Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies (Discussion)

Decoding (or reading) a text

Group 4

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

1. 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 1

1. 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 3

1. 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.)

Readings from Thompson & Mittell, How to Watch Television

1. 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?

Bibliography

1. Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications (NY: Routledge, 2012).
2. Ethan Thompson & Jason Mittell, eds., How to Watch Television (NY: NYU Press, 2013):
   1. Miranda J. Banks, “I Love Lucy: The Writer-Producer,” 244-252
   2. Kevin Sandler, “Modern Family: Product Placement”, 253-261
   3. Daniel Marcus, “The Wonder Years: Televised Nostalgia,” 223-231