Lecture Review: Theories of Representation, Semiotics, Ideology, Genre & Media Analysis

Flashcards covering key concepts from lecture notes on theories of representation, semiotics, ideology, genre, media analysis, and specific examples from 'Get Out' and 'Mad Men'.

Reflective Theory of Representation

Meaning exists in the thing itself; language mirrors or reflects that meaning.

Intentional Theory of Representation

Meaning comes from the speaker/author’s intention; words mean what the creator intends.

Constructionist Theory of Representation

Meaning is constructed through language and social systems (signs, codes, discourse); culture, not objects, produces meaning.

Iconic Sign

A sign that visually resembles what it signifies (e.g., a photo, a realistic icon).

Indexical/Arbitrary Sign

A sign with no natural resemblance; its relation to the object is socially agreed (words, many symbols).

Code (in Semiotics)

A rule system that links signs to meanings; shared cultural codes let people interpret messages.

Naturalness of Sign Meaning

Occurs because codes are repeated and fixed over time, creating a sense of inherent meaning.

Ideology

A set of beliefs and ideas that shape how people understand the world, often supporting social systems like capitalism or patriarchy.

Hegemony (Gramsci)

The process where a particular worldview becomes “common sense” through consent, not coercion, maintaining power by winning consent to ideas.

Myth (Media Usage)

A story or narrative that naturalizes and universalizes a historically specific idea (e.g., “The American Dream” treated as timeless truth).

Frame

The way a text structures what is visible and what is excluded, shaping how an issue is understood.

Historical Materialism (Marxist)

Economic base determines social structures and ideology; culture is shaped by the economic system.

Culturalism

The view that culture and ideological systems have relative autonomy and their own logics, not solely reducing to economics.

Ideological Critique / False Consciousness

The approach that ideology distorts reality for dominant interests, with "false consciousness" describing subordinate groups accepting beliefs that harm them.

Ideological Coexistence (Raymond Williams)

The idea that dominant, residual, and emergent ideologies coexist in media texts as negotiation sites.

Intersectionality

The idea that identities (race, gender, class, sexuality, etc.) intersect to shape unique experiences of privilege and oppression.

Othering

Representations that mark groups as different, marginal, or inferior, often used to maintain power hierarchies.

Genre

A set of conventions (plots, character types, iconography, themes) that create audience expectations and make production repeatable.

Series (Narrative Form)

Episodes are self-contained around stable characters.

Continuous Serial (Narrative Form)

Never-ending narratives with multiple intertwined storylines across episodes (e.g., soap opera style).

Binary Oppositions (Genre Analysis)

Paired contrasts that structure meaning (e.g., Women "") Men, Home ")" Work, Talk ")" Action).

Freyetag’s Pyramid (Dramatic Structure)

The traditional dramatic structure: Exposition ")" Rising Action ")" Climax ")" Falling Action ")" Denouement (resolution).

Soap Opera (Gendered Origin)

Targeted housewives via daytime radio and TV, focusing on family, talk, and domestic life, aligning with women’s social contexts.

Serialization (and Feminist Readings)

Produces habit, community feeling, and everyday narrative continuity, often aligning with women’s social networks and domestic rhythms.

Chris's Profession in 'Get Out'

As a photographer, it reinforces themes of visibility, gaze, and objectification, highlighting racism’s consumption and reduction of Black bodies.

Mad Men Opening Credits Reference

Evokes/repurposes imagery associated with the 9/11 “falling man” photograph, linking Don Draper’s collapse to anxieties about capitalism and cultural trauma.

Don Draper's Representation in 'Mad Men'

Symbolizes the charismatic engine of unfettered capitalism, a “manufacturer of desire” whose personal fall mirrors consumer culture’s instability.

Significance of 'Mad Men' Setting

1960s Madison Avenue provides an ideal site to analyze race, gender, class, nostalgia, and the advertising industry as a cultural and ideological machine.

Last Girl (Horror Studies)

The final surviving female character who confronts the threat, linked to gender, resilience, and audience identification.

Panopticon Concept

A metaphor for modern surveillance where constant visibility creates self-regulation, applied to media as pervasive monitoring producing disciplinary power.

Stephen King’s "Mind Reading" Metaphor

Authors channel audience assumptions to create a shared impression, feeling like mind-reading due to shared cultural codes.

Late 70s/Early 80s Family Horror Anxieties

Reflected economic insecurity, suburban malaise, crises of family stability, and distrust of institutions through domestic invasion tropes.

Stuart Hall

Author of “The Work of Representation,” known for constructionist theory and semiotics.

Ron Becker

Author of “Ideology,” who explores belief systems and concepts like myths and frames.

Mary Beltrán

Author of “Representation” (Latina studies excerpt), examining media portrayals of gender, race, and identity.

Christine Gledhill & Vicky Ball

Authors of the soap opera chapter, arguing for its gendered nature and serial structure.

Douglas Kellner

Analyzes horror films (especially 'Get Out') as reflections of social anxieties.

Daniel Adleman & Chris Vanderwees

Authors of “Mad Men and the Falling Bodies of 9/11,” analyzing the show's opening credits and cultural trauma.