Post-Structuralism and Alternative Readings
Structuralism and Post Structuralism are two different ‘schools’ when deconstructing a text.
You have actually practiced both forms considerably since AS, without perhaps knowing.
Today we will start to look at their core characteristics and explore how they differ.
Structuralism
Suggests we understand texts according to structures. An understanding of the ‘rules.’ Assumes that the meaning behind the text was put there by the author or producer. From their POV, it is already there and always was. The 'meaning' pre-exists and infers there is a dominant reading of how the text will be interpreted.
Levi Strauss (Binary opposites, Good/Evil, Man/Woman etc) Todorov (narrative structure, equilibrium/disequilibrium) Vladimir Propp (character archetypes) Barthes (Narrative and enigma Codes).
Post Structuralism
Rejects the idea of a text having a single purpose or single meaning. The author's intended meaning is secondary to the meaning that the reader perceives. Every individual reader creates an individual meaning for a given text. The text has the meaning that the audience chooses to give it. Believes the reader replaces the author as the primary subject of inquiry. This is referred to as the "destabilizing" or "decentering" of the author. Without an audience, a text has no meaning.
Stuart Hall (encoding/decoding) Blumler and Katz (uses and gratifications)
Alternative Readings - Stuart Hall
His model claims that TV and other media audiences are presented with messages that are decoded, or interpreted in different ways depending on an individual's cultural background, economic standing, and personal experiences.
Dominant/Preferred
This position is one where the consumer takes the actual meaning directly, and decodes it exactly the way it was encoded. They interpret the text exactly as intended by the texts original producer.
Negotiated
This position is a mixture of accepting and rejecting elements. Readers are acknowledging the dominant message, but are not willing to completely accept it the way the encoder has intended. The reader to a certain extent generally accepts the preferred meaning, but is simultaneously resisting or modifying it in a way which reflects their own experiences and interests.
Oppositional/Alternate
A consumer understands the meaning, but due to individual circumstances, has their own way of decoding the message, forming their own interpretations. The readers' situation has placed them in an opposing position in relation to the producers intended meaning, and although they understand the intended meaning they do not agree and ultimately reject it.
Read the article. Do not just read it passively. Highlight and annotate.
- Does this help you identify a potential negotiated reading?
- Does this help you identify a potential oppositional reading?
Think of your own media text, and identify a potential dominant, negotiated and oppositional reading for it.
Try to think of your own, but here are some example if you are stuck…
- Geordie Shore
- Fox News
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Top Gear
- The Sun
- Dapperlaughs
- Benefits Street
- Frozen
- The X Factor/BGT
- Kim Kardashian
- Making a Murderer
