Reception Theory
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Reception Theory examines how audiences receive and interpret media. It has two parts: encoding, where producers encode messages into media like newspapers; and decoding, where audiences interpret messages based on their own experiences. Hall argued audiences can decode media in three ways - preferred, negotiated, or oppositional. The theory views audiences as active, since they apply their own thoughts and experiences when consuming media. Criticisms argue meanings are produced through the reader's interaction with the text, and a text can be interpreted differently, so a critic can only understand interpretations by investigating the specific context rather than the text itself.
Reception Theory
- 1. Theory:ReceptionTheory Theorists:StuartHall What isthe theory? ReceptionTheorylooksathowaudiencesreceive andinterpretthe mediatheyconsume. The theoryhas twoparts. the firstis concernedwithencodinganddecoding.encodingis where the producerof a mediaproductfillsthatproductwitha message thatthey want to getout of people.Newspapersare agoodexample of this.Byanchoringtheirimageswith captionsandusingemotive headlines,theyencode theirideasintothe paper.Onthe other handdecodingiswhere the consumerof the mediadecodesthe messagefromthe media producer.Whenlookingata newspaper,the audience cangetthe message thatisbeing put outby the publisher.Aswithall communication,there islotsof roomfor interpretation.The decodingprocessreliesonandisinfluencedbythe consumersprevious experience.Let’stake the exampleof asong,The songwriterusesmusicandlyricsto try and conveysomethingtothe audience.The audiencetheninterpretsthissongsandits meaning.The secondpartof the theoryconcentratesonhow someone understandsa mediaproduct.Hall’sideaisthatthe readerof a mediatextcan interpretitina numberof ways.The Preferredmethodiswhere the readerunderstandsthe message andagreeswith it.The negotiatediswhere the readergenerallyaccepts the preferredreadingbut sometimesmodifiesitinawaywhichreflectstheirownposition,experiencesand interests.The final methodisoppositional whichiswhere the readerhasan alternative, opposite view. Doesthistheorysee the audience asactive orpassive?Whydo youthinkthis? The Receptiontheoryassume thatthe audiencesare active intheirmediaconsumption. Thisis because active audiencesapplytheirownthoughts.ideasandexperiencestothe mediatheyare consuming. What are the criticismsof thistheory? The term receptiontheoryreferstoan attemptamongliteraryandfilmtheoriststo account forthe fact that a single textcanbe interpretedindifferentwaysbydifferent readers.Inso doing,the theoristsofferontological claimsabouttextualmeaningin general.suchtheoriesalsoclaimthatsince the experience of readingatextoccurswithina particular,historical specificcontext,acriticcan account for interpretationsof atextonly by investigatingthiscontingentcontextandnotthroughrecourse tothe textitself.The phenomenonof variedreadingsandthe existenceof contingentcontexts,than,are perceivedasontologicalandepistemological problemswhichrequire atheoretical method inorder forone to performcritical functions.Inshort,the inabilityof readerstoagree ona single,non-contradictoryinterpretationof anygiventextsuggeststomanyreception theoriesthattextshave nomeaningsandsecondlythe meaningis producedbythe reader throughthe interactionof himor herself andthe text. Applythe theory: An example of thisisthe Alex Buttnerinterview aboutStevenGerrard.The dailymail simplyreleasedthisstorywiththe headlinebeingacontroversial headlinethatisbeing quotedbya player.The preferredmethodwouldbe toagree withwhatButtnerissaying
- 2. and to saythat he wasa successjustbecause he wona premierleague title andSteven Gerrard didnot.The negotiatedmethodwouldbe tosee the pointeitherwayinthe fact that youcan see whatbuttneristryingto saybut on the otherhand itis total nonsense. The opposite viewwouldbe tothinkthatbuttnerstheoryisa complete joke andisa ridiculouspointthathe istryingto make.