his theories can be proven relevant, for example when producers choose the route of transcoding a stereotype audiences may adopt an oppositional reading e.g. A Black actress casted as the lead Disney princess, opposing the internalised view that to embody a Disney princess you must be a white female.

Question 13

Paul Gilroys hypothetical criticism evaluated

Answer 13

Suggests that racial stereotypes are framed by the wider cultural/historical forces of Empire. This makes it much harder for the media to contest stereotypes because they are so deeply entrenched within the British cultural psyche.

C: Gauntlett - Identity: In late modernity individuals have began to realise they can shape their own identity, outlooks and beliefs. (Fluid identity)

The liberating effects of Globalisation: allows individuals to trabscend the expectations enforced on them by the media + their communities.

We now live in a post-traditional society.

C: Stuart Hall - oppositional readings; as audiences become more active they are less passive to harmful stereotypes being presented on screen.

Question 14

Albionic nostalgia

Answer 14

A representation of Englishness that is marked by nostalgia and generally produces a whitewashed version of an idealised/imagined rural England

Question 15

Civilisation is

Answer 15

A stark representation of the world in which Western democracy is pitted against extremist others

Question 16

Cosmopolitan conviviality

Answer 16

A term that describes real world multiculturalism and the high levels of racial harmony that mark most people’s day to say existence. Converse, the media portrays racial disharmony as the norm

Question 17

Postcolonial melancholia

Answer 17

A term used by Gilroy to describe the deep-rooted shame felt as a result of the loss of the British Empire/ That loss is deflected through media nostalgia and a widespread anxiety surrounding British identity

Question 18

Evaluation of David Gauntlett criticism

Answer 18

Would present a far more optimistic picture of the media’s capacity to effect change or to enable positive identity construction. He would suggest that the variety of media representations available to contemporary audiences is far greater than that outlined by Gilroy

C: More exposure to other cultures could just mean the creation of more stereotypes; those in power (media producers) still use civilisationism as ploy to generate a binary opposition which is solved with by the western ideology triumphing.

C: Albionic nostalgia and the issues surrounding it is more relevant than ever; media outlets often use marginalised groups as scape goats to appeal to the ‘Albionic nostalgia’ within the public. Media producers play into it.

Question 19

Evaluation of Henry Jenkins hypothetical challenge

Answer 19

Would present a far more optimistic view regarding the current media landscape than Gilroys postcolonial assesment- suggesting that new technologies enable audiences to engage in participatory culture and to form online communities.

C: Overlooks that it allows racists to partake in participatory culture and to form online communities.

Baudrillard - Meaning implosion. Whilst you will most likely interact with a community who you share values with that does not mean that outside these communities is a bombardment of various different opinions which are hard to disentangle.