theorists Flashcards
What are the 5 codes (semiotics)?
symbolic, semantic, hermeneutic (enigma), proairetic (action), referential (cultural)
What is Van Zoonen’s feminist theory?
- the media portrays images of stereotypical women, which reinforces social views of women
- women’s bodies are viewed as ‘objects’ whereas men’s bodies are ‘spectacles’ : women are sexualised in the media
-gender’s meaning changes with cultural and historical context
What is Stuart Hall’s representation theory?
- media will use stereotypes to convey incorrect representations of people
- hall believes these stereotypes tend to come about due to people in power in dominant hegemonic groups within society, usually heterosexual, upper class white men
- as many companies in the media are owned by those from these hegemonic groups, they have a tendency to misrepresent people outside these groups in a stereotypical way
What is stuart hall’s reception theory?
- media contains messages that are decoded by the audiences in 3 different ways (which may not be the way they were originally intended to be decoded)
- 3 ways : dominant/preferred (the audience accept and agree with the message), negotiated (audience agree with some parts but not others) and oppositional (audience rejects the message and don’t agree)
What is David Gauntlett’s identity theory?
- audiences often gain a sense of their own identity from the media products they consume
- identity is fluid and has changed over times (in the past media tended to portray very stereotypical, binary gender representations where men were the strong, brave providers of the home and the women were the housewives. however now the media portrays more diverse complex representations which challenge old stereotypes)
What is George Gerbner’s cultivation theory?
- media repeats representations of people, groups and places, causing the audience to begin to believe that this representation is actually true, and therefore accept and normalise this perception
- repeated representations cultivate/ change our beliefs as they create new dominant ideologies in society
What is Curran and Seaton’s power and media industries theory?
- the media is controlled by a small no. of companies, primarily driven by power and profit
- a more socially diverse pattern of ownership helps to create more varied and adventurous media products
What is Bandura’s social learning theory?
- suggests that social behaviour is learned by observing and imitating the behaviour of others
- imitation of what is seen is known as transgressive behaviour
- is why age ratings for movies and series are important : people whos brains are still developing will observe and imitate the behaviour they see
What is clay shirky’s end of audience theory?
with the advent of digital and social media, audiences no longer play a passive receiving role; they become active participants and content creators
what is essentialism?
when a few simple traits are exaggerated and become that person (usually it is fixed and cant be changed)
What is Levi-Strauss’s structuralism theory?
- binary oppositions
- majority of narratives contain opposing characters, events or concepts known as ‘binary opposites’
What is steve neale’s genre theory?
films of a type (genre) should all include features that are similar so audience can easily identify the genre, but should also include features that are different in order to keep audiences interested
what is bell hooks’s feminism and race theory?
- her definition of feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal oppression
- feminism is not just a lifestyle: to be a feminist you have to be politically active
- women are not all discriminated against in the same way or to the same extent (discrimination and oppression against women varies due to class and ethnicity)
What is paul gilroy’s post colonialism theory?
even though the age of colonial rule is over, the idea of white western norms and values being superior to other groups is still prominent and is therefore contributing to the negative representations of these ‘other groups’ as powerless, weak and dehumanised
what is david hesmondhalgh’s cultural industries theory?
companies need to minimise risk and maximise profit / audiences to be successful which they do in 5 ways :
- be horizontally and vertically integrated
- work across a variety of media platforms
- focus on popular genres / formats / actors
- use a controlled release schedule
- detailed marketing campaign
