Critical Media Studies E-Book

Brian L. Ott

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 898

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Fully revised to reflect today's media environment, this new edition of Critical Media Studies offers students a comprehensive introduction to the field and demonstrates how to think critically about the power and influence of media in our daily lives. Material new to this edition includes a chapter on sociological analysis and reveals new ways audiences use media in their everyday lives to manage social roles, relationships, and contexts. Readers will also appreciate the extensive updating of previously discussed examples to reflect contemporary industry standards, textual forms, and audience behaviors and the inclusion of more international material to reflect contemporary media's global reach. Continuing its well-received writing style that is both engaging and accessible, the book's twelve perspectives provide readers with a diverse array of critical approaches to media studies, including original approaches such as erotic, sociological, and ecological analysis. Combining the best of well-tested theory with cutting-edge scholarship, this new edition of Critical Media Studies, offers invaluable insights into our current understanding of the nature and consequences of media in today's world. Updated and enhanced online resources for instructors - including PowerPoint slides, test bank, study guides, and sample assignments - can be found at href="http://www.wiley.com/go/criticalmediastudies">www.wiley.com/go/criticalmediastudies.

Leseprobe

Contents

Preface

1 Introducing Critical Media Studies

How We Know What We Know

Categorizing Mass Media

Living in Postmodernity

Why Study the Media?

Doing Critical Media Studies

Key Critical Perspectives

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

Part I Media Industries: Marxist, Organizational, and Pragmatic Perspectives

2 Marxist Analysis

Marxist Theory: an Overview

Patterns of Media Ownership

Strategies of Profit Maximization

Advertising

Consequences of Ownership Patterns and Profit Maximization

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

3 Organizational Analysis

Organizational Theory: an Overview

The News Media: an In-Depth Case Study

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

4 Pragmatic Analysis

Pragmatism: an Overview

A Pragmatic Approach to the Government Regulation of Media

Issues in the Regulation of American Media

Violence in the Media: a Closer Look at Pragmatic Regulation

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

Part II Media Messages: Rhetorical, Cultural, Psychoanalytic, Feminist, and Queer Perspectives

5 Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetoric: an Overview

Theories of the Sign

Texts and Rhetorical Structures

The Material Turn: Affect and Aesthetics

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

6 Cultural Analysis

Cultural Theory: an Overview

The Functions of Ideology

Ideological Processes: Myth, Doxa, and Hegemony

Cultural Studies: History, Theory, and Methodology

Ideology and Media Representations of Class

Media, Ideology, and Representations of Race and Ethnicity

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

7 Psychoanalytic Analysis

Psychoanalytic Theory: an Overview

Freudian Development

Lacanian Development

Psychoanalytic Studies of Media

Contemporary Scholarship in Psychoanalytic Analysis

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

8 Feminist Analysis

Feminism: an Overview

Stereotyping in American Media

Gendered Stereotypes in American Media

Postfeminism and Media Representation

Consequences of Sexist Media Representation

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

9 Queer Analysis

Queer Theory: an Overview

Queerness and Visibility I: Sexual Stereotypes in American Media

Queerness and Visibility II: the Problems with “Positive” Representation

Consequences of Heteronormative Media Representations

Queerness and Invisibility: Camp and the Fourth Persona

The Fourth Persona and the “Textual Wink”

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

Part III Media Audiences: Reception, Sociological, Erotic, and Ecological Perspectives

10 Reception Analysis

Reception Theory: an Overview

Encoding/Decoding: Stuart Hall

Polysemy: John Fiske, Celeste Condit, Leah Ceccarelli

Interpretive Communities: Stanley Fish

Ethnographic Research and Memory

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

11 Sociological Analysis

Sociological Theory: an Overview

Dramaturgy

Frame Analysis

Equipment for Living

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

12 Erotic Analysis

Theories of Pleasure: an Overview

Transgressive Texts

Transgressive Practices

Reflections on Transgression

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

13 Ecological Analysis

Medium Theory: an Overview

Charting the Third Wave

Conclusion

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

14 Conclusion: the Partial Pachyderm

Critical Media Studies: an Overview

Applied Media Studies

SUGGESTED READING

NOTES

Appendix: Sample Student Essays

Marxist Analysis

REFERENCES

Rhetorical Analysis

REFERENCES

Cultural Analysis

REFERENCES

Psychoanalytic Analysis

REFERENCES

Feminist Analysis

REFERENCES

Queer Analysis

REFERENCES

Sociological Analysis

REFERENCES

Erotic Analysis

REFERENCES

Glossary

Index

About the Authors

ELINOR CHRISTOPHER LIGHT

Brian L. Ott (right) is Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Colorado Denver. He is the author of The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age (Wiley Blackwell, 2007) and co-editor of It’s Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era (Routledge, 2008). Brian enjoys all things sci-fi and was a huge fan of Breaking Bad. His favorite film is Lost in Translation, which he believes perfectly captures life in the contemporary moment and, as such, provides the inspiration for the book’s cover art.

Robert L. Mack (left) is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. His scholarship concerns the text-audience interface with a focus on the medium of television. Rob enjoys tabletop board games and passionately believes that Janeway was the best Star Trek captain. His favorite subgenres of film include class warfare period pieces, films that attempted to introduce computers to the masses before the technology was widely available, and movies where Whoopi Goldberg evades danger in large, metropolitan cities.

This second edition first published 2014© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Edition history: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1e, 2010)

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Cover image: Wet evening in Shinjuku © Jon Hicks / Corbis Cover design by RBDA Studio

Preface

To our billions of readers, welcome to the second edition of Critical Media Studies: An Introduction! Okay, we recognize that is an optimistic first sentence, but it sounds more impressive than, “Hey, Ian, Gordana, and crazy Uncle Carl, thanks for reading our book.” Besides, who knows how many readers we have on Kobol (hello, fellow fans of Battlestar Galactica!).

When we began work on the first edition of the book nearly five years ago, it was tentatively titled Critical Media Studies: An Interstellar Guide to Fabulous Dinner Conversation. In the ensuing time, the book has undergone numerous changes, not least of which was a rethinking of its title. Apparently, “some” (who shall remain nameless, Elizabeth!) thought that the reference to dinner conversation might be confusing and misleading. We remain convinced, however, that it would have been an effective way to target fans of the Food Network – a demographic that has, in our opinion, been ignored by academic publishers for far too long (hello, fellow fans of Iron Chef America!). Although we harbor no hard feelings about this change, we nevertheless hope that readers will discuss the book over dinner (or any meal-like activity, including tea time: hello, British readers!) and that the ensuing conversation will be fabulous.

Another significant development has been the book’s cover art. Initially we wanted an image of two squirrels “doing it” . . . a metaphor, of course, for the frenzied but emotionally hollow exchange that occurs between media producers and consumers. But as with the title, more sensible heads prevailed, resulting in the equally enticing image of Tokyo at night. We, nevertheless, would like to thank our friend, Greg, for bravely approaching said squirrels, snapping a picture, and almost losing a finger in the process (hello and apologies, Greg!). Despite our disappointment that the squirrel-on-squirrel image was not selected, we believe that the existing cover is equally appropriate to the themes raised in the book. The rain symbolizes the steady stream of media messages that relentlessly pour down upon us each day. Meanwhile, the unfamiliar signs of the cityscape invite readers to wonder about their meanings just as Critical Media Studies asks readers to wonder about the role of media in their lives. Finally, the array of brilliant colors that comprise the image reflects the array of critical perspectives contained in the book, each shedding its own light on the media.

In closing, we wish to acknowledge our debt to the sensible heads mentioned above. In particular, we would like to express our gratitude to the team at Wiley-Blackwell, especially Elizabeth P. Swayze, Senior Editor, and Julia Kirk, Senior Project Editor. Their guidance and support has been invaluable. We feel fortunate to have had such a dynamic, creative, and thoughtful team guiding us. We also wish to thank Dave Nash for his persistence and good humor in securing various copyright permissions. Finally, we extend a very special thanks to Kathleen McCully, who copy-edited the manuscript, and Nora Naughton, who oversaw the manuscript through its copy-editing, typesetting, proofreading and indexing stages (Kathleen and Nora, thank you for your tireless efforts to correct our many mistakes!). Since it is cliché to say that any remaining mistakes are solely our own, we instead locate the blame squarely with the Illuminati (hello, Illuminati!).

Cheers,Brian and RobOctober 14, 2013

1 Introducing Critical Media Studies

KEY CONCEPTS

How We Know What We Know

Everything we know is learned in one of two ways.1 The first way is somatically. These are the things we know through direct sensory perception of our ­environment. We know what some things look, smell, feel, sound, or taste like because we personally have seen, smelled, felt, heard, or tasted them. One of the authors of this text knows, for example, that “Rocky Mountain oysters” (bull testicles) are especially chewy because he tried them once at a country and western bar. In short, some of what we know is based on first-hand, unmediated experience. But the things we know through direct sensory perception make up a very small percentage of the total things we know. The vast majority of what we know comes to us a second way, symbolically. These are the things we know through someone or something such as a parent, friend, teacher, museum, textbook, photograph, radio, film, television, or the internet. This type of information is mediated, meaning that it came to us via some indirect channel or medium. The word medium is derived from the Latin word medius, which means “middle” or that which comes between two things: the way that television and the Discovery Channel might come between us and the animals of the Serengeti, for instance.

