Downloaded 15 times
![Stuart Hall
• Stuart McPhail Hall (3 February 1932 –
10 February 2014) was a Jamaican
born cultural theorist and sociologist
who lived and worked in the United
Kingdom from 1951.
• Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and
Raymond Williams, was one of the
founding figures of the school of thought
that is now known as British Cultural
Studies or The Birmingham School of
Cultural Studies.[1]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/representationtheories-190617140615/75/Representation-theories-6-2048.jpg)
More Related Content
Similar to Representation theories
More from RafaelPerezOlivan
Representation theories
- 1.
- 2. Representation 1: PaulGilroy Representation of race in the media
- 3. Gilroy • Professor PaulGilroy is a British historian, writer and academic, who is Professor of American and English Literature at King's College, London. • Gilroy is a scholar of Cultural Studies specialised on the Black Atlantic diasporic culture and its manifestations in British culture. • He is the author of There Ain't no Black in the Union Jack (1987), Small Acts (1993), The Black Atlantic (1993), Between Camps (2000; also published as Against Race in the United States), and After Empire (2004; published as Postcolonial Melancholia in the United States), among other works. • Gilroy was also co-author of The Empire Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 1970s Britain(1982), a path- breaking, collectively produced volume published under the imprint of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University, where he was a doctoral student working with the Jamaican intellectual Stuart Hall.
- 4. Gilroy • Theories ofrepresentations of race, ethnicity and the post-colonial world. • The concept of the ‘Black Atlantic’ draws attention to continuities in the culture created by the African diaspora across national boundaries, e.g. in newspaper representations of black popular culture. • The concept of the ‘Post-colonial melancholia’ draws attention to the continuing role of colonial ideology – of the superiority of white western culture – across a range of representations in newspapers. Evidence that might support this theory includes: • Examples of representations celebrating a transnational Black culture (the Black Atlantic) • Examples of representations that reinforce a white version of Britishness and a view of the world that reflects the British experience of empire and colonialism.
- 5. Representation 2: StuartHall Strategies to subvert stereotyped media representations
- 6. Stuart Hall • StuartMcPhail Hall (3 February 1932 – 10 February 2014) was a Jamaican born cultural theorist and sociologist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1951. • Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, was one of the founding figures of the school of thought that is now known as British Cultural Studies or The Birmingham School of Cultural Studies.[1]
- 7. Theories of representation Sincethe 1960’s, many strategies have been implemented in order to contest what Stuart Hall calls a racialized regime of representation. Three of this strategies are presented by him: • Reversal of stereotypes • Substitution of negative images by positive ones. • Attempting to make stereotypes work against themselves.
- 8. Reversal of stereotypes •Reversing the evaluation of popular stereotypes is not necessarily to overturn or subvert it. • Escaping the grip of one stereotypical extreme may simply mean being trapped in its stereotypical “other” (or oppositional stereotype: women assuming male stereotypes, black people assuming white stereotypes, etc.)
- 9. Substitution of negativeimages by positive ones • Celebration of difference/diversity and racial or gender hybridity. • Based on positive identification, rather than negative identification. • Expand the range of gender or racial representations and the complexity of what it means “to be black in a white world” or “to be a woman in a man’s world” challenging the reductionism of earlier stereotypes.
- 10. Substitution of negativeimages by positive ones • Do these images evade difficult questions, dissolving the harsh realities of gender discrimination or racism into a liberal mishmash of difference? • Do these images appropriate difference into a spectacle in order to sell a product? • Do these positive images displace/replace the negative ones? Is this actually positive or effective when the intention is highlighting and reporting on these issues?
- 11. Attempting to makestereotypes work against themselves • This strategy makes elaborate play with ‘looking’, hoping to de-familiarise the audience with the stereotype, and so make explicit what is often hidden. • It is not afraid to deploy humour to highlight the exaggerations and oversimplifications of the stereotypes that challenges and contests.
- 12. Bring your ownexamples • Can you find at least two examples of each one of these representation strategies with regards representation of women in the media (past and present)?
- 13. Gender representation Van Zoonen,bell hooks, Judith Butler
- 14. Representation 3: Liesbetvan Zoonen Representation of gender in the media (feminist theory)
- 15. VAN ZOONEN • Ina patriarchal culture (Simone de Beauvoir), the way women are represented as objects (objectification/ Laura Mulvey) is different to the representation of male bodies as an spectacle. • Gender is performative – our ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed (Angela McRobbie) in our performances of these roles so gender is ‘what we do’ rather than ‘who we are’. Gender is contextual – its meaning changes with cultural and historical contexts (Judith Butler). • Van Zoonen disagrees with arguments that the internet, being based on collaboration, is a technology that is true and close to women and femininity. Van Zoonen believes there is a rich diversity of ways that gender is articulated (on the internet, for instance) in contrast to simple ideas of an essential femininity.
- 16. VAN ZOONEN Evidence thatmight support this theory includes: • Examples of representations centred on objectifications of women’s bodies and other patriarchal representations • Examples of news that represents the construction of gender (e.g. debates about trans women).
- 17. Representation: concepts andterminology Decontextualisation: • Consider (something) in isolation from its context. Instrumentalisation: • The act of rendering something instrumental. The act of direct, organize or adapt something.
- 18. bell hooks • GloriaJean Watkins (born September 25, 1952), better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, professor, feminist, and social activist. The name "bell hooks" is borrowed from her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. • The focus of hooks' writing has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender, and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination.
- 19. bell hooks • Bellhook’s theory is based on the general theory of patriarchy. • The concept of intersectionality draws attention to misrepresentations and stereotypes based on one or more of gender, race, class and sexuality, and their