Theroists Flashcards
Semiotics (Roland Barthes):
Connotations and denotations. Signs in media have two layers of meaning - what they literally show (like a picture of an apple) and what ideas or feelings they suggest (like health or temptation).
Narratology (Tzvetan Todorov):
All stories have a beginning (equilibrium), a problem (disequilibrium), and a resolution (back to equilibrium). How a story ends can tell us something important.
Genre Theory (Steve Neale):
Movies, shows, or songs have patterns that repeat but also change. They exist within certain groups, like action movies or pop songs.
Structuralism (Claude Lévi-Strauss):
Binary oppositions. Stories and media make more sense when you look at the hidden structure underneath. Also, the way problems are solved in stories can tell us about beliefs.
Postmodernism (Jean Baudrillard):
Nowadays, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s made up in media. Sometimes, what we see on TV or online feels more real than our actual lives.
Theories of Representation (Stuart Hall):
Media creates meaning using language and signs. Sometimes, it simplifies people into stereotypes, especially when there’s a power difference.
Theories of Identity (David Gauntlett):
Pick and Mix. Media gives us tools to figure out who we are. Today, media shows a variety of different people, not just one type of person.
Feminist Theory (Liesbet van Zoonen):
Women in the media are portrayed as specticals to be looked at. How we talk about and show gender in media shapes what we think about it. The media simplifies people to create steriotypes, stereotyping happens more when there’s inequality.
Theories of Gender Performativity (Judith Butler):
Genderis a spectrum. Genders are made through repetition, acting out our gender is how we show who we are. There’s no one way to be a man or a woman. Identities can be subversively constructed (undermined), challenging societal norms.
Power and Media Industries (Curran and Seaton):
Big companies control what we see in the media to make money and increase their power over the industry. More variety happens when different people own media.
Regulation (Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt):
Regulation is harder nowadays because how we consume media is so vast. Rules about what can be shown on TV or online are made to protect us, but sometimes they clash with making money.
Cultural Industries (David Hesmondhalgh):
Minimise risk while maximizing profit. Big companies try to be safe and make lots of money by using famous people and sticking to formats. The internet’s potential is limited because it’s part of the money-making system.
Media Effects (Albert Bandura):
Media can make us think and act like what we see. If we see a lot of violence, we might start acting more aggressively.
Cultivation Theory (George Gerbner):
The media reinforces mainstream trends and values. Watching the same kind of stuff all the time can change how we see the world. Media can make us believe certain things.
Reception Theory (Stuart Hall):
Audiences can have a preferred, negotiated, or oppositional reading of media texts. Media is a two-way street. Sometimes, we get exactly what media producers want us to, but other times, we see things in our way.
