media language theories

Question 1

Roland Barthes
Semiotics

Answer 1

The idea that texts communicate their meanings
through a process of signification.
> The idea that signs can function at the level of denotation,
which involves the ‘literal’ or common-sense meaning of
the sign, and at the level of connotation, which involves the
meanings associated with or suggested by the sign.
>The idea that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through a process of naturalisation.
In a nutshell: - All elements of a media text are
codes that need to be read. These can all be understood as the thing they are (denotative level)
and the responses they create (connotative level).

Question 2

Todorov Narratology

Answer 2

The idea that all narratives share a basic structure
that involves a movement from one state of
equilibrium to another
> The idea that these two states of equilibrium are
separated by a period of imbalance or disequilibrium
> The idea that the way in which narratives are
resolved can have particular ideological significance.

In a nutshell: - narratives follow a pattern of
Equilibrium>Disruption>New Equilibrium.

Question 3

Steve Neale Genre Theory

Answer 3

The idea that genres may be dominated by repetition but are also marked by difference, variation and change
The idea that genres change, develop and vary as they borrow from and overlap with one another
The idea that genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial context.

Question 4

Claude Lévi-Stauss Binary Opposition

Answer 4

The idea that texts can best be understood through an
examination of their underlying structure.
>The idea that meaning is dependent upon (and produced
through) pairs of oppositions.
>The idea that the way in which these binary
oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological
significance.
In a nutshell: - The conflict between binary
opposites drives forward the narrative.

Question 5

Jean Baudrillard Semiotics

Answer 5

> The idea that in postmodern culture the boundaries
between the ‘real’ world and the world of the media have
collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish
between reality and simulation.
The idea that in a postmodern age of simulacra we are
immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to
anything ‘real’.
The idea that media images have come to seem more
‘real’ than the reality they supposedly represent
(hyperreality).