media theories from specification

What does semiotics study according to Roland Barthes?

The idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification.

What are the two levels at which signs function in semiotics?

Denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (suggested meanings).

How does Barthes describe constructed meanings in semiotics?

Constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through naturalisation.

What is the basic structure of narratives according to Tzvetan Todorov?

All narratives share a basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another.

What separates the two states of equilibrium in a narrative?

A period of imbalance or disequilibrium.

What significance can the resolution of narratives hold?

The way in which narratives are resolved can have particular ideological significance.

What is genre theory's perspective on repetition and variation according to Steve Neale?

Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change.

How do genres interact according to genre theory?

Genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another.

What contexts do genres exist within, according to Neale's genre theory?

Genres exist within specific economic, institutional, and industrial contexts.

What does Claude Lévi-Strauss suggest about understanding texts?

Texts can best be understood through an examination of their underlying structure.

What is the role of binary oppositions in meaning according to Lévi-Strauss?

Meaning is dependent upon and produced through pairs of oppositions.

What significance can the resolution of binary oppositions hold?

The way in which these binary oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological significance.

What is a key idea of postmodernism by Jean Baudrillard?

The boundaries between the ‘real’ world and the world of media have collapsed.

What does Baudrillard mean by hyperreality?

Media images have come to seem more ‘real’ than the reality they supposedly represent.

What is representation according to Stuart Hall?

Representation is the production of meaning through language, defined as a system of signs.

What governs the relationship between concepts and signs? stuart hall representation

The relationship is governed by codes.

How does stereotyping function as a form of representation?

Stereotyping reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits.

How does power inequality affect stereotyping according to Hall?

Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, constructing subordinate groups as different or ‘other’.

What resources does David Gauntlett suggest the media provide us for identity construction?

The media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources to construct our identities.

What has changed in media representation of identities in contemporary culture according to Gauntlett?

Media now offers a more diverse range of stars, icons, and characters allowing individuals to pick and mix ideas.

How does Liesbet van Zoonen view gender in feminist theory?

Gender is constructed through discourse, with meanings varying by cultural and historical context.

What role does the display of women’s bodies play in patriarchal culture according to van Zoonen?

objectification of women’s bodies is a core element of western patriarchal culture.

How do visual and narrative codes differ between male and female bodies in mainstream culture?

They differ in the ways used to construct the male body as spectacle and to objectify the female body.

What is bell hooks' view on feminism?

Feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination.

How does hooks define feminism in relation to politics?

Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice.

What factors does hooks say determine the extent of exploitation and discrimination?

Race, class, and sex determine the extent of exploitation, discrimination, or oppression.

What is Judith Butler's idea of gender identity?

Gender identity is performatively constructed by the expressions that are said to be its results.

What does Butler mean by performativity?

Performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual.

What does Paul Gilroy suggest about colonial discourses?

Colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era.

What does civilizationism do according to Gilroy?

Civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness.

What is the idea behind Curran and Seaton's concept of media control?

The media is controlled by a small number of companies driven by profit and power.

How does media concentration impact variety according to Curran and Seaton?

Media concentration limits or inhibits variety, creativity, and quality.

What helps create conditions for varied media productions according to Curran and Seaton?

More socially diverse patterns of ownership help create conditions for varied media productions.

What struggle exists in UK regulation policy according to Livingstone and Lunt?

There is a struggle between interests of citizens and interests of consumers.

What challenges do global media corporations present to traditional regulation according to Livingstone and Lunt?

The rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in production and distribution have placed traditional regulation approaches at risk.

What do cultural industries focus on according to David Hesmondhalgh?

They try to minimise risk and maximise audiences through integration and formatting cultural products, stars, genres, serials

How do cultural conglomerates operate according to Hesmondhalgh?

They operate across a number of different cultural industries.

What has happened to the radical potential of the internet according to Hesmondhalgh?

It has been contained to some extent by its incorporation into profit-oriented cultural industries.

What does Albert Bandura say about media influence?

The media can implant ideas directly in the mind of the audience.

What do audiences acquire through modelling according to Bandura?

Audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses, and new styles of conduct.

How can media representations of transgressive behaviour affect audiences?

They can lead audience members to imitate those forms of behaviour.

What does George Gerbner's cultivation theory assert about repeated exposure to media?

Repeated exposure can shape and influence how people perceive the world.

What does cultivation reinforce according to Gerbner?

Cultivation reinforces mainstream values.

What is the communication process described by Stuart Hall in reception theory?

Communication involves encoding by producers and decoding by audiences.

What are the three hypothetical positions from which messages may be decoded?

preffered, negotiated, and oppositional readings

What does 'end of audience' theories by Clay Shirky suggest about media consumers?

Media consumers have become producers who ‘speak back to’ the media and create content.

How have digital technologies affected media relations with individuals according to Shirky?

They have had a profound effect on the relations between media and individuals.

what is laura mulveys male gaze?

The idea that media is created by and for men. The average media viewer is a man for finds pleasure in watching taboo content and attractive women in the media.