COMS 371 - Week 4 (The Birmingham School)

(n) hypothetical positions in which decoding may be constructed

(3) dominant hegemonic code, negotiated code and oppositional code

oppositional code

adopts alternative frame of reference and makes meaning in way not originally intended by producer

encoding/decoding model

breaks down relationship between media maker and consumer, processes shaped by frameworks/relationships of production and technical infrastructure

encoding process

converting meaning into a series of signs or symbols

decoding process

converting signs or symbols into concepts and ideas

Stuart Hall

key figure in cultural studies and director of Open University, who was concerned with communication in relation to power. developed the encoding/decoding theory

negotiated code

mix of adaptive and oppositional elements and is between dominant and oppositional

dominant hegemonic code

often confirms social order, the reading that media makers want us to take, often confirming the social order

The Birmingham School

scholars based at University of Birmingham, many from working class backgrounds, with a radical orientation and aimed at questioning social structures and understanding distributions of social power. it is influence d by Marxism/feminism/anti-racism

culture jamming

the practice of appropriating mass media, by methods such as producing things parodying current media

sender/receiver model

Includes a sender, receiver, and a message. one of the first understandings of audience reception, did not understand complex relation between media makers and consumers