Media language theory

Semiotics - Roland Barthes

Several codes are used

• Symbolic codes: Symbols don’t have fixed meanings, but are shaped by cultural connotations

• Semantic codes: Parts of a media product we understand have a hidden meaning (e.g in horror posters, red means blood or danger)

• Action/prioretic codes: Parts of media products which signify something is going to happen as a result (e.g in a movie, if someone pulls a gun out you expect a shot)

• Hermenuetic/enigma codes: Any mysterious part of a media product that will hook an audience in and make them want to complete the product

• Cultural/ Referential codes: Parts of a media product you will only understand if you are part of a particular culture

Limitations to Barthes Semiotics theory

• It was written in the 70s and 80s, meaning ideas may not be applicable to newer media forms, like online media.

• The theory ignores elements like narrative and genre

• The theory tends to ignore the intentions of the producers/context of the media product

• Does not tell us how audiences interpret online media and construct meaning

Narrative - Todorov

• Idea that all narratives share a basic structure involving movement from one equilibrium to another

• There is an equilibrum (everything is normal)

• There is a disruption (something upsets the balance)

• There is a new equilibrium (A new normal established after the disruption)

Genre - Steve Neale

• Gernes may be dominated by repetition but are also marked by difference, variation and change

• Idea that genres change and vary as they overlap from one another

• Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts

Structuralism - Levi Strauss

• Texts can be understood through an examination of their underlying structure

• meanind is dependent on, and produced through pairs of oppositions

• The way these oppositions are resolved can have ideological significance

Evaluation of Levi Strauss’ Structuralism

• Oppositons are not equal - there tends to be an imbalance. Binary opposites don’t just describe the world, but can reinforce inequality

• It ignores grey areas - Not much is perfectly opposite, such as old vs young (how old, how young??) (how attractive, vs how unattractive?/)

• The theory idea could reinforce negative stereotypes (masculine vs feminine etc)

• It doesn’t tell us about ownership and control, that is it doesnt tell us why the oppositions are created

• Doesn’t taje unto account audience interpretation. Some audiences may reject the idea of binary.

Baudrillard Postmodernism

The idea that:

• The boundaries between the real world and the world of media have collapsed, meaning it’s harder to distinguish between them

• Media images (representation) have come to seem more real than the reality they’re supposed to represent (what they actually are)

Evaluation of Baudrillards Postmodernism theory

• Many audiences can now distinguish between whats real and what is not (superheroes in marvel films are not real)

• Audiences understand how media is made to a higher level (production, etc) so audiences are more distant to the text

• The emotional response from watching a media product is not the same as one from real life (e.g watching horror movies makes you scared, but not as much as real danger)