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Media Theory for A Level provides a comprehensive introduction to the 19 academic theories required for A Level Media study.
List of contents
Media language
1. Semiotics: Roland Barthes
Concept 1: Denotation and connotation
Concept 2: The media’s ideological effect
2. Structuralism: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Concept 1:Binary oppositions
Concept 2: Binary oppositions and ideological significance
3. Narratology: Tzvetan Todorov
Concept 1: The three-act ideal
Concept 2: The ideological effects of story structure
4. Genre theory: Steve Neale
Concept 1: Repetition and difference
Concept 2: Industry effects on genre-driven content
5. Postmodernism: Jean Baudrillard
Key concept: The real and the hyperreal
Media representation
6. Representation: Stuart Hall
Concept 1: Media representation processes
Concept 2: Stereotypes and power
7. Postcolonial theory: Paul Gilroy
Concept 1: Racial binaries, otherness and civilisationism
Concept 2: The legacy of empire and British identity
8. Feminist theory: Liesbet van Zoonen
Concept 1: The female body as spectacle
Concept 2: Masculinity in the media
9. Intersectionality: bell hooks
Concept 1: Interconnected oppression
Concept 2: hooks’ call to action
10. Gender as performance: Judith Butler
Concept 1: Gendered identities are constructed through repetition and ritual
Concept 2: Gender subversion and gendered hierarchies
11. Media and identity: David Gauntlett
Concept 1: Traditional and post-traditional media consumption
Concept 2: Reflexive identity construction
Media industries
12. Ownership effects: James Curran and Jean Seaton
Concept 1: Media concentration
Concept 2: Effects of concentration on media content
Concept 3: Diverse ownership creates diverse products
13. Regulation: Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
Concept 1: Citizen and consumer models of media regulation
Concept 2: Regulation in the globalised media age
14. The culture industry: David Hesmondhalgh
Concept 1: Maximising profits and minimising risks
Concept 2: The effects of the internet revolution are difficult to diagnose
Media audiences
15. Media modelling effects: Albert Bandura
Concept 1: Violent behaviours are learned through modelling
Concept 2: Audiences copy media modelling
16. Cultivation theory: George Gerbner
Concept 1: Fear cultivation
Concept 2: Media consumption leads audiences to accept mainstream ideologies
17. Reception theory: Stuart Hall
Concept 1: Encoding and decoding
Concept 2: Dominant, negotiated and oppositional decoding
18. Fandom: Henry Jenkins
Concept 1: Fan appropriation
Concept 2: Audience–producer convergence in the digital age
Concept 3: Fans use participatory culture to effect wider social change
19. The end of audience: Clay Shirky
Concept 1: Everybody makes the media
Concept 2: Everyday communities of practice
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Mark Dixon is an Eduqas A Level examiner and Head of Media and Film at Durham Sixth Form Centre. He is also a freelance author, and has written for The Guardian, TES, Media Magazine and Teach Secondary as well as authoring a range of digital resources for Eduqas Media.
Summary
Media Theory for A Level provides a comprehensive introduction to the 19 academic theories required for A Level Media study.
