Representation and the Construction of Social Reality Chapter 3 © Group 2 Thu Hiền Bảo Trân Bích Ngọc Duy Đức Trang Đài
Jun 27, 2015
Representation and the Construction of Social
RealityChapter 3
© Group 2
Thu HiềnBảo TrânBích NgọcDuy ĐứcTrang Đài
OUTLINE• The semiotic approach by Ferdinand de Saussure Thu Hiền • The discursive approach by Michel Foucault Bảo
Trân
Representation and the Construction of Social Reality
“…is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language.
…is the link between concepts and language…”
(Stuart Hall, Representation: Cultural Representations and Practices, 1997)
The phenomenon of teenage violence in Victoria, British
Columbia
INCREASE!!!!
DECREASE!!!!
Media Statistics
The phenomenon of teenage violence in Victoria, British
Columbia
1984 20010
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
The youth popula-tionThe youth crime
Youth crime = 50% of the youth population
“Language and other structures of representation
construct rather than reflect the reality.” INCREASE!!!
! DECREASE!!!!
Media Statistics
Post structuralism
Research Questions (p.58-59)
1. How do language and other sign systems work to create (or signify) social meanings?
2. How do different media genres (ads, news, entertainment) and different types of media (TV, print) help shape the production of meaning?
The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Language = a system of signs expressing
ideas.What is a sign?“A sign can be a word, a gesture, a facial expression, an image, a musical note, even an item of clothing – anything that refers to something else, and is recognized as doing so by users of the sign system.” (p.60 – para.1)
1. How do language and other sign systems work to create social
meanings?
Saussure’s structuralism
The two parts of a sign:
LION
CONCEPT
FORM
© http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
The relationship between the signified & the signifier
© Semiotics: The theory behind media literacy
- Inseparable- Arbitrary- Determined by societal
convention
- Inseparable- Arbitrary- Determined by social conventions
© Semiotics: the theory behind media literacy
“COCK”
SemioticsWhat is semiotics?Semiotics = the study of role of signs as part of social life. (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html)
Leading modern semiotic theorists: the French cultural theorist Roland Barthes.
Modern semiotic theory stresses the role of ideology.
Myth todayMyth is a second-order semiotic system. “…elaborates Saussure’s theory of how
meaning is encoded in signs...” (p.62 – para. 3)
Levels of meaning1. DenotationA photograph of the movie star
2. Connotation3. Mythological (or
ideological)
A photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe.
Depression, drug-taking, etc.
The Hollywood dream.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem06.html
Discourse and Power
Discourse is about the production of
knowledge through language.
Michel Foucault
Nothing has any meaning outside
of discourse.
Historicizing discourse: discursive practices
Things meant something and were true, only within a specific historical context.
Discourse produced forms of knowledge, objects, subjects and practices of knowledge, which differed radically from period to period.
Female hysteria (or hysterical woman)
A new kind of criminality – “mugging”
“Carjacking”
“Home invasion”
“Drive-by shooting”
The Social Construction of YouthA ‘Youth’ - a person between 15 and 25.‘Youth’ – a slippery concept with no clear
biological or cultural grounding.‘Youth’ – the dominant class was closely tied to
urban development.The formation of youth gangs and subcultures.
Media and Youth CrimeCrime is a dominant feature in news.The media make crime stories meaningful.Crime stories play a key role in defining the
bounds of community.The media focus on particular crimes at
particular times and particular forms of crime rather than others.
Victoria’s (not-so-nice) secret
Moral PanicA moral panic is an intense feeling
expressed in a population about an issue deemed to be a threat to, or shocking to the “proper” social.
Moral panic is partly caused by the media to society.
SummaryRepresentation is the process by which
members of a culture use language to produce meaning.
Post-structuralism: languages construct rather than reflect reality.
Semiotics: sign = signifier+signified. The three levels of meaning: Denotation – Connotation – Myths.
Meaning is a result of a signifying practice. Discourse is a system of representation which is
about the production of knowledge through language.
The media do not just inform us about events that are going in our society; it re-present those events as part of what society should look like.
Discussion Questions1. “Q: When is a sheep not a sheep?
A: When it’s a work of art.” (Damien Hirst, Away from the Flock, 1994)
Imagine that the sheep mentioned above is Dolly - the first mammal to be cloned, explain this answer. 2. Give an example of an advertisement, in which
the theory of modern Semiotics by Roland Barthes is applied.
3. Find and talk about at least two examples of moral panic in Vietnam recently (consider words or phrases that have entered, or re-entered, public discourse recently to describe "new" social phenomena).
CHAPTER 2
:
ADVERTIS
ING
© G
RO
UP
2
OUTLINE
Approaches to Advertising
The Cult You’re In, Kalle Lasn
Salespeak, Roy Fox
Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals, Jib Fowles
How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit, John E. Calfee
Images of Women in Advertising Trang Đài
You’re Soaking In It, Jennifer L. Pozner
Beefcake and Cheesecake: Insight for advertisers, Marilyn
Y.Jones, Andrea J.S.Stanalan and Betsy D.Gelb
Bích Ngọc
Duy Đức
The Cult You’re In Kalle Lasn
The effect of all of the products and brand names that Lasn
includes in this article
Nike sneakers
A Planet Hollywood cap
Tommy Hilfiger jackets
Air-walk sneakers
Pepsi
Coke
…
Products / Brand name used by famous peoplemake the majority followingSuccess in advertising
The title: The Cult You’re In
meaning: Cult - worship
Pronoun: “you” – directly
the author want the readers directly mentioned in it create the immediate trends in advertising
Advertisement tell us what to think, what to dream.
