Media Studies - Introduction Unit - Definitions + Theories

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Sign

A signifier (physical form e.g. sound, printed word, image) and a signified (symbol/meaning) put together

Things we see and hear

Ferdinand De Saussure - Signifiers and Signified Theory

-created the signifier and signified

Roland Barthes - Denotations, Connotations and Myths Theory

-denotation - literally what you see

-connotation - the meaning behind that sign

-myth - represents a more complex concept (values and ideologies of certain groups of people), often to its extremes,e.g. guns associated with American freedom and patriotism

Charles Peirce - Triadic model of communication

-(can be in any order) sign/representamen (represents object or meaning) <> interpretant (mental concept/meaning) <> Object (subject matter)

Example:

-Interpretant (switch off machine)

-Representamen ( symbol for switch off)

-Object (computer switches off)

Charles Peirce - Sign Categories

-Icon: obvious physical resemblance to what it signifies (e.g. a photograph of a dog)

-Symbol: no resemblance between the signifier and signified other than cultural context

-Index: some sort of physical relationship to meaning, but not directly (e.g. a cartoon of a dog)

Codes

Anything that makes up part of the media text (e.g. image, word, colour)

Conventions

The way that codes are used in the media text

Polysemic

A code with more than one meaning

Rules

The ways in which signs can be organized

Shared understanding

The people sending and receiving the code both need to understand it

Todorov’s Narrative

-Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Attempt to repair, New Equilibrium

Steve Neale’s Genre Theory

The idea that though genres may be marked by dominance of repetition, but also of change and subversion. 

Genre

The type of any media product

Semiotics

The study of signs and symbols

Signifier

The physical form of something 

Signified

What meaning culture has place of the signifier

Anchorage

Linking signs to make meaning

Paradigms

The elements that will appear in the narrative

A set of signs that share a common function/feature

Syntagms

Putting these elements in a specific order

The combination of signs into a meaningful sequence

Propp’s Character Types

-Hero

-Villain

-Doner

-Helper

-False Hero

-Dispatcher

-Princess

Lévi-Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposites

The meaning of words is a relationship between opposing ideas rather than a fixed thing (e.g. Good, Bad)

Structuralism

The belief that meaning comes from a text’s structure

Narrative

the way events are presented to the audience (e.g. linear, non-linear, circular etc)

Story

the basic outline of connective events

Plot

the specific order connective events happen

Verbal Codes

Any text or spoken word used in a media text

Non-Verbal Codes

Anything that isn’t text or spoken word used in a media text

Symbolic Code

Codes that are used to convey a symbolic, rather than literal, meaning

Mass audience

Media texts created to appeal to a large audience

Niche audiences

Media texts created to appeal to a small, specific group of people

Primary audience

The main audience a piece of media is targeted to

Demographics

The statistical data relating to the populations and particular groups with in it (e.g gender, class, age, location, etc)

Social Grades

A (upper class), B (lower upper class), C1 (upper middle class), C2 (lower middle class), D (working class), E (unemployed/receiving benefits)

Psychographics

What is the target audiences’ personality, values, attitudes, interests, lifestyles

Enigma codes

Things that make the audience want to learn more about the media text. This is done through mystery and intrigue.

Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation (4Cs)

Mainstream, Aspirer, Reformer, Succeeder, Struggler, Explorer, Resigned

Gauntlett’s Identity Theory

-Fluidity of Identity: Gender roles change overtime

-Constructed Identity: We use the media to create our own identity

-Negotiated Identity: The relationship between you and media

-Collective Identity: Identity tribes and fandom

Hegemony

The dominant beliefs and values that the bourgeoise create

Dyer’s Star Theory (Actors/Celebrities)

-Construction: A star is a constructive image

-Commodity: Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions

-Ideology: Stars embody and represent certain ideologies

Alvarado’s Theory of Representation of Ethnicity

The Exotic, The Dangerous, The Pitied, The Humourous

Kanter’s Theory of Tokenism

Tokens: proportions of significant types of people are highly skewed and treated as representations of their category

Paul Gilroy’s Post-colonialism theory

That we still see effect of colonialism in the media today (e.g. ethnic minorities often show to be weak, powerless, dehumanised, marginalised etc)

Diasphora

The scattering of people/a community

Double consciousness

Feeling stuck between two cultures

Stuart Hall’s reception and stereotypes theory

The idea that media, and therefore audiences, often see certain races with certain classes and that audiences read a particular text due to their understanding which leads to the three main stereotypes in media of ethnic minorities:

-The Slave

-The Native

-The Clown/Entertainer

Cultivation Theory

The more we are exposed to a message, the more likely we are to believe it

Judith Butler’s Theory

Gender is a social construct and a performance.

Gender behaviour roles are not a result of biology but constructed and reinforced by society through media and culture

‘Gender trouble’

Any behaviour or representation that disrupts accepted notions of gender

bell hook’s white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy theory

That different types of people are discriminated differently based on the amount of marginalised Identities they have (e.g. poc women are discriminated more than white women)

Van Zoonen’s theories

Liberal Feminism: The idea that in order for the patriarchy to be dismantled, woman must have control of the media

Gender + Power: The idea that we exist in a patriarchy and that men are often the producers of media and therefore reinforce harmful gender stereotypes

Katz and Blumer’s Uses and Gratification Theory

The idea that media users play an active role in choosing and using media

Chooses what they want to consume for five different reasons:

-Information and Education

-Entertainment

-Personal Identity

-Intergration and Social Interaction

-Escapism

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

(from most important to least-bottom to top) Physiological needs, Safety and security, Love and belonging, Self-esteem and Self-actualisation

Male Gaze

Media that frames women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer and only for their perspective

Converging

Something that runs across different platforms

Synergy

Interaction of two or more things/organisations to produce a greater impact