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Reception Theory: Audience Interpretation

Reception theory examines how audiences understand and consume media. It originated in literary studies through Hans-Robert Jauss in the 1960s and was later developed by Stuart Hall for media/communication studies. Reception theory sees meaning as coming from the audience's personal reaction rather than the text itself. It views audiences as active interpreters rather than passive acceptors of meaning. Encoding is how producers fill media with intended messages, while decoding is how audiences understand those messages based on their own lives and experiences. Audiences can have preferred, negotiated, or oppositional readings that respectively agree, adapt, or reject the producer's preferred meaning.

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Eddie Gill
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415 views4 pages

Reception Theory: Audience Interpretation

Reception theory examines how audiences understand and consume media. It originated in literary studies through Hans-Robert Jauss in the 1960s and was later developed by Stuart Hall for media/communication studies. Reception theory sees meaning as coming from the audience's personal reaction rather than the text itself. It views audiences as active interpreters rather than passive acceptors of meaning. Encoding is how producers fill media with intended messages, while decoding is how audiences understand those messages based on their own lives and experiences. Audiences can have preferred, negotiated, or oppositional readings that respectively agree, adapt, or reject the producer's preferred meaning.

Uploaded by

Eddie Gill
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Theory: Reception Theory (1960s)

Theorists: Hans-Robert Jauss


What is the theory?
The reception theory is a theory that loos at ho! au"iences obtain an"
un"erstan" the #e"ia that they consu#e$ %t is #ore &enerally calle"
au"ience reception in the analysis o' co##unications #o"els$ %n literary
stu"ies( reception theory ori&inate" 'ro# the !or o' Hans-Robert Jauss in
the late 1960s( ho!e)er it !as then later "e)elope" by *tuart Hall 'or #e"ia
an" co##unication stu"ies$
This approach( the enco"in&+"eco"in& #o"el o' co##unication is a te,tual
analysis that concentrates on the possibility 'or ne&otiation an" opposition on
the behal' o' the au"ience$ -eanin& that the sub.ect( !hether it be a boo(
#o)ie or any other piece o' creati)e !or is not .ust passi)ely accepte" by
the au"ience$ %nstea"( the au"ience interprets the #eanin& o' the te,t base"
on their o!n in"i)i"ual li)es an" e,periences$ The #eanin& o' the te,t
there'ore lays in the au"iences personal reaction to the sub.ect( rather than
the sub.ect itsel'$ *o it is entirely open to personal interpretation$
The theory is broen up into t!o parts( enco"in& an" "eco"in& is one part(
an" the secon" is pre'erre"( ne&otiate" an" oppositional$
Encoding is !here the pro"ucer o' the pro"uct o' #e"ia 'ills that pro"uct
!ith the #essa&e that they !ant to &et across to people$ /e!spapers are a
&oo" e,a#ple o' this( as they anchor their i#a&es !ith e#oti)e captions to
try an" enco"e i"eas an" 'eelin&s about hea"lines into the ne!spaper(
there'ore onto the consu#er$
Decoding is !here the consu#er o' the #e"ia pro"uct "eco"es the
#essa&es 'ro# the pro"ucer o' the #e"ia pro"uct$ The consu#er !ill
"eco"e the #aterial as the publisher inten"e" an" there'ore !hen( 'or
e,a#ple( looin& at a ne!spaper( they !ill &o a!ay !ith the #essa&e that
has been put out by the publisher$
The secon" part 'ocusses on ho! so#eone un"erstan"s a #e"ia pro"uct$
The )ie!er o' a pro"uct o' #e"ia can interpret it in "i''erent !ays( rather than
.ust passi)ely acceptin& it$ This is the i"ea o' *tuart Hall$
Preferred is !here the rea"er !ill )ie! the #essa&e an" a&ree !ith it$
Negotiated is !here the rea"er !ill accept the pre'erre" rea"in& but can
occasionally a"apt it in a !ay !hich re'lects their o!n personal position(
interests an" e,periences$
Oppositional is !here the rea"er !ill un"erstan" the pre'erre" rea"in&(
ho!e)er they !ill re.ect it as they ha)e an alternati)e an" oppositional )ie!$
0oes this theory see the au"ience as acti)e or passi)e? Why "o you thin this?
The reception theory can see the au"ience as bein& both acti)e an" passi)e$ %n
so#e parts o' the theory( such as the enco"in& an" "eco"in& section( the au"ience
is seen as passi)e$ This is !here the pre'erre" rea"in& o' the #e"ia pro"uct is
enco"e" by the pro"ucer( an" then "eco"e" in the sa#e !ay by the consu#er$ The
other sections ho!e)er can see the au"ience as bein& #ore acti)e( an" thinin&
#ore 'or the#sel)es$ This is apparent in the ne&otiate" an" oppositional theories(
!here the rea"er processes the in'or#ation an" #o"i'ies it to their o!n personal
)ie!$ This sho!s that they are a #ore acti)e au"ience an" process the in'or#ation
that is bein& "eli)ere" to the# rationally( !hilst "ra!in& on past e,periences to bac
their )ie!s an" opinions up$

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