COMM101 Final Key Terms

Sign

Unit of meaning made of signifier + signified

Signifier

Word, image, or sound

Signified

idea or concept associated with signifier

Denotation

Literal meaning of a sign

Connotation

Cultural or emotional associations attached to a sign

High angle

Camera looks down, suggests weakness or vulnerability

Low angle

Camera looks up, suggests power or dominance

Realism

Constructed effect created by media text, not whether something is “real”

Apparent Spontaneity

The way texts make things look natural, messy, and unplanned

Visual (apparent spontaneity)

Handheld camera, loose framing

Verbal (apparent spontaneity)

Interruptions, messy dialogue

Narrative (apparent spontaneity)

Everyday life, mundane events

Realism as recording

Something feels real because it looks like it was captured/recorded, based on detail, resolution, density of information

interpretive frame

The way a text guides how we interpret it (“based on true story,” genre expectations, knowledge of creator)

Plausibility

Text makes sense based on our general understanding of the world

Consistency

Events and characters make sense within the story’s world

Identification

The process by which viewers connect with characters and become the spectator

Spectator

Position created by the text that viewers step into

Alignment

How a text connects us to a character’s perspective (POV, subjective access, time spent with character)

Allegiance

How a text positions us to morally evaluate characters (narrative-based)

The gaze

How visual media organizes who looks and who is looked at, often tied to power (the male gaze)

Body Genres

Genres that aim to produce physical, emotional responses in the viewer (horror=fear, melodrama=crying)

Representation

Process of using languages (images, words, media) to produce media about the world

Visibility

The presence of groups in media

Symbolic Annihilation

When groups are absent or erased from media, making them invisible

Normative

Representations that uphold dominant cultural beliefs and appear “normal”

Exnomination

When dominant identities become invisible because they are treated as the default

Plastic Representation

Surface-level diversity that doesn’t address deeper cultural differences (ex. Bridgerton)

Burden of Representation

When a single character must represent an entire group due to lack of diversity

Stereotypes

Simplified, recreated representations tied to broader systems of meaning

Positive/negative representation

Idea that media images are either “good” or “bad” - too simplistic of a framework, as both representations can be meaningful

Mode of address

How a text positions the audience to interpret what they are seeing (ex. Get Out)

Model Minority

Stereotype portraying minority group as exceptionally successful

Reflexivity

Media shows it is constructed (ex. Actor acknowledging camera)

Ideology

System of cultural beliefs that often seems like “common sense”

Ideological Critique

Analyzing media texts to look at how they reinforce/challenge power structures

Neoliberalism

Dominant ideology emphasizing freedom of choice, individual responsibility, and fairness of marketplace

Hegemony

Process where dominant ideas become common sense

Intersectionality

Identities are multiple and layered (Ugly Betty)

Counter-hegemonic

Media texts challenges dominant cultural values (Beatles Revolver)

Co-optation

Commercial media absorbs something resistant (Nike ad using Revolver)

Commerce

Practice of buying and selling, often large scale

Consumerism

Belief that buying goods leads to happiness, health, and functioning society

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership and market exchange

Advertising

Promotion of goods and services, engine of consumerism and capitalism

Celebrity

Manufactured public image used to promote things

Citizen-consumer

People express identity, values, and politics through what they buy

The Branded Self

People present themselves online like a brand

Brands

Generate cultural meaning and create active relationships between industries and companies

Branding

Process where companies package meanings of brands as advice/guidance for life

Lifestyle and brands

Media connects products to ideas on how to live, work, eat, etc.

Globalization

Importing and exporting culture from place to place

Cultural imperialism

Idea that global spread of American consumer culture makes rest of the world subservient to US power (mcdonalds and coke)

Geoblocking

Access to media is restricted based on location

Diaspora

communities that are separated from common homeland, use media to reconnect

Cultural proximity theory

Audiences prefer media that feels closer to home

Hybridity

Media combines forms, styles, values (BlackPink)

Franchises

Strategic management of brand that mixes global standardization with local variation

Formats

Licensed, adaptable concepts for TV programming that are sold globally and adapted for local markets

Contraflow

flow of media content in direction counter to historically dominant trends

Glocalization

Global media products adapted to fit local needs, culture, audiences