Theorists- media language

Question 1

Barthes

Answer 1

Texts communicate their ideas through signification.
Signs function at a literal level (signifier, denotation) as well as a figurative level (signified, connotation).

Question 2

Todorov

Answer 2

All narratives share a basic structure, moving from one equilibrium to another.
These two states of equilibrium are separated by disruption or imbalance.
The way that narratives resolve can have ideological significance.

Question 3

Steve Neal

Answer 3

Genres are dominated by repetition of codes and conventions but must also incorporate difference, variation and change.
Genres change as they borrow from and overlap with each other (hybridity and subgenres).
Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts.

Question 4

Levi-Stauss

Answer 4

Texts can be understood through an analysis of their underlying structure.
Meaning is often produced through oppositional pairs (e.g. good v. evil).
The resolution of these binary opposites can have ideological significance.