Transcript PP CulturalStudiesApproaches

Standard Critical Approaches
• Content Analysis
• Semiotics
• Ideological
Critique
• Discourse
Analysis/Theory
Approach: Content Analysis
• Quantitative
(counting!)
technique
measuring specific
frequency of
various occurrences
• Produces raw data
Approach: Semiotics
Sign = Signifier + Signified
Signifier = the word or
speech sound (rain)
Signified = mental concept
(the concept of water
droplets falling from the
sky)
Semiotics: Types of Signs
Iconic
Indexical
Symbolic
Semiotics: Levels of Signification
Denotation = Literal Meaning
(1st level of signification) -that ring is literally
compressed carbon
encased in platinum.
Connotation = Cultural
Meaning (2nd level of
signification) – that ring
represents love,
engagement, commitment
Semiotics: Culture Bound
• Signs are arbitrary
cultural
contructions
• Myth =
transformation of
historical into
natural
Approach: Ideological Critique
Ideology = a system of
ideas and ideals
Ideological Critique looks
at cultural power and
is focused on how
meaning maintains the
social order
Ideological Critique: Marx
Social relationships are
based on domination
and injustice and
these are seen as
natural and inevitable
by those who benefit
least.
Ideological Critique: Gramsci
Hegemony = process
through which a
group is able to
claim, through
consent, leadership
or power throughout
a society – it is not
domination.
Ideological Critique: Gramsci
Articulation = non-determinist
approach (just because you’re
in the military, doesn’t mean
you’re politically conservative)
Discursive Phenomenon =
ideology is fragmented and
contradictory and in flux
Constructed Subjects = ideology
creates new identities for us to
occupy
Approach: Discourse Analysis
Discourse = all forms of talk and texts
Discourse analysis interested in texts themselves,
rather than seeing texts as a way of “getting at”
some reality behind the discourse