Theorists

Question 1

Barthes - semiotics

Answer 1

Semiology : study of signs (words,images, sounds etc)
E.g Sun is a physical thing but can represent happiness or life.

Question 2

The 5 codes of Barthes narraritive theory:

Answer 2

• Action : advance the narrative - what will happen next
• Enigma : is not fully explained and becomes a mystery
• Semantic : the connnotation within the text that gives additional meaning
• Symbolic : organise meanings into broader and deeper sets of meanings
• Cultural : point to our shared knowledge about way world works

Question 3

Steve Neale - Genre theory

Answer 3

Audience expectations and common conventions met through repetition and a few differences.

Question 4

Levi - Strauss : Binary Opposites

Answer 4

Opposing main characters or elements.
E.g Good vs Evil , Human vs Supernatural , Young vs Old

Question 5

Stuart Hall - Representation

Answer 5

Media use stereotypes. Stereotypes are often created by those in power from dominant hegomonic groups in society (white males).

Question 6

David Gauntlett - Identity

Answer 6

Audiences are not passive , and media products allow them to construct their own identities.
They can pick n mix which ideologies suit them and completely ignore the elements they do not agree with in a process of negotiation.

Question 7

Van Zoonen - Feminist theory

Answer 7

Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products.
- Womens bodies often seen as spectacle for heterosexual males - reinforces patriarchal hegemony

Question 8

Stuart Hall - Reception

Answer 8

encoding done by producers and decoding by audience
Preferred reading - dominant hegemonic position , audience understand and accept ideologies of producer
Negotiated reading - ideologies of producer are agreed with in general but message is picked apart by audience and may be disagreed upon
Oppositional reading - producers message is understood but the audience disagrees and neglects the ideological perspective

Question 9

Livingstone and Lunt - Regulation

Answer 9

Needs of citizen are in conflict with need of consumer. Restriction/ protection can limit freedom. Regulating media to protect citizens from harmful content limits freedom of expression.

Question 10

Hesmondhalgh - cultural industries

Answer 10

Minimise risk + maximise audience - media texts tend to be more generic and less creative
-vertical and horizontal integration

Question 11

Curran and Seaton - Power and media industries

Answer 11

Media is controlled by only a small amount of companies (mostly conglomerates) driven by the logic of power and profit.
- limits creativity, variety and quality

Question 12

Paul Gilroy - postcolonial theory

Answer 12

The impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies.
- Ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes about race and ethnicity

Question 13

Gauntlett - Representation

Answer 13

We used the internet and other media texts to help us create our own identity. We now have more of a variety of representations to identify with - pick n mix

Question 14

Bell Hooks - Feminist

Answer 14

Feminism is a political struggle to end patriarchal domination other factors affect this domination (e.g race and class)

Question 15

George Gerbner - Audience (Cultivation theory)

Answer 15

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 (i.e. cultivating particular views and opinions)

The idea that cultivation reinforces mainstream values (dominant ideologies).

Question 16

Judith Butler - Representation

Answer 16

Identity is performatively constructed by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results
- No gender identity behind the expressions of gender
- Gender is a social construct - ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ are created through repetition

Question 17

Clay Shirky - Fan theory

Answer 17

We are now more likely to use the internet and other technologies to respond to texts, including creating our own. - consumers are no longer as passive with the ability to speak back to the producers

Question 18

Albert Bandura

Answer 18

The idea that consumers imitate what they see in the media.

Question 19

Blumer and Katz - Uses and Gratification

Answer 19

People interact with media for 4 reasons:

• Identify - Be able to recognise the product or person in front of you (role models)
• Educate - Learn something from the media
• Entertainnment - What you see should entertain you - it should offer some form of ‘escapism’
• Social interaction - form of media can create conversation and or offer a person a sense of being in a group

Question 20

Baudrillard - post-modernism

Answer 20

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 what is reality and what is simulation.

Question 21

Todorov - Narratology

Answer 21

Todorov’s theory of narrative equilibrium is based around a three act structure.
Firstly, a state of balance or equilibrium is established.

This balance is disrupted or broken in some way, which leads to a liminal period or period of disruption. This second stage typically takes up the majority of a narrative.

Finally, a typical narrative will conclude with a partial restoration of the equilibrium or new equilibrium, which will see the world of the narrative return to some sense of normality.

Question 22

Henry Jenkins - fandom

Answer 22

Fandom refers to a particularly organised and motivated audience of a certain media producer franchise

Rather than just play a videogame or watch a TV show, fans
construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing and utilising mass culture images, and may use this ‘subcultural capital’ to form social bonds.