Audiences are seen as active producers of meaning, rather than as merely consumers of media meanings. They make sense of media texts according to their social position (in terms of their identity) – and their gender, race, class etc.
· Reception Theory - We use our own personal experiences and
cultural knowledge to interpret a text in a personal way. Stuart Hall states
The social situations of readers/viewers/listeners may lead them to adopt
different stances. ‘Dominant’ readings are produced by those whose social
situation favours the preferred reading; ‘oppositional’ readings are produced
by those whose social position puts them into direct conflict with the
preferred reading. Reception theory suggests that our reading of a text is
MEDIATED by our own cultural experiences. Hall states that producers encode a
message and audiences decode them.
· Uses and Gratification – Suggests
4 uses and gratifications that audiences obtain from a text – Diversion,
Surveillance, Personal Relationships, Personal Identity.
·
Roland Barthes – wrote a seminal
essay entitled ‘The Death of the Author’ (1967) In it he states The essential
meaning of a work depends on the impressions of the reader, rather than the
“passions” or “tastes” of the writer; “a text’s unity lies not in its
origins, but in its destination,” “To give a text an Author” (and
assign a single, corresponding interpretation to it) “is to impose a limit
on that text.” He states the author (or the producer’s intention) is
not important, what is important is the way/ways in which audiences interpret
the text. i.e. The audience is more important that the producer.
