All Theorists

Question 1

Theory of Semiotics (Roland Barthes)

Answer 1

• Communicating with audience though visual and technical codes
• After many years of codes being repeated, they’re often agreed upon by society (e.g scar = bad guy)
• A myth is a widely held belief that is reinforced and emphasised though media language.

Question 2

Theory of Narratology (Tzvetan Todorov) YEAR 13

Answer 2

blah blah blah

Question 3

Genre Theory (Steve Neale)

Answer 3

• Genre is made up of repetition so it becomes recognisable by the audience
• However a certain amount of difference is needed for the media product to be successful.

Question 4

Theory of structuralism/Binary opposition (Claude Lévi-Strauss)

Answer 4

• The idea that in media (and in life) two opposing objects or ideas end up defining each other (Night cannot be explained without day)
• Idea that all media products have this underlying structure

Question 5

Theory of Post-modernism (Jean Baudrillard) YEAR 13

Answer 5

Balham blahdkkwkdmwkmrmrrm

Question 6

Theory of Representation (Stuart Hall)

Answer 6

• Representations are constructed through media language and reflect the ideological perspective of the media producer
• Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few traits
• However it is useful as it is easy for the audience to decode
• Usually occurs when there is inequalities of power

Question 7

Theory of Identity (David Gauntlett)

Answer 7

• Audiences are not passive, and media products allow them to construct their own identities
• Audiences can ‘pick and mix’ which identities suit them
• Over time there has been better representation and more options

Question 8

Feminist Theory (Liesbet van Zoonen)

Answer 8

• Women’s bodies in media are used as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences
• Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products, and the idea of what is male/female changes over time

Question 9

Feminist Theory (bell hooks)

Answer 9

• Feminism is not a lifestyle choice, it is a political commitment
• Defined as the struggle to end patriarchal ideologies
• Feminism is for everyone
• Race, class and gender all determine the extent to which individuals are oppressed

Question 10

Theory of gender performativity (Judith Butler)

Answer 10

• Identity is a performance, and is constructed through a series of acts and how we behave everyday
• Biological differences in sex, personal differences in gender
• Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a ritual

Question 11

Postcolonial theory (Paul Gilroy)

Answer 11

• The impact that that being under direct rule has had on former colonies
• These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity
• Media ‘others’ people to create binary opposition

Question 12

Theory of gender performativity (Judith Butler)

Answer 12

• Identity is a performance, and is constructed through a series of acts and how we behave everyday
• Biological differences in sex, personal differences in gender
• Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a ritual

Question 13

Power and media industries (Curran and Seaton)

Answer 13

• The media is controlled by a small number of giant conglomerates
• Small number stifles creativity and quality
• We need more diverse patterns of ownership to help create varied media producrs

Question 14

Theory of Regulation (Livingstone and Lunt)

Answer 14

• Regulation is very difficult
• Struggle to balance protecting the vulnerable and offering consumer choice
• Pirating, YouTube and online streaming has made regulation much more difficult

Question 15

Theory of cultural industries (Hesmondhalgh)

Answer 15

• Producers aim to minimise risk and maximise profit
• Often done through vertical and horizontal integration or by using a ‘risk averse’ business model

Question 16

Hypodermic needle theory (Albert Bandura)

Answer 16

• Old fashioned view that media can ‘inject’ an audience with ideas that we cannot prevent
• Suggests audiences are passive
• Still popular with the public despite being an old theory to criticise violence in the media (because we might take on these ideas)

Question 17

Theory of Cultivation (George Gerbner)

Answer 17

• Being exposed to repeated Representations over long periods of time can shape the way we perceived the world around us

Question 18

Reception theory (Stuart Hall)

Answer 18

• Preferred reading: decoding the media product the way it was intended by the media producer.
• Negotiated reading: The main ideologies are agreed with however the audience may disagree with certain elements.
• Oppositional reading: the audience does not decode the product in the way that was intended, and disagrees firmly eith the full message.

Question 19

Theory of a fandom (Henry Jenkins)

Answer 19

• Fans take part in textual poaching, where certain elements of a.media product are used in ways not intended by the media producers.
• Examples include cosplay, fan works, etc.

Question 20

End of audience theory (Clay Shirky)

Answer 20

• The idea that audiences are no longer passive
• We now want to interact with the media we consume rather than consume whatever is available passively.