Roland Barthes’ semiotics theory:
That a sign/signifier has a denotation (a literal meaning) and a connotation (a signified meaning).
Signs are polysemic (multiple meanings)>
Steve Neale’s genre theory:
Genres are instances of repetition and difference.
Genres evolve over time as producers find balance between conforming and subverting conventions.
Tzvetzan Todorov’s Narratology theory:
There are 5 stages to any narrative.
Equilibrium - the norm.
Disruption - conflict, breaks the norm.
Recognition - characters become aware of disruption.
Repair - disruption is fixed/tried to be.
(New) Equilibrium - return to norm or ne norm created.
Claude Lévi-Strauss’ structuralism theory:
In media, opposing forces are placed in binary opposition, representative of the conflict between two polarising ideas and ideology.
The way that the conflict is resolved suggests ideology of producers.
Jean Baudrillard’s postmodernism theory:
In the modern world, what something represents is more important than what it actually is.
Links to intertextuality: when one texts references another text.