Theory Flashcards
What is feminist theory (Van Zoonen)?
Believes gender is constructed through discourse and varies across historical/cultural context
Women - portrayed as objects
Patriarchal society - men considered superior
What is Stuart Hall’s representation theory?
The production of meaning through signs in the text
Reduces people to a few characteristics and traits
What is semiotics (Roland Barthes)?
The idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification
Constructed meanings through semiotics can come to seem self-evident
What is genre theory (Steve Neale)?
Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation and change
Genres change, develop and vary as they overlap and borrow from each other
Genres exist within specific climates (economic, institutional, industrial etc)
What is structuralism (Levi-Strauss)?
Texts can be best understood through an examination of their underlying structure
Meaning is dependent upon pairs of oppositions
The way in which binary opposites such as evil and good can be resolved has ideological significance.
What are the theories of identity (David Gauntlett)?
The idea that the media provide us with tools or resources that we use to construct our identities
In the past media conveyed a more straightforward message, however today this is more diverse.
What is feminist theory (bell hooks)?
The idea that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination
Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice
Race and class as well as sex determine the extent one is discriminated or oppressed against
What are theories around ethnicity and post colonialism (Paul Gilroy)?
Colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post-colonial era
Civilisation constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness
