Hall's Reception theory
- 2. What is reception theory? It is: • a theory on reader responses to a media text. • based on the encoding and decoding model. • a way of explaining audience positioning.
- 3. Encoding • Encoding is the process of building signs and signals into a media text that build a message/meaning. • These messages are ‘encoded’ by the producers of a text and are said to be based on their own social and cultural background. • However, the producers are able to convey in this way any meaning they wish.
- 4. Decoding • Decoding is done by the audience upon reading a text. • They ‘decode’ the messages built by the producers in order to interpret their own meanings. • This interpretation leads the text being read in one of 3 ways: 1. Preferred 2. Negotiated 3. Oppositional
- 5. The 3 readings Negotiated • Due to previous (often conflicting) knowledge, readers partially agree/disagree with or question the text. Oppositional • These readers will register the preferred reading, however will reject it. • These people have already made up their minds. Preferred • The audience reads the messages as the producer desires. • This suggests the reader and producer have similar experiences.
- 6. Determining the reading of individuals Whether someone has a preferred, negotiated or oppositional reading of a text is dependent on their demographics. In essence their: • Age, • Gender, • Beliefs • Culture, • Mood, • and Experiences.