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MDST 1020 > Chapter 3 > Flashcards

Chapter 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is representation and what does it do?

A

Act of putting or encoding ideas into words, paintings, sculptures, tv programs, etc. They simplify and interpret the events they describe. It is considered a process of signification.

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2
Q

What does signification mean?

A

Using signs to make meaning

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3
Q

What is considered a sign?

A

Anything with meaning such as a word, an image, a sound, etc.

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4
Q

What is semiotics and who is the founder of it?

A

Semiotics is the science of signs, founded by Swiss linguist, Ferdinande de Saussure

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5
Q

Which two elements are described in semiotics?

A

Signifier (the thing we see hear or feel, ex. small bumps on paper) and signified (mental concept we draw from signifiers, ex. braille)

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6
Q

What are the three different types of signs and who formulated these?

A

C.S Peirce categorized signs into three different types:

  1. Icon: looks like the object
  2. Index: related to the object
  3. Symbol: sign that bears no direct resemblance to what it signifies
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7
Q

Describe what it means for a sign to not exist in isolation?

A

Signs form meaning as part of a greater “texts” or other related sets of signs and symbols. For ex. splash of rain is used to establish certain moods in film or music, not just as a type of weather.

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8
Q

What are the two elements in the process of signification?

A

Intertextuality: process of making meaning of one symbol based on meaning we have drawn from other sets of signs we have encountered. Our past experiences provide the background for interpreting signs and symbols that we encounter everyday

Polysemic: depending on the context, one might interpret each sign differently, therefore creating different meanings

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9
Q

What are the different types of meaning drawn from an image

A

Denotative meaning: literal and obvious interpretation

Connotative meaning: range of less obvious meanings

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10
Q

Why is it difficult to navigate an audience to one specific meaning?

A

one system of representation cannot encompass the full spectrum of the meaning of another

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11
Q

What do polysemy and indeterminacy of representation lead to more?

A

Leads to foundations of interpretation that we find in humanities. It is concerned more with rhetoric and hermeneutics than with truth

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12
Q

What does rhetoric mean?

A

How things are said

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13
Q

What does hermeneutics mean?

A

How things are interpreted

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14
Q

What is social theory?

A

representation of the ideas of how the world is organized and functions. Strives to offer rigorous and logical explanations of elements of the social world

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15
Q

What is the purpose of social theory?

A

It explains how the world works and why things are the way they are, as well as use these explanations to guide action and decisions made by society. For ex, alleviate social problems, improve quality of life, etc.

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16
Q

What is communication theory?

A

A kind of social theory that represents the complex process of communication. A way to understand the different forces that contextualize and give form to communication

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17
Q

What are some examples of communication theory?

A

Some theories that are part of a larger theory of society are: libertarian theory, social responsibility, mass society, and marxist political economy
Some theories that offer partial explanations are: semiotic explanation
Some provide abstract perspectives such as the Shannon Weaver model

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18
Q

Descrobe the encoding/decoding model?

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A
  1. process of communication is given by social factors
  2. /3.Professionals who work in a institutional and organizational context employ professional values to construct media messages
  3. messages are delivered through different technical systems to audience members
  4. /6. Audience members draw upon social knowledge of their experiences and histories to decode messages and deploy that information in their lives
19
Q

What is the shared field of social institutions, knowledge, and culture?

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A

Compromises language and social customs such as ideas we have about gender, family, work, regulations, laws, etc., may be seen as culture

20
Q

Descrbe the politcal, economical, institutional, part of the model?

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A

contextualizes the process of how media production is undertaken.

On the political side, specific laws frame the way media organizations operate, ex copyright

On the economic side, concerns the ways in which drive for profits affect production

Institutional or organizational context within which media messages are created describe the ways organizational mandates frame what media organizations do and the products they create

21
Q

Describe the way professional values guide media producers? (still part of the encoding/decoding model)

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A

guided in their practices by specific ideas about the products they create, ex. tv writers are governed by assumptions and guidelines on how those specific programs are structured

22
Q

How does medium influence of the form and structure of ideas and information?

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A

The different media used to convery specific messages are different. ex., novels tell a story in a way that is different from radio. The ways these media address audiences have an impact as well

23
Q

Describe the last stage of context of consumption?

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A

Stage where media products are consumed. The history of the receiver influence how a message is decoded, ex. age, education, religion, gender, etc.

