Representation Theorists

Stuart Hall- Representation
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Terms in this set (19)
Stuart Hall- Representation
Representation is produced through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs (denotation and connotation)
Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or 'other' (e.g. through ethnocentrism)
Ethnocentrism: the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups.Representation should thus not be focused on whether the media reflects or distorts reality; this implies that there is only one 'true' meaning, but instead we should focus on the many meanings a representation can generate.
This means looking at what is present, what is absent, and what is different. Meanings can thus be contested.
Stuart Hall also argues that to create deliberate anti-stereotypes to attempt to fix the meaning is also wrong, why because representation should conjure up more than one meaning.
A more effective strategy is to go inside the stereotype and open it up from within, to deconstruct the work of representation.
Stuart Hall - Representation - Usefulness for understanding Newspapers
Can be applied to any media product, including newspapers.
Applies particularly to the way in which newspaper headlines try to fix the meaning of a representation, both the copy and the photographs.
Draws attention to the role of power in representations - both the general distribution of power in society and the power of the newspaper as an institution - but also the power of the audience to decode representations in different ways.
Limitations for using Stuart Hall representation as a theory when understanding newspapers
Does not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a general theory of representation.
David Gauntlett's - identity
In the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas.
David Gauntlett's idea also centres around the increasing autonomy and power of audiences and how they respond to media products
The media provide us with 'tools' or resources that we use to construct our identities
Given the development of web 2.0 (two way communication on websites e.g. Facebook), traditional media theories don't take into account the 'new' relationship between audiences and media industries, where the audience can become the producer of the text.
Through the internet audiences are able to construct their own identities and even influence other people.
This internet has allowed for more flexibility in peoples 'identity' as we are not constricted through traditional norms of gender. This has resulted in it being more acceptable to be 'different'
We pick and mix our identities based on a wide range of identities that are presented to us by the media
David Gauntlett's - identity - key ideas
The media provides us with tools or resources that help us to construct our identities (sense of who we are)
The media no longer conveys simple messages about male and female identities, we can now pick and choose from a range of different ideas.
David Gauntlett's - Identity - Usefulness for understanding newspapers
Can be applied to any media product, including newspapers.
Applies to the sense of identity that a newspaper can offer its readers - e.g. the identity of a liberal, progressive Guardian reader or a patriotic, hard-headed Mail reader.
Applies to the way different sections of a newspapers offer diverse and sometimes contradictory media messages to audiences, thus offering a range of points of identification.
Limitations for using David Gauntlett's identity as a theory when understanding newspapers
Many audiences, especially young people, will not gain a sense of identity through newspapers but through self-expression online and by consuming forms of popular entertainment.
Think about how younger people are accessing news today through social media platforms (Instagram or Snapchat for example) or through media sharing sites like YouTube.
Gives a voice to people from minorities that have previously been marginalised (Blog by Laila Woozer on her mixed race heritage or Guz Khan on Jurassic World)
Van Zoonen feminist theory
Liesbet van Zoonen
The idea that the display of women's bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of western patriarchal culture.
The idea that in mainstream culture the visual and narrative codes that are used to construct the male body as spectacle differ from those used to objectify the female body.
Gender is constructed through society, and its meaning varies according to cultural and historical context.
Magazines construct many traditional representations of gender (in relation to domesticity, motherhood, fashion and beauty for example) that relate specifically to the time and society in which they were produced.
'[There is] a depressing stability in the articulation of women's politics and communication . . .
The underlying frame of reference is that women belong to the family and domestic life and men to the social world of politics and work; that femininity is about care, nurturance and compassion, and that masculinity is about efficiency, rationality and individuality.'
Liesbet van Zoonen Explained
Culture through a process of socialisation shapes our understanding of what gender is. Sex is biological but gender is a learnt process. Context (historical and social) is important in reading these representations of gender
The idea that women are there to be looked at and are judged on how beautiful they are: Naomi Wolf; The Beauty Myth.
"Beauty is a currency like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics and in the modern age in the West, it is the last, best belief system that keeps male domination intact."
The idea of what is beautiful for a woman and a man differ and enforce ideas about gender
Men can be judged on a range of criteria but women are judged through their appearance
Going Deeper
In patriarchal culture, the way women's bodies are represented as objects is different to the representation of male bodies as spectacle.
Gender is contextual - it's meaning changes with cultural and historical contexts.
Van Zoonen disagrees with arguments that the internet, being based on collaboration, is a technology that is true and close to women and femininity. These views are too simple and based on the idea of an essential femininity, whereas there is a rich diversity of ways that gender is articulated on the internet.
Van Zoonen Feminist theory - Usefulness for understanding newspapers
Can be applied to any media product, including newspapers, especially representations of gender.
The concept of patriarchy may be applied to the ownership and control of newspapers, the recruitment and ethos of newspaper professionals, news values, and the representation of gender in newspapers, especially the representation of women's bodies.
