Structuralist and Semiotic Analysis
Barthes - Post structuralist
Structuralism -
Media products have an underlying structure, knowing this helps us analyse the meaning behind them.
A fundamental way we make sense of media products and our lives in general is through binary oppositions, two diametrically opposed concepts that end up defining each other.
The way that these are used by producers in narratives demonstrate their ideological significance.
Semiotics -
Media produts communicate complex meanings to their audiences through a range of visual and technical codes. These can all be divided into different hermeneutic, proairetic, symbolic, and referential codes (speaking broadly).
After years of codes being repeated, the meaning behind them becomes generally agreed upon by society, much like a stereotype. This can also be cultivation.
Benefits of Diametric Oppositions:
Establish a clear narrative
Accentuate a character's personality
Create conflict for the audience
Establishes clear ideological perspectives for the audience
Anchors the audience to believe particular ideological perspectives
Beyonce Formation
Setting contrasts costume: Emptied abandoned swimming pool creates conflict with the high end designer costumes Beyonce and her dancers wear. This creates a hierarchy, encoded between the juxtaposition of rich and poor.
A conflict between modern sportswear, with encoded stereotypes of casual-wear and youths. Conflicts the more traditional and conservative attire worn in front of the door. Emphasised between the conflict in choreography, the abandoned pool dancers are more versatile and organised, but the door people are more stiff and conservative with their movement.
Beyonce lying nonchalantly on the police car demonstrates a clear binary opposition between working class female black identity and the symbolic connotations of the oppressive police car.
Les Revenants
Electronic synthetic soundtrack creates an opposition with the beautiful natural setting, emphasises the isolation of the area.
Life and death - this is constantly subverted as an ironic representation of death that helps the audience to understand the general narrative of the TV show.
Past Vs. Present. France struggling to come to terms with the present, and struggling to adapt.
Local and foreign - Allegorical to the issues currently facing Europe, globalisation and mass immigration. Loads of people suddenly turn up in town, and this creates fear and unease within the townsfolk.
Tide
Love-hearts emanating from the woman are cartoony and referential to cartoons. Proairetic to loving the soap box.
Target audience are white working class middle Americans
Hermeneutic code: Tide's got what women want. What do they want? Wy does Tide have it? Quite imperative, wants you to buy tide (exclamation mark) This also reinforces patriarchal hegemony, that women just want to clean.
Reinforces a stereotypical representation of women, is a symbolic code that portrays woman's wants and desires as simplistic and housewife-y
Rosie The Riveter referential code - She is holding the tide box much like the WW2 propaganda pose. Patriotic, has the american flag colours dotted throughout the print.
Lexis of the word 'white' suggests purity, cleanliness, virginity, supremacy, superlative. Symbolic annihilation of black women.
Racial segregation is rife in the 50s, there is a symbolic connotation with the lexis and the sociopolitical climate at the time.
Levi-Strauss Criticisms:
Forces the audience to accept one or another ideology. Doesn't allow audiences to create a negotiated reading. This leads to quite simplistic readings.
Encourages a mentality of conflict in the audience, and presents conflict as entertainment.
The Death Of The Author
Post-structuralism, Barthes wants to break down structuralism and wants to create a new one
Barthes Criticisms:
Gives the audience to decode the print in whichever way they want. Too much power to the audience, and the author does not have much control.
Some things are obvious and do not need analysing.
Structuralism -
Media products have an underlying structure, knowing this helps us analyse the meaning behind them.
A fundamental way we make sense of media products and our lives in general is through binary oppositions, two diametrically opposed concepts that end up defining each other.
The way that these are used by producers in narratives demonstrate their ideological significance.
Semiotics -
Media produts communicate complex meanings to their audiences through a range of visual and technical codes. These can all be divided into different hermeneutic, proairetic, symbolic, and referential codes (speaking broadly).
After years of codes being repeated, the meaning behind them becomes generally agreed upon by society, much like a stereotype. This can also be cultivation.
Benefits of Diametric Oppositions:
Establish a clear narrative
Accentuate a character's personality
Create conflict for the audience
Establishes clear ideological perspectives for the audience
Anchors the audience to believe particular ideological perspectives
Beyonce Formation
Setting contrasts costume: Emptied abandoned swimming pool creates conflict with the high end designer costumes Beyonce and her dancers wear. This creates a hierarchy, encoded between the juxtaposition of rich and poor.
A conflict between modern sportswear, with encoded stereotypes of casual-wear and youths. Conflicts the more traditional and conservative attire worn in front of the door. Emphasised between the conflict in choreography, the abandoned pool dancers are more versatile and organised, but the door people are more stiff and conservative with their movement.
Beyonce lying nonchalantly on the police car demonstrates a clear binary opposition between working class female black identity and the symbolic connotations of the oppressive police car.
Les Revenants
Electronic synthetic soundtrack creates an opposition with the beautiful natural setting, emphasises the isolation of the area.
Life and death - this is constantly subverted as an ironic representation of death that helps the audience to understand the general narrative of the TV show.
Past Vs. Present. France struggling to come to terms with the present, and struggling to adapt.
Local and foreign - Allegorical to the issues currently facing Europe, globalisation and mass immigration. Loads of people suddenly turn up in town, and this creates fear and unease within the townsfolk.
Tide
Love-hearts emanating from the woman are cartoony and referential to cartoons. Proairetic to loving the soap box.
Target audience are white working class middle Americans
Hermeneutic code: Tide's got what women want. What do they want? Wy does Tide have it? Quite imperative, wants you to buy tide (exclamation mark) This also reinforces patriarchal hegemony, that women just want to clean.
Reinforces a stereotypical representation of women, is a symbolic code that portrays woman's wants and desires as simplistic and housewife-y
Rosie The Riveter referential code - She is holding the tide box much like the WW2 propaganda pose. Patriotic, has the american flag colours dotted throughout the print.
Lexis of the word 'white' suggests purity, cleanliness, virginity, supremacy, superlative. Symbolic annihilation of black women.
Racial segregation is rife in the 50s, there is a symbolic connotation with the lexis and the sociopolitical climate at the time.
Levi-Strauss Criticisms:
Forces the audience to accept one or another ideology. Doesn't allow audiences to create a negotiated reading. This leads to quite simplistic readings.
Encourages a mentality of conflict in the audience, and presents conflict as entertainment.
The Death Of The Author
Post-structuralism, Barthes wants to break down structuralism and wants to create a new one
Gives the audience to decode the print in whichever way they want. Too much power to the audience, and the author does not have much control.
Some things are obvious and do not need analysing.
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