Theories

Question 1

What are Barthes 5 codes

Answer 1

• Proairetic
• Hermeutic/engima
• Semantic
• Symbolic
• Cultural

Question 2

Structuralism - Levi-Strauss

Answer 2

• Texts can be best understood through an examination of their underlying structure.
• Meaning is dependent upon and produced through binary opposites.
• The way in which these binary oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological significance.

Question 3

Narratology - Todorov

Answer 3

• All narratives share a basic structure: Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition of disruption, Attempt to repair disruption, New Equilibrium
• The way in which narratives are resolved can have a particular ideological significane.

Question 4

Postmodernism

Answer 4

• 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 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 (hyperreality).