Two Important POINTS from the Readings
The Relationship between Texts, Contexts, and Audiences
Why?Textual study concentrated on the text's contents and the language's use, as it was depicted. Text conveys meaning by making allusions to the outer world and applying established representational codes. Both familiarity with the real world and the conventions of the text's medium are prerequisites for audiences. The events and genres affect how the text's meaning should be interpreted (films).
Ways to understand the media audience relationship
Why? There are six ways to comprehend audiences and the media. First, it is the direct consequences that communicate a strong message to audiences, who are affected and passively taken in by it. Second, when ideas and sentiments are reinforced, it suggests that other social institutions are expressing them already. Third, prolonged media exposure cultivates attitudes and beliefs through the constant repetition of messages and images, which can gradually reduce an audience's receptivity to visuals and messages that leave a lasting impression (desensitisation). When people watch how their role models behave and remember the script that was used, they can act out the role when they later come across a circumstance that is similar. This process is known as observational learning and cognitive scripts. Finally, audiences can use the media in unforeseen ways to their own satisfaction.
DIFFERENCES of OPEN and CLOSE TEXT
Encoding (producing message), Decoding (translating) The activity of capturing and giving meaning to the message conveyed is called decoding. Decoding is the process when the meanings are received, then the sending and receiving of the next message is reciprocal. ‘Closed texts’ tend to encourage a single interpretation and ‘open texts’ encourage multiple interpretations. Informational texts (foregrounding content) tend to be more closed and aesthetic texts (foregrounding form) tend to be more open. Even with texts designed to be closed, interpretation depends ultimately on the purposes of the reader. Open texts foster numerous readings while "closed texts" favour a single interpretation. Aesthetic texts (foregrounding form) are typically more open whereas informational writings (foregrounding content) are typically more closed. Even with texts that are intended to be closed, interpretation ultimately depends on the reader's goals. Road signs like "heavy plant crossing" can be purposefully read incorrectly. Upmarket goods advertisements frequently aim to be more ambiguous so that their target customers can use their cultural capital.
Media text (you engaged with recently n reflect on your reading position in relation to it (using terms from the lecturer n readings in the unit so far))
Based on what I have read that textual, numerical, or equivalent sources of data or information are referred to as text media. Various publications, unpublished papers, databases, and documents are all included in this. Any piece of work, item, or event that conveys meaning to an audience might be considered a media text. facts and ideas to their audience in print, oral, visual, or electronic form. All aspects of the modern man's worldview are today reflected in media texts, including personification, emotions, intertextuality, mentality, value system, and so-called clip thinking. This makes one of the conventional and standard linguistics analysis methodologies very inadequate for studying them.
3 Types of DECODING
Dominant
“The first hypothetical position is that of the dominant- hegemonic position. When the viewer takes the connoted meaning from, say, a television newscast or current affairs programme full and straight, and decodes the message in terms of the reference code in which it has been encoded, we might say that the viewer is operating inside the dominant code”.
Negotiated Readings
“Decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements: it acknowledges the legitimacy of the hegemonic definitions to make the grand
significations (abstract), while, at a more restricted, situational (situated) level, it makes its own ground rules.”
Alternative
the spectator’s social situation and consciousness place them in a directly oppositional relation to dominant ideology.