Difference between revisions of "Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies (Discussion)"

From Screenpedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
(→‎Strengths/weaknesses: added strengths/weaknesses)
 
(29 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Decoding (or reading) a text'''
+
==Ideological criticism: key terms==
 +
#Ideology
 +
#Hegemony
 +
#Discourse, as defined by John Fiske:
 +
##"a language or system of representation that has
 +
##developed socially in order
 +
##to make and circulate
 +
##a coherent set of meanings about an important topic area."
 +
#Encoding and decoding, as defined by Stuart Hall
  
'''Group 4'''
+
==Decoding (or reading) a text==
 +
<gallery mode="packed" heights=200px>
 +
File:Stuart-Hall-and-the-Rise-of-Cultural-Studies.jpg|alt=Stuart Hall|Stuart Hall
 +
</gallery>
 +
<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
 +
File:Encoding decoding of broadcast structures.jpg|alt=Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model.|Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model.
 +
</gallery>
  
#Perform a ''dominant-hegemonic'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
+
#'''Group 1:''' Perform a ''dominant-hegemonic'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
 +
#'''Group 2:''' Perform a ''oppositional'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
 +
#'''Group 3:''' Perform a ''negotiated'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
 +
#'''Group 4:''' What do you feel is the ''preferred reading'' of this episode? What is the preferred reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)? ("Hall and others often presume that the preferred reading encoded on the text by the television apparatus will be from the dominant position," but in this case it probably is not.)
 +
===Cast (from IMDb)===
 +
*Bess Armstrong ... Patty Chase
 +
*Wilson Cruz ... Rickie Vasquez
 +
*Claire Danes ... Angela Chase
 +
*Devon Gummersall ... Brian Krakow
 +
*A.J. Langer ... Rayanne Graff
 +
*Jared Leto ... Jordan Catalano
 +
*Devon Odessa ... Sharon Cherski
 +
*Tom Irwin ... Graham Chase
  
'''Group 2'''
+
==Ritesh Mehta, "''Master of None'': Negotiated Decoding"==
 +
#Mehta offers "dominant", "oppositional", and "negotiated" "readings" of Asian-American Dev's relationships with various white women over the course of the series (pp. 147-148). Describe those three readings in your own words. How do those readings apply to Dev's relationship with Nina in "The Other Man" episode?
 +
#Mehta argues that the second season of ''Master of None'' "privileges" (offers a ''preferred'' reading, one might say) a different decoding than the first. How so? And can you see this in "The Other Man" episode, which is from the first season?
 +
#If we compare/contrast ''Master of None'' with ''My So-Called Life'', what preferred readings do they offer regarding:
 +
##Angela and Nina, in terms of gender politics.
 +
##Representations of adultery.
 +
##Ricky and Denise, in terms of LGBTQ/race politics.
 +
#How did ''you'' read Mark and Nina's conversion at the end of the episode?
 +
<gallery mode="packed" heights=200px>
 +
File:MasterOfNone S01e05qq00 27 02qq.jpg|alt=Mark and Nina, final scene of the episode.|Mark and Nina, final scene of the episode.
 +
File:MasterOfNone S01e05qq00 28 41qq.jpg|alt=Denise and Dev, last shot of the episode.|Denise and Dev, last shot of the episode.
 +
</gallery>
  
#Perform a ''oppositional'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
+
===Cast (from IMDb)===
 
+
*Aziz Ansari ... Dev
'''Group 1'''
+
*Lena Waithe ... Denise
 
+
*Claire Danes ... Nina
#Perform a ''negotiated'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
+
*H. Jon Benjamin ... Benjamin
 
+
*Noah Emmerich ... Mark
'''Group 3'''
+
*Colin Salmon ... Colin
 
+
*Todd Barry ... Todd
#What do you feel is the ''preferred reading'' of this episode? What is the preferred reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)? ("Hall and others often presume that the preferred reading encoded on the text by the television apparatus will be from the dominant position," but in this case it probably is not.)
+
*Annie Chang ... Caroline
 
 
==Readings from Thompson & Mittell, ''How to Watch Television''==
 
#'''Group 4:''' How does Daniel Marcus define "nostalgia" in "''The Wonder Years'': Televised Nostalgia"? Thinking back to our discussion of semiotics, what do you think he means by "denotative authority" and "connotative authority"? What effect does this connotative authority have on the ideological decoding/reading of ''The Wonder Years''?
 
#'''Group 1:''' In "''I Love Lucy'': The Writer-Producer," Miranda J. Banks lists five things for which ''I Love Lucy'' is "celebrated." In addition to these, what significant shift in the behind-the-scenes TV-production hierarchy does she identify? What new title did this result in and which unheralded individual associated with ''I Love Lucy'' fit this title? Why was the Screen Writers Guild wary of this development?
 
#'''Group 2:''' In "''Modern Family'': Product Placement," Kevin Sandler specifies two distinct attitudes toward the iPad's inclusion in the "Game Changer" episode. Summarize these "attitudes". Which do you think is correct and why? Also, how have technological changes necessitated marketing changes that affect narrative?
 
#'''Group 3:''' In "''Modern Family'': Product Placement," Kevin Sandler refers to Timothy Havens and Amanda D. Lotz's "industrialization of culture” framework as a way to understand the relationship between art and commerce in TV production. Explain Havens/Lotz's use of these terms: "mandates, conditions, and practices". How can these terms be used to explain the iPad's product placement in "Game Changer"?
 
  
 
==Strengths/weaknesses==
 
==Strengths/weaknesses==
List two strength(s) of ideological criticism, cultural studies and/or production studies. List two weaknesses of these approaches.
+
List two strength(s) of ideological criticism, cultural studies and/or production studies. List two weaknesses of these approaches. '''Answers in boldface are the best ones.'''
  
