Cultural Studies and Semiotics /Consumer Culture
define cultural studies
practices among power systems to understand in relation to society/politics, British Marxists
define media effects
result from media influence
psychological: body changing response
physiological: shapes understanding
behaviour: goal of advertising, how you act after
define race as a socio-historical construction
culturally constructed, framed by slavery/imperialism, history informs current day norms
define the public sphere
relation between democracy and its citizens, attention to printing/news press, sociological methods, economics, law, political science, and cultural history
define and explain culture jamming
undermines meanings of advertising in a form of symbolic protest
eg anti ads, sub advertising, billboard banditry, brand jamming
text and ideology
media that can be interpreted, polysemic, perpetuate power relations-obstacles to social progress, common sense
legacy of fear
communication technologies accompanied by discussion/concern
define othering
difference: consumption of representation of racialized others for greater pleasure, white consumer feels better
exoticism: foreign figures that romanticize culture
orientalism: "strips from orient of humanity"
define the location of politics in modern societies
between the state and private realm of civil society, voluntary association, discursive space
explain respective functions of mainstream and alternative media
mainstream- provide a uniform idea of ideals for society and to inform public
alternative- argues for social change seeking to involve people and innovate
culture of consumption
using, buying, shopping-how we make sense of the world and behave
two-step flow
Paul Lauzer-Decatur Study: media doesn't always shape opinion
Opinion Leaders: more likely to believe someone we trust
discuss how cultural values regarding race and ethnicity are established in the media
representation in the media using historical ideals/social identity, using stereotypes, under/overrepresentation, reflectionism?
why mass communication is necessary for democracy
"to engage in public sphere citizens need good information...without a robust free press hard to imagine how any modern democracy.....of citizens can participate together as one public"
compare and contrast alternative media with the characteristics of the mainstream media
mainstream- appeal widely, prioritize profit, reinforce dominant structure
alternative- view in the minority, appeals to different audience and shapes another view from the mainstream
5 values of consumption
1. individualism
2. freedom
3. rationality
4. materialism
5. hedonism
agenda setting theory
sets perimeter for what is worthy of attention, widely accepted
regime of representation
regime signals power dynamics about representation as a form of politics, maintains unequal power relations-Stuart Hall
public sphere as a phenomenon of print
printed word created rationality which is used in democratic decisions also as a "mass ceremony"-the public of all private people (inclusive)
positively define alternative media as participatory, critical and heterodox-creative
1. participatory- independent investigative open-source research, need critical mindset
2. critical- alternative political visions, content criticism for social movements
3. heterodox-creative- aesthetic concern, culturally radical content
how consumption is entertainment in and of itself and how consumption features in entertainment media
-media themselves are consumer products, and the consumption of media is one of the values promoted by media
-merges entertainment of mass media with retail experience
long-term cumulative effects construct reality shaping perception
Dependency Theory: increasingly media dependent to understand the world
stakes of representation in media texts
as a primary tool of communication it shapes public perceptions and has the power to normalize or disrupt cultural norms
mode of address can influence self-concept, norms, politics, safety, civility, justice, community
why England was the first country to have a bourgeois public sphere
first country for capitalist development, "uniquely suited to the study of a critically debating public's gradual assumption of the functions of political control"
existing parliament allowed self confident bourgeois to have an interest in opposition to the state
give alternative media a negative definition
not for profit, doesn't have a monopoly, not homogenized, mass media isn't available, absence of commercial focus and entertainment appeal