Theorists & Theories

Roland Barthes- Semiotics

Enigma code, Action code, Semantic code, Symbolic code, Cultural code

Tzvetan Todrov- Narratology

3 part Narrative Structure

Start- Equilibrium

Middle- Disruption

End- New equilibrium

Claude Levi-Strauss- Structuralism

Believed in a media product there is always binary opposites, showing the extreme contrast forcing you to compare the two: Night vs Day

Guilty vs innocent

Paul Gilroy- Ethnicity and Postcolonialism

Believes we still have the effects of colonialism in the media because ethnic minorities are seen as other, lesser, weaker and are marginalised.

Stuart Hall- Representation

The 4 categories of ethnic stereotyping: exotic, pitied, humorous and dangerous

Liesbet Van Zoonen- Feminist Theory

Believes our ideas about gender change depending on the cultural and historical context. Aldo’s beleive women are domestic (housewife, mother) and men are individuals (work, money).

bell hooks- Feminist Theory

Feminism is the struggle for fighting for equality. Feminism is a political commitment: actively fighting for equal right for gender. hooks also believes patriarchal ideology brainwashes men to believe their domination of women is beneficial when it is not

Judith Butler- Gender Performativity

A performance that includes masc or fem behaviour like repeated rituals (makeup, football) that teaches young children that what you do to be more fem or masc.