AS Communication and Culture Myth & Ideology

Reading Images 

 Been practicing analysing texts using a variety of frameworks such as Representation , Denotation , and Connotations , Signifiers and Signified , Mode of Address , Conventions , Audience and Barriers.

Myth and Ideology

In order to come to a more detailed and sophisticated understanding of a text, it is often useful to think about Roland Barthes' concepts of Myth and Ideology.

Myth 

Barthes' concept of myth refers to a belief or assumption held by a group of people. Sometimes this assumption is supported by some evidence, but the term 'myth' draws attention to the fact that the idea is not necessarily 'true'. It is closely linked to the concept of Stereotypes and convention. For Example; the idea of the 'dumb blonde' or the 'racist policeman', the assumption that if you work hard you can be whoever you want to be, or the belief in the convention of marriage.

Ideology

Barthes' Concept of Ideology refers to the beliefs or assumptions which become accepted by the majority as true, even becoming adopted into the laws of society. Some examples might include the age of sexual consent, patriotism,lending money for profit, white supremacy, and men being more important than women. As you can see, these ideologies are open to change. This leads to the idea that ideologies can be 'emerging', 'dominant' or 'residual'.

AS Communication and Culture Essay Structure

How to construct your essay based on Identity

Even though we have only completed a couple of weeks on the course,you should now be in a position to attempt an Examination question based on the concept of identity. Doing this will introduce you to the requirements of the written assessment used on this course, and your finished essay will give the teacher an indication of your ability to express your ideas in writing.

How To Construct Your Answer: 
You need to keep your writing Coherent, and you need to ensure you are meeting the assessment objectives. Here's a possible paragraph structure which will help you do this.

• The first sentence should Refer to the question,explaining one aspect of the argument made. The first sentence also makes a point. This part is really important- your paragraph must be saying something, making a point which hopefully agrees or disagrees with the point made in the original statement ( depending on what you were asked to do)

• The second Sentence could introduce the theoretical concept or key concept you are using to support the point you are making. The whole theory is not explained in detail,it is only referred to, and made to link to the examples being used.

• The third sentence might be a specific example. The example is real, something that actually happens and it illustrates the theory or key concept,as well as illustrating the point being made.

• The fourth sentence can sum up the point, to put it in another way and to hammer it home.

As you only have a short amount of time (about twenty minutes) to write the essay, you will only be able to write Four or Five of these paragraphs in the whole essay. Make sure that all the way through your essay you are directly referring to a number of the key concepts. Introductions and Conclusions should be Brief.

AS Communication and Culture Identity Theories

Identity Theories

Here are some theories of identity, each identity describes a different perspective.

Cooley's 'looking glass' Theory(1992): 
Suggests that we see ourselves through the eyes of others and that we fulfil their expectations of us.


Cognitive Dissonance: 
Is when your positive view of yourself is contradicted by other people. Theorists suggest certain ways in which an individual may cope, which Gergen and Gergen call self-maintenance strategies; 

• Belittle the evidence
• Associate others who think like you do 
• Turn the negative into a positive
• Disbelieve
• Form a low opinion of the other person 
• Self-handicap or opt-out.

The Pygmalion Effect or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
 Suggests that we adapt our behaviour to fulfil the expectations of others.

Brown and Levison; Suggest the concept of Positive face needs, in that we consistently seek the approval of others in our interactions through a number of different strategies:

• Paying attention
• Seeking agreement (safe topics)
• Pretend agreement (white lies,hedging)
• Use humour
• Use appropriate address terms, compliments

Dimbleby and Burton (2006); 

See four key factors in the way we form our self-concept, three of which are linked to other people; the reactions of others: comparisons with others; identification with others.

More Theories of Identity:

The activities should have got you thinking about the Key concept of Identity. There are some theories which the activities illustrate.

Self Concept is a Key term which describes our idea of oursleves, how we see ourselves. (from previous lesson when we wrote "I am" statements, that is an example of expressing our self-concept)

The theorists Kuhn and McPartland (1954) divided this concept into Social Roles and Personality Traits, and they found that as we develop from children into adults we define ourselves more in terms of social roles than personality traits. Other theorists have noticed that modern society emphasises Physical attributes because of our society's focus on body image.

Rogers (1961): Identifies something he calls the "self image" which is how we see ourselves, and he sets this against what he calls the "ideal self", which is how we would like to be. He also introduces a third concept, which he terms "self-esteem" and this is defines as how we feel about the gap between self-image and ideal self.

Roger also describes identity using the concentric circles below; 

Roger sees the Levels of Superficiality increasing as we move out from the core self.

AS Communication and Culture Image Analysis

                               Frameworks        Tuesday 8th October 2013

Representation: 
This is mainly concerned with the way people are presented to us. This focuses our attention on the particular world view suggested by the text. Think about the emotions shown,attitude,non-verbal communication (receiving or sending a wordless message),dress,appearance,sexuality. Also notice on what the text suggests about the gender,age or race of that particular person.
Remember: Concentrate on why the producers of the text have represented the individuals in these ways.

Denotation and Connotation: 
Denotation refers to what you can see in the image and Connotation refers to the culture-specific meanings of the things you can see. Think about the colours, non-verbal communication objects,surroundings,dress and anything else that seems to have been chosen by the producers of the text to communicate something specific to us.
Remember: Concentrate on why the producers of the text have suggested these connotations

Mode Of Address: 
Meaning how this refers to the way the texts talks to us. Consider the emotional tone,the register,the tone of "voice", the language used, any relationships set up between the sender and the reciever, any relationships suggested between individuals pictured in the text and the audience. Focus to look at words as well as pictures.
Remember: Concentrate on why the producers of the text have adopted this mode of address


Conventions:  
This refers to the way the text is set out,constructed ,planned and designed. Think about the Genre features associated with this kind of text which are either used or not used here.
Remember: Concentrate on why the producers of the text have constructed text in this way.

Signifiers and Signified: 
A signifier is something that has meaning, and a signified is it's suggested meaning,probably he best way to do this is to look for the five most important siginifiers on the text ( concentrate on images for this exercise)
Remember: Concentrate on why the producers of the text have constructed the text in this way

Primary Audience and potential Barriers: 
The Primary Audience is the people the text is aimed at (think of gender,age,race,lifestyle type) and Barriers are psychological, physical and semantic issues which might prevent the audience recieving the message of the advertisement