Transcript
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David Phillips
Reception theory
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Reception Theory Understanding the early theory of reception of
text.
Use of media content anaysis (1970's to 90's)Phillips 1995
Negotiated reception
Expansion of theory from text to semiotic 1990's(Chandler)
The understanding of environment and context ascomponents of reception (neuropsychology)
Using reception models such as celebrity
Understanding of reception is changing because
of neuroscience and the new brain sciences
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Some early thoughts
Reception theory is a version of reader response
literary theory that emphasizes the reader's reception
of a literary text.
In literature, it originated from the work of Hans-
Robert Jauss in the late 1960s.
Reception theory was at its most influential duringthe 1970s and early 1980s in Germany and USA
(Fortier, 2002: 132), amongst some notable work in
Western Europe.
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People are not passive
This approach to textual analysis focuses on the
scope for "negotiation" and "opposition" on the
part of the audience.
This means that a "text"
be it a book, movie, orother creative workis not simply passively
accepted by the audience, but that the reader /
viewer interprets the meanings of the text based
on their individual cultural background and lifeexperiences.
In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent
within the text itself, but is created within the
relationship between the text and the reader.
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What do we interpret from amessage
Stuart Hall stressed the role of social positioning in
the interpretation of mass media texts by different
social groups.In a model deriving from Frank Parkin's 'meaning
systems', Hall suggested three hypothetical
interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a
text.
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Reception models Dominant (or 'hegemonic') reading: the reader fully shares thetext's code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading (a
reading which may not have been the result of any consciousintention on the part of the author(s)) - in such a stance the codeseems 'natural' and 'transparent';
Negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the text's code and
broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists andmodifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiencesand interests (local and personal conditions may be seen asexceptions to the general rule) - this position involvescontradictions;
Oppositional ('counter-hegemonic') reading: the reader, whosesocial situation places them in a directly oppositional relation tothe dominant code, understands the preferred reading but doesnot share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing tobear an alternative frame of reference (radical, feminist etc.) (e.g.when watching a television broadcast produced on behalf of apolitical party they normally vote against).
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Uses and Gratification The basic theme of Uses and Gratifications is the
idea that people use the media to get specificgratifications.
This is in opposition to the Hypodermic Needlemodel that claims consumers have no say in how
the media influences them.
The main idea of the Uses and Gratificationsmodel is that people are not helpless victims of all
powerful media, but use media to fulfil theirvarious needs.
These needs serve as motivations for using
media.
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Uses and Gratification - people playand active role.... Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz devised their uses andgratifications model in 1974 to highlight five areas of gratification
in media texts for audiences. These include: Escape Some media texts allow the user to escape from
reality. For example, video games. Social interaction People create personal relationships with
the characters in a media text. Potentially this could becomedangerous if people do not question the reality of such texts. Italso creates a common ground for conversation in people's everyday lives.
Identify People often identify a part of themselves in a mediatext, either through character or circumstance. For example, hairstyle trends stemming from a magazine feature. This can go a
long way in people's ideologies. Inform and educate the audience gain an understanding of
the world around them by consuming a media text, for exampleprint and broadcast news.
Entertain - consumed purely for entertainment purposes,meaning that text need not have any other gratifications.
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Shared experience The basis for this hypothesis, that it is the sharing
of subjective experience that is the fundamentalelement that underlies attachment drive andbehaviour, requires an examination of the very
basis and context of our living experience.
It requires us to delve perhaps in a ratherphilosophical view, but one that appears to onquite solid ground.
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The role of role models Fashion
Celebrity
WoM
Association Sense of group and belonging
Makes reception easy in social context
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Evidence of the influence of massmedia
A single story has little effect
Need for context
Need for repetition
All publicity is good publicity? Is this how propaganda works?
David Fan says a free press is a defence against
but not complete.
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The Authors
Phillips, D (1995) Evaluating Press Coverage Kogan Page
Hall, Stuart. "Cultural Studies: two paradigms" in Media, Culture and Society 2, 1980, 57-72.
Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, 1997.
Hall, Stuart. Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse, 1973.Hall, Stuart. "Notes on Deconstructing the Popular" in People's History and Socialist Theory, London:
Routledge, 1981, 227-49.
Blumler, J. and E. Katz, The Uses of Mass Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1974.
Bennett, Susan, eds. "Theatre Audiences, a Theory of Production and Reception" New York/London:
Routledge, 1990.
Fortier, Mark, ed2. "theory / theatre: an introduction" New York/London: Routledge (2002).
Hohendahl, Peter Uwe. "Introduction to Reception Aesthetics." New German Critique 10 (1977): 29-63.
Holub, Robert C. Crossing Borders: Reception Theory, Poststructuralism, Deconstruction. Madison: U
of Wisconsin P, 1992.
Holub, Robert C. Reception Theory: A Critical Introduction. London: Methuen, 1984.
Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP,
1978.
Jauss, Hans Robert. Toward an Aesthetic of Reception. Trans. Timothy Bahti. Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota P, 1982.
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Reception Theory did we learn? Understanding the early theory of reception of
text.
Use of media content analysis (1970's to 90's)
Negotiated reception
Expansion of theory from text to semiotic 1990's(Chandler)
The understanding of environment and context as
components of reception (neuropsychology) Using reception models such as celebrity
Understanding of reception is changing becauseof neuroscience and the new brain sciences
(listem to Vicky Tuck on Radio 4 and In Our Time
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