24
Q

What are the two types of interpretations of messages?

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A

Dominant: complete agreement with the ideas contained in the message

Oppositional: disagreement with these ideas

25
What are referents?
Ideas, situations, circumstances, that can be represented in media products
26
What does agency mean?
range of action one might undertake, ex. money allows a person to go to college, buy clothes, buy a house, etc.
27
How does limited agency/structure of a person impact media?
A person may not be able to encode ideas and meaning into messages based on their life and work
28
Why is language considered an enabling and constraining structure?
In enables communication of a vast range of ideas but constrains us if we can only communicate in that language only, especially if you are not fluent.
29
Describe literary critiscism
study of interpretation of texts and the many different interpretations that can be drawn. One criticism is the viewing of texts in terms of the intention of the author. Here, media is seen as a vehicle for the author to convert their ideas. A newer criticism emerged and it comprises of the intention to reveal ambiguities and different meanings from the work, disregarding the intention of the author and reader response. This perspective does not consider relationships between the text and external factors such as personal history of the author.
30
What is structuralism?
to discover underlying patterns or structures that shape both texts and genres. Identify common themes that reoccured in stories, doubting the ideas that stories are a product of individual imagination
31
Who is Vladimir Propp and why was he important to structuralism?
Created seminal work that promoted structuralist principles. He collected over 400 tales from different parts of Europe to prove that they had similar narrative structure. He first identified basic elements (lexical) such as a hero, heroine, villain, and a helper. Second he described the motifs of the story: something must happen to set the (male) hero in motion, the villain will disrupt the heroes plans, and the hero will receive aid from a helper to overcome the obstacles. What Propp did was reduce the complexity of many stories to a simple set of narrative elements that could be combined in a limited number of ways.
32
What did Ferdinande de Saussure contribute to structuralism?
proposed that language could be studied as an underlying set of linguistic structures and combined together by any native speaker. Compared system of language to system of writing. Known as the structural analysis of language
33
What was Saussures idea about identifying symbols?
Knowing what a symbol is NOT, ex. red light is not a green light. Extended this into social interaction and pointed out that works carry preconceived ideas or signified about things and frame our interpretations of the world.
34
What is a downside to structuralism and semiotics?
They downplay human agency and the roles of the individual speaker and listener in creating and interpreting messages
35
What did post-structuralists believe?
meaning is made in the act of decoding and is the influence of the reader or audience. Understanding texts involves deconstructing them to uncover differences and meaning is never fixed.
36
What is discourse analysis?
Understand how language engaged audiences (related to study of making speeches more effective). Combines structuralism and rhetorical theory. Focuses on how language provides us with a perspective in the social world. Discourse = language and our world is immersed in it.
37
What are the two kinds of discourse analysis?
First one looks at the patterns of language and how they frame our experiences and understandings of the world. For ex., words such as chairman, fireman, demonstrate how this language supports patriarchal forms of domination in society. The second type has a more structuralist character and argues that language becomes a way of knowing the world and controls it. For ex., laws and regulations are not just words, they control how we do things.
38
Describe the critical political economy
based on Marxist perspective that medai supports capital dominant interests. Capitalist system's interest in profits are what frame the kinds of media available to us. Larger political and economic relationships that govern society are what structure the ways media operate and how they present the world to us.
39
What are one of the key strengths of structuralism and political economy?
they provide an understanding of how media content is the product of material social circumstances
40
Define content analysis?
Not a theory. It is used to contrast approaches such as discourse or critical political economy to identify characteristics of media. Emphasizes the quantitative aspects of media, such as which cities are covered in news stories.
41
What are the steps in the process of content analysis?
Analyst determines variables to be measured, such as people, events, etc. Researcher then sets up units of analysis, phrases, sentences, etc., and counts them and considers their relation to other aspects of content like pictures. Analyst can provide a reading of the media treatment of an issue over time.
42
What is genre analysis?
Looks to the way artistic or professional conventions structure or the production and consumption of content, ex. news on tv vs news on radio
43
Which form of media is the most pervasive and why?
Advertising is very pervasive because it is the main financial source that funds many types of media such as newspapers, television, websites, etc.
44
What are the different genres of media?
Soap operas, music videos, advertising, reality tv, and fan fiction,

MDST 1020 (4 decks)

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