In the past 30 seconds, those readers who have never eaten Rocky Mountain ­oysters now know they are chewy, as that information has been communicated to them through, or mediated by, this book. When we stop to think about all the things we know, we suddenly realize that the vast majority of what we know is mediated. We may know something about China even if we have never been there thanks to Wikipedia; we may know something about King George VI even though he died long before we were born thanks to The King’s Speech (2010); we may even know something about the particulars of conducting a homicide investigation even though we have likely never conducted one thanks to the crime drama CSI. The mass media account, it would seem, for much of what we know (and do not know) today. But this has not always been the case.

Before the invention of mass media, the spoken or written word was the primary medium for conveying information and ideas. This method of communication had several significant and interrelated limitations. First, as the transmission of infor­mation was tied to the available means of transportation (foot, horse, buggy, boat, ­locomotive, or automobile depending upon the time period), its dissemination was extraordinarily slow, especially over great distances like continents and oceans. Second, because information could not easily be reproduced and distributed, its scope was extremely limited. Third, since information often passed through ­multiple channels (people), each of which altered it, if only slightly, there was a high ­probability of message distortion. Simply put, there was no way to communicate a uniform message to a large group of people in distant places quickly prior to the advent of the modern mass media. What distinguishes mass media like print, radio, and television from individual media like human speech and hand-written letters, then, is precisely their unique capacity to address large audiences in remote locations with relative efficiency.

Critical Media Studies is about the social and cultural consequences of that ­revolutionary capability. Recognizing that mass media are, first and foremost, ­communication technologies that increasingly mediate both what we know and how we know, this book surveys a variety of perspectives for evaluating and assessing the role of mass media in our daily lives. Whether listening to an iPod while walking across campus, sharing pictures with friends on Facebook, receiving the latest sports scores via your smartphone, sharing your favorite YouTube video over email, or ­settling in for the most recent episode of The Big Bang Theory or Downton Abbey, the mass media are regular fixtures of everyday life. But before beginning to explore the specific and complex roles that mass media play in our lives, it is worth looking, first, at who they are, when they originated, and how they have developed.

Categorizing Mass Media

As is perhaps already evident, media is a very broad term that includes a diverse array of communication technologies such as cave drawings, speech, smoke signals, letters, books, telegraphy, telephony, magazines, newspapers, radio, film, television, smartphones, video games, and networked computers to name just a few. But this book is principally concerned with mass media or those communication ­technologies that have the potential to reach a large audience in remote locations. What distinguishes mass media from individual media, then, is not merely audience size. While a graduation speaker or musician may address as many as 40,000 people at once in a stadium, for instance, neither one is mass mediated because the ­audience is not remote. Now, of course, if a Lady Gaga concert is being broadcast live via ­satellite, those watching at home on their televisions or streaming it live over the internet are experiencing it through mass media. Mass media collapse the distance between artist and audience, then. Working from this definition, we have organized the mass media into four sub-categories: print media, motion picture and sound recording, broadcast media, and new media. These categories, like all acts of classification, are arbitrary, meaning that they emphasize certain features of the media they group together at the expense of others. Nonetheless, we offer these categories as one way of conceptually organizing mass communication technologies.

Print media

In an electronically saturated world like the one in which we live today, it is easy to overlook the historical legacy and contemporary transformations of print media, the first mass medium. German printer Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press in 1450, sparking a revolution in the ways that human beings could disseminate, preserve, and ultimately relate to knowledge. Printed materials before the advent of the press were costly and rare, but the invention of movable type allowed for the (relatively) cheap production of a diverse array of pamphlets, books, and other items. This flourishing of printed materials touched almost every aspect of human life. Suddenly knowledge could be recorded for future generations in libraries or religious texts, and social power increasingly hinged upon literacy and ownership of printed materials. Most importantly, the press allowed for an unprecedented circulation of knowledge to far-flung cities across Europe. Although still limited by class distinctions, access to information from outside of one’s immediate context was a real possibility. Mass media was born.