101: Comm Winter 2008 Sections: 005, 006, 007 Erica Denise Williams, GSI Week 2 Notes Raymond Williams: Culture is Ordinary Culture--both a whole way of like (i.e. everyday life) and the forms of signification (i.e. media) that circulate within a society (p. 91). Culture can be used to mean a whole way of life as well as to mean the arts and learning (p. 93). National culture--"an arena for thinking about the problem of ordinary culture within societies where local, national and global meanings circulate and collide" (p. 91). Structures of feeling--common culture that resonates across both the mixture of representations and the experience of living culture. This view offers a perspective from which to understand how culture itself is saturated by a mass of representation (p. 92). Stuart Hall: Encoding, Decoding The four stage theory of communication (complex structure in dominance) -- production, circulation (also called distribution or consumption), and reproduction (p.90). Each stage is relatively autonomous, having its own limits and possibilities. The concept of relative autonomy allows Hall to argue that polysemy is not the same as pluralism. Polysemy--messages can have multiple meanings and interpretations Pluralism--the are a plethora of messages but they are not open to any interpretation because the construction of the messages in each stage limits the possibilities in the next stage The traditional model for the process of communication has been criticized for its linearity: sender message receiver (p. 91). This model doesnt take into account the complex structure of relations. However, Halls four stage theory does in fact take these complexities into account. Events can only be signified within the aural-visual forms of the televisual discourse (p. 92). In this sense, an event must become a "story" before it can become a communicative event (p. 91). The television communicative process--The institutional structures of broadcasting are required to produce a program within the normative practices and technical infrastructures; producers constructs the message; The institution draws topics, agendas, events, and images from other sources within the wider social political structures separate from themselves; producers encode messages (p. 92) Encoding consists of creating messages in a meaningful discourse which can be decoded by an audience which is necessary in order to have the message actually take effect (p. 93). Iconic sign--an image that looks like the object in the real world because it is reproduced under the conditions of perception in the viewer (p. 95). Discursive knowledge--is the product not of the transparent representation of the "real" in language but the articulation of language on real relations and conditions (p. 95). Naturalized codes--codes that are so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture that they appear to not be constructed (p. 95). Denotation--literal meaning of the sign (p. 96) Connotation--associative meaning of the sign (p. 96)
Dominant (preferred meanings)--there exists a pattern of ,,preferred readings; and these have institutional/political ideological order imprinted in them and have themselves become institutionalized (p. 98). Reading--the subjective capacity to put signs into a creative relation between themselves and with other signs (p. 99) Selective perception--applying individual reading to various media messages (p. 100). However, selective perception is limited to the parameters within which decoding will operate. Encoding--the production of texts by encoders with reference to relevant code; involves foregrounding some meanings and backgrounding others. Decoding--the comprehension and interpretation of texts by decoders with reference to relevant codes. Most commentators assume that the reader actively constructs meaning rather than simply 'extracting' it from the text. Codes--semiotic codes are procedural systems of related conventions for correlating signifiers and signifieds in certain domains. Codes provide the framework within signs makes sense: Three Types of Codes/Readings: Dominant or hegemonic codes--decoder/reader/audience fully shares the texts code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading (a reading that may not have been a conscious intention on the part of author). the Negotiated codes--reader partly shares the texts code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own social position, experiences and interests. Oppositional codes--reader, whose social situation places them in directly oppositional relation to dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share the texts code and rejects this meaning, bringing to bear an alternative ideological reading. Ien Ang: Dallas and the ideology of mass culture Ideology o f mass culture--very popular cultural products and practices cast in an American mould are labeled "bad mass culture". In this sense, "mass culture" is a term which has generally negative connotations (p. 407). The dominance of the ideology of mass culture apparently even extends to the common-sense of every-day thinking: for ordinary people too it appears to offer a credible framework of interpretation for judging cultural forms like Dallas (p. 407) The ironic viewing attitude makes a reconciliation possible between the rules of ideology of mass culture and experiencing of pleasure (p. 408). Through irony the conflict disappears between the norms of ideology of mass culture and liking a program like Dallas because ironizing creates a distance between oneself and the bad object while still engaging with the program (p. 409). "Ideologies organize not only the ideas and images people make of reality, they also enable people to form an image of themselves and thus to occupy a position in the world (p. 410). Ideology of populism--"an ideology which is completely opposite to the ideology of mass culture: it arrives at its norms and judgments in a radically opposite way" (p. 417).
Populist ideology functions as an anti-ideology: it supplies a subject position from which any attempt to pass judgment on peoples aesthetic preferences is a prior and by definition rejected, because it is regarded as an unjustified attack on freedom. Popular aesthetic--exact opposite of bourgeois aesthetic disposition in which art objects are judged according to extremely formal, universalized criteria which are totally devoid of subjective passions and pleasures. Campbell (Chapter 15): How We Study Mass Media There was a moved toward applied research (characterized by data collection and numerical measurements) in the field of social sciences which lead to an emphasis on media effects. Propaganda Analysis--used to mobilize and assemble public opinion Public Opinion Research--random sampling of representative populations through the common use of surveys in an effort to gain insight into social attitudes. Social Psychology Studies--unlike opinion polls that measure attitudes, social psychology measures individual behavior. Marketing Research--usually employed by commercial media industries to provide a better understanding of consumer habits. Media Effects Research The objective of media effects research is to try and understand and predict the impact of the mass media on individuals and society. Research Approaches Hypodermic-needle model--Media is overpowering and audience is passive. Minimal-effects model--the audience selectively chooses to expose and retain certain media messages. Uses and gratifications model--the audience makes use of the media to satisfy their own emotional needs. Researchers ask the question of why people use the media. Approaches to Media Effects (Scientific Method) Experiments Surveys Content Analysis Theories of Media Effects Social Learning Theory--People learn behavior through observation Agenda-Setting--Mass media sets the agenda for major topics of discussion in society Cultivation Theory--Heavy television viewing leads people to perceive reality consistently with the version of reality depicted on television (Mean-World syndrome) Spiral of Silence--those whose views are in the minority will remain silent Cultural Approaches The field of cultural studies has historically challenged the dominant media-effects models. Textual Analysis--the close reading and interpretation of cultural meanings found in media narratives Audience Studies--Explores how people use and interpret the cultural contexts found throughout the media Political Economy--Focuses on the production process of the media and popular culture