*'''Group 1:''' (Lakesia Doctor)
+
*'''Group 1 on production studies:'''
**Strength = Negotiating decoding allows for shared compromises between dominant-hegemonic and oppositional decoding.
+
**S:
**Weakness = This process can't work all the time, it is limited to the viewers standpoint between dominant or oppositional. Too much of one decoder can leave the viewer against the show entire because they don't want to understand the other's views. (You can please some people some of the time, but you can please all of the people all of the time.)
+
**W:
*'''Group 2:''' (Andrea Hildensperger)
+
*'''Group 2 on Stuart Hall:'''
**Strength: Ideological criticisms allow the viewer to basically weed out something that they will have no interest in. E.g., Someone working paycheck to paycheck can know they won't enjoy Real Housewives of Atlanta.
+
**S:
**Weakness: If you use ideological criticisms to define what you watch, then you're alienating yourself from seeing other viewpoints.
+
**W:
*'''Group 4:''' (Andrew Wallace)
+
*'''Group 3 on Stuart Hall:'''
**Group 4 established a strength of Ideological Criticism is that it is subjective, while a weakness is that it reinforces stereotypes found in media.
+
**S:  
 +
**W:  
 +
*'''Group 4 on production studies:'''
 +
**'''S:
 +
**'''W:
  
 
== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2012).
+
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Visual Storytelling and Screen Culture'' (NY: Routledge, 2018).
#Ethan Thompson & Jason Mittell, eds., ''How to Watch Television'' (NY: NYU Press, 2013):
+
#Ethan Thompson & Jason Mittell, eds., ''How to Watch Television'', second edition (2020):
##Miranda J. Banks, ''I Love Lucy'': The Writer-Producer,” 244-252
+
##Ritesh Mehta, "''Master of None'': Negotiated Decoding," second edition, 144-152.
##Kevin Sandler, ''Modern Family'': Product Placement”, 253-261
+
#Katie Way, "I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life," ''babe.net'', https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
##Daniel Marcus, “''The Wonder Years'': Televised Nostalgia,” 223-231
+
#[https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/BUI301/MasterOfNone_S01E05/index.html Screenshots from ''Master of None'']
  
  
[[Category:TCF311]]
+
[[Category:BUI301]]
[[Category:TCF311 Discussion]]
+
[[Category:BUI301 Discussion]]
 +
[[Category:JCM311]]
 +
[[Category:JCM311 Discussion]]

Latest revision as of 19:37, 17 November 2020

Ideological criticism: key terms

  1. Ideology
  2. Hegemony
  3. Discourse, as defined by John Fiske:
    1. "a language or system of representation that has
    2. developed socially in order
    3. to make and circulate
    4. a coherent set of meanings about an important topic area."
  4. Encoding and decoding, as defined by Stuart Hall

Decoding (or reading) a text

  1. Group 1: Perform a dominant-hegemonic decoding of My So-Called Life. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
  2. Group 2: Perform a oppositional decoding of My So-Called Life. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
  3. Group 3: Perform a negotiated decoding of My So-Called Life. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
  4. Group 4: What do you feel is the preferred reading of this episode? What is the preferred reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)? ("Hall and others often presume that the preferred reading encoded on the text by the television apparatus will be from the dominant position," but in this case it probably is not.)

Cast (from IMDb)

  • Bess Armstrong ... Patty Chase
  • Wilson Cruz ... Rickie Vasquez
  • Claire Danes ... Angela Chase
  • Devon Gummersall ... Brian Krakow
  • A.J. Langer ... Rayanne Graff
  • Jared Leto ... Jordan Catalano
  • Devon Odessa ... Sharon Cherski
  • Tom Irwin ... Graham Chase

Ritesh Mehta, "Master of None: Negotiated Decoding"

  1. Mehta offers "dominant", "oppositional", and "negotiated" "readings" of Asian-American Dev's relationships with various white women over the course of the series (pp. 147-148). Describe those three readings in your own words. How do those readings apply to Dev's relationship with Nina in "The Other Man" episode?
  2. Mehta argues that the second season of Master of None "privileges" (offers a preferred reading, one might say) a different decoding than the first. How so? And can you see this in "The Other Man" episode, which is from the first season?
  3. If we compare/contrast Master of None with My So-Called Life, what preferred readings do they offer regarding:
    1. Angela and Nina, in terms of gender politics.
    2. Representations of adultery.
    3. Ricky and Denise, in terms of LGBTQ/race politics.
  4. How did you read Mark and Nina's conversion at the end of the episode?

Cast (from IMDb)

  • Aziz Ansari ... Dev
  • Lena Waithe ... Denise
  • Claire Danes ... Nina
  • H. Jon Benjamin ... Benjamin
  • Noah Emmerich ... Mark
  • Colin Salmon ... Colin
  • Todd Barry ... Todd
  • Annie Chang ... Caroline

Strengths/weaknesses

List two strength(s) of ideological criticism, cultural studies and/or production studies. List two weaknesses of these approaches. Answers in boldface are the best ones.

  • Group 1 on production studies:
    • S:
    • W:
  • Group 2 on Stuart Hall:
    • S:
    • W:
  • Group 3 on Stuart Hall:
    • S:
    • W:
  • Group 4 on production studies:
    • S:
    • W:

Bibliography

  1. Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Visual Storytelling and Screen Culture (NY: Routledge, 2018).
  2. Ethan Thompson & Jason Mittell, eds., How to Watch Television, second edition (2020):
    1. Ritesh Mehta, "Master of None: Negotiated Decoding," second edition, 144-152.
  3. Katie Way, "I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life," babe.net, https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
  4. Screenshots from Master of None