Does not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a general theory of patriarchy.
In prioritising gender inequalities, the theory may not aid analysis of other forms of inequality in representation in newspapers.
In stressing the influence of social conflict on representations the theory may underestimate the influence of social consensus on representations.
Limitations for using Van zoonen feminist theory as a theory when understanding newspapers
Does not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a general theory of patriarchy.
In prioritising gender inequalities, the theory may not aid analysis of other forms of inequality in representation in newspapers.
In stressing the influence of social conflict on representations the theory may underestimate the influence of social consensus on representations.
bell hooks - Feminist theoryThe idea that feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination The idea that feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice She argues that black women should develop an 'oppositional gaze' that refuses to identify with characters - the 'gaze' is political for black Americans, as slaves were punished for looking at their white owners. The idea that race and class as well as sex determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed. Hegemony dictates a hierarchal system that has been established for political motives e.g. the white man at the top Black women have largely been ignored by feminist and racial equality movements, therefore when decoding texts it is important not to look at black women as just a woman or a black person but as a black woman.bell hooks - Feminist theory - Usefulness for understanding NewspapersCan be applied to any media product, including newspapers, especially representations of gender. The concept of 'intersectionality' draws attention to misrepresentations and stereotypes based on one or more of gender, race, class and sexuality, and their inter-relationship in any newspaper representations.Limitations for using bell hooks feminist theory as a theory when understanding newspapersDoes not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a general theory of patriarchy. In stressing the influence of social conflict on representations the theory may underestimate the influence of social consensus on representations.Judith Butler - Gender PerformalityGender is created in how we perform our gender roles - there is no essential gender identity behind these roles, it is created in the performance. This Performativity (performance) is not a singular act but a repetition and a ritual that becomes naturalised within the body. Any feminism concerned only with masculinity and femininity excludes other forms of gender and sexuality. This creates 'gender trouble' for those that do not fit the heterosexual norms. Butler aims to destabilise apparently fixed identities based on gender and sexualities Our identities are played out by our performances of how we present our gender Gender is performative - our ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performances of these roles. Gender is 'what we do' rather than 'what we are'. Our identity is 'free-floating' and can change Our identities do not reflect our 'core self' (who we really are) For example look at the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter page of your favourite celebrity and think about how they are representing themselves and constructing an identity for themselvesJudith butler - Gender Performativity - Usefulness for understanding newspapersCan be applied to any media product, including newspapers, especially representations of gender. Can be applied particularly to lifestyle sections of newspapers where the performance of gender may be demonstrated in fashion and make-up advice, for example, and in articles about forms of 'gender trouble'.Limitations for using Judith ButlerGender Performativity as a theory when understanding newspaperDoes not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a very high level theory of gender.Paul Gilroy - EthnicityColonialism and Imperialism Most European countries, including the UK have a history of military imperialism. They would conquer less developed countries and impose their rule on them. This was usually to ensure a supply of cheap materials from that country to help support the economy. Former British colonies include India, South Africa, Australia, Jamaica and the USA - at one point, GB ruled half the world. Imperialism - im·pe·ri·al·ismNoun: The extension of power, authority or influence by military or political forceColonial ideas continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post-colonial era Modern society still constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness. The 'West' (the UK) sees itself as superior as a place like Africa (the UK sees it as backward and...well a jungle...) Ethnocentrism: the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups. This means that people and individuals in the West will judge other groups in relation to their own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behaviour, customs, and religion. Going Deeper The African culture which was scattered across the world because of slavery has now constructed a transatlantic culture that is simultaneously African, American, Caribbean and British - the 'Black Atlantic'. Britain has failed to mourn its loss of empire, creating 'postcolonial melancholia', an attachment to an airbrushed version of British colonial history, which expresses itself in criminalising immigrants and an 'us and them' approach to the world founded on the belief in the inherent superiority of white western civilisation. Post-Colonialism is the concept that after the European colonies have been disbanded, the white Europeans ruling class maintain power through ideological factors. This might take the form of 'myths' that are created in the media about minority groups. Moreover it works to demonise, stereotype and alienate minority groups by seeing them as somehow not as 'worthy' as the 'civilised' white society, creating what Stuart Hall calls the concept of 'the other'Paul Gilroy Ethnicity - Usefulness for understanding newspapersCan be applied to any media product, including newspapers, especially representations of race, ethnicity and the post-colonial world. Gilroy draws attention to the continuing role of colonial ideology - of the superiority of white western culture - across a range of representations in newspapers.Limitations for using ethnicity as a theory when understanding newspapersDoes not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is a general theory. In prioritising race and the post-colonial experience the theory may not aid analysis of other forms of inequality in representation in newspapers. In stressing the influence of social conflict on representations the theory may underestimate the influence of social consensus on representations.