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Media Theory and Theorists
Below is a list of influential media theorists which you should be familiar with and be able to quote in youressays for all three exam papers. It is neither an exhaustive nor a prescriptive list. Please feel free to quoteyour own pet theorists. The important thing to remember is that whatever view or position you hold whendiscussing theories of the media is to be able to support what you say from theorists and specific examples,so in all cases you should ensure that detailed examples are learned or quoted. You have enough examplesfrom classwork but again your own examples are just as valid.Most of these references are taken from Stuart Price’s book 
 Media Studies
, Longman, 1993, with the occa-sional reference to
Studying the Media
(O’Sullivan, Dutton & Rayner, Arnold, 1994), a copy of which is inthe Library or available at a good Broome-cupboard near you.
Communication
Gurevitch and RobertsMass communication is ‘mediated’ through a specific set of technologies whichstand between the senders and receivers. ‘Mediation’ is the process of therepresentation of events through the media.(Price, p.8-9)Note also the Schramm, Lasswell, Shannon-Weaver models of communicationMcQuailHe describes 3 alternative models of communication:
1. The command mode
which considers that there are differences in
 power 
and
authority
between senders and receivers, that the senders are in a domi-nant position, so that no feedback was allowed or only that which wasacceptable by the sender.
2. The service mode
is “the most frequently occurring form of relationship”between sender and receiver, where they are both united by a mutual inter-est “within a market situation”.
3. The associational mode
states that shared beliefs attach a particular groupor public to a specific media source (not particularly relevant to the massmedia).
Narrative
“Narrative is a way of organising material” (Price, p.245)TodorovHe proposed the idea that a narrative has 5 distinct transformations throughwhich the story proceeds. These are :1.the state of 
equilibrium
- all is in order2.a disruption
(disequilibrium)
of the ordered state by an event3.a recognition that a disruption has taken place4.an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption5.a return to some kind of 
equilibrium
 
Page 2Apply this to any fictional or non-fictional form. Perhaps too general and can never reveal the true detail of narrative.(Price, p. 248)BraniganThought that people tend to remember stories in terms of “categories of infor-mation” and that narrative is an “activity that organises data into a specialpattern which represents and explains experience”:-1.introduction of setting and characters2.explanation of state of affairs3.initiating event4.emotional response or statement of a goal by the protagonist5.complicating actions6.outcome7.reactions to the outcome(Price, p.248)ProppRussian critic of fairy tales in 1928, he identified 32 categories of action andover 30 character-types who have a specific function within the narrative tocause events:1.the
hero
, who seeks something2.the
villain
who hinders or is in competition with the hero3.the
donor 
who provides some kind of magic talisman that helps the hero4.the
helper 
who aids the hero and his/her quest5.the
heroine/princess
who acts as a reward for the hero and is the object of the villain’s schemes6.the
dispatcher 
who sends the hero on his/her way by providing a message7.the
 false hero
who disrupts the hero’s hope of reward by pressing falseclaims8.the princess/heroine’s
 father 
who acts to reward the hero for his efforts.The categories of action are:1.Preparation2.Complication3.Transference4.Struggle
 
Page 35.Return6.RecognitionThese are all elements that can occur at different points in the tale.(Price, p.245 ff.)
Genre
Genre can mean ‘type’ or category of text.NealeGenres are “systems” of “expectations and conventions” that circulatebetween “industry, text and subject”.“The idea of an audience’s foreknowledge (knowledge of genre in advance, basedon experience of other texts) will obviously lead to a certain set of expectations. Itis these expectations which are then used to catch the attention of the audiencewhenever a film is being publicised.” (Price, p.254)“Repetition is a key element in the way audiences understand and relate to narra-tives.” (
Studying the Media
(O’Sullivan, Dutton & Rayner, Arnold, 1994)
Ideology
Ideology refers to systems of belief.McLennanIn
The Power of Ideology
, he set out 3 conditions which must be fulfilled if ideas andbeliefs are to be regarded as ideological:1.the ideas concerned must be
shared
by a significant number of people2.the ideas must form some kind of coherent
system
3.the ideas must connect in some way to the use of 
power
in society(Price, p.57)CoatesHe describes 4 traditions of thought as a way of understand-ing society, but also add
feminist
and
ecological
approaches as well.1.Liberalism — derived from Adam Smith’s economic theories about self-interest as being beneficial to society; sees society as composed of “rationalindividuals in pursuit of their self-interest”. The state provides “externaldefence and internal order”, and individuals produce wealth not for pureself-interest but ultimately for society’s general good.2.Marxism — Karl Marx believed that individuals only truly existed in socialrelationships and that only through mutual co-operation would society ben-efit. Thus the class system of the
bourgeois
who owned property and themeans of production hindered the
 proletariat 
who merely worked for them.When the proletariat combined then the bourgeois would perish and societywould move forward.3.Social Reformism — derived from the thinkings of John Stuart Mill whobelieved in moral development, reform and education with the greatest
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Mundanga Gumbo-chitova

A GOOD PIECE OF ART HOPE TO GET MORE LIKE THIS

reply03 / 29 / 2012
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