DREAM
A significant point in the article
Dream: unique & imaginative
But, the same dream: wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex and exciting recreational opportunities.
Same dream: popular, mass do a same one
follow
the same
popular culture
Discussion
What does it mean when a whole culture dreams the same dream?
SalespeakRoy Fox
In the beginning: Pepsi Anderson and her experience in school was a little annoying and outrageous
Fox is being realistic, since he later says that Pepsi's world is already here
Ex:
sales companies target kids in their advertising
how school administrators in Michigan are considering auctioning off school names to the highest bidder.
Salespeak Roy Fox
Salespeak Roy Fox
Salespeak?
persuasive
type of entertainment or escapism
employs a systematic approach in targeting its audience
Type of message about transactions b/w people
"salespeak is more that a voice we hear and see: we also wear it, smell it, touch it, play with it."
Salespeak?
It is very persuasive because it uses facts, logic, and language to get consumers to buy into what is trying to be sold.
It entertains, arouses, plays with emotion, and uses sounds and music.
It works because Salespeakers collect and analyze information about a specific "targeted" audience and forms a message based on what that audience wants to hear
In the world today, nearly every facet of life is linked to sales or advertising
As young children: exposed to advertising and everything sounds like we should have the best shoes, or clothes, or whatever.
we grow up learning to listen to advertising so we know what is the best and what is not.
Short information about the product/service
Not focus on what we truly need, but on what we may desire
Little control in advertising in America
Approaches to Advertising
Elements in doing an advertisement
Where appear ?
Who can see it ?
How often appear ?
How messages constructed ?
How money budgeted ?
Advertising’s Fifteen Appeals
Jib Fowles
Advertising Appeal
The advertising appeal refers to the approach attract the attention of consumers and influence on their feelings.
Can also be viewed as “something that moves people, speaks to their wants or needs, and excites their interest.”
Emotional appeals
Emotional appeals relate to the customers’ psychological needs such as consumers’ emotion and feeling
Many’ motives for their purchase decisions are emotional
The need for
sex
Advertisers appeal to the
need for consumer’s
attraction, though it’s quite
easy for the ad to become
to blatant
Need for affiliation
As a part of human nature, we desire to be in good company and to have good relationships.
Need to nurture“to feed, to support, help, console, protect, comfort, nurse, heal.”
For take care of small defenseless creatures such as children and pets
Need for guidance
Every human has a need to be nurtured, protected, shielded, guided
The Need for Prominence
A portion of human nature is the desire for prestige and high social status.
The Need for Attention
A primitive human instinct is the desire to be looked at.
The Need for Autonomy
The need to be individual and independent.
The Need to Dominate
A human desires to be powerful, strong
The Need to Satisfy Curiosity
Humans are curious by nature.
The Need to Escape
When life becomes too much to handle, everybody wants for freedom.
The Need to Feel Safe
We like to see that our lives will remain in tact and that we can avert crisises successfully.
The Need for Aesthetic Sensations
Consumers have a much more acute sense for the aesthetic than they know
The Physiological Needs
Eating, sleeping, and drinking.
How Advertising Informs To Our BenefitJohn E. Calfee
A CASCADE OF INFORMATION
INCREASED INDEPENDENT INFORMATION
A PERVASIVE PHENOMENON
ADVERTISING AND CONTEXT
“LESS BAD” ADVERTISING
Gender in advertising
You’re soaking in it
Jennifer L.Pozner
Summary
New media is off limits increasing encroachment into every niche of mass media impact culture
women
Women as victims of advertisement
Diet industry Sex
Women’s rights
- Women are exploited in advertising industry- Advertisers only cares about how to make profit without paying attention to the image of women
Problem: “toxic cultural environment”
Solution: “media literate”
Does “media literate” help to reduce “toxic cultural environmet”? Why/why not?
The language use is not challenging
Have a clear argument and supporting ideas/examples
The structure of the article is quite confusing.
There is no conclusion.
Some questions in the interview part do not relate to the topic which is aimed at women only.
Depressing the reader at the end of the article – expect to read something else.
Beefcake and Cheesecake: Insight for advertisers
Marilyn Y.Jones, Andrea J.S.Stanalan and Betsy D.Gelb
Beefcake
Sexy male models
Cheesecake
Sexy female models
Attitudes of men and women towards Beefcake ads vs. Cheesecake ads
Sexiness
Physical attractiveness Nudity Rated sexiness/suggestiveness
Women react more negatively than men to sexiness.
Why?
Attention goes to the ad rather than the product
Viewers are attracted by eye-catching model favorable effect with the brand
Viewers can be annoyed by the a sexist portrayal unfavorable the ads the brand
Results
Women have less favorable attitude than men toward the cheesecake ads. However, women have higher recognition scores and recall than men for the cheesecake ads.
Men have less favorable attitude than women toward the beefcake ads. However, men have higher recognition scores and recall than women for the beefcake ads.
Conclusion
Men and women have different attitude, recogntion scores and recall for the beefcake and cheesecake ads different responses
Social context/cultural context
It takes into account the effects from both male and female models
Tested many factors such as attitudes, memoralbility, and recognition
Have responses from both men and women
Not be as applicable to society nowadays - Outdated information (most of the citations are from the past)
Not relate to popular culture
So lenghthy
The method should be criticized
300 participants are not a small number of subjects, yet it must be reconsidered if these 300 participants are appropriate.
Need more detail about how many women/men participated in the study.
Limited ability to generalize the information to the rest of the population
Lack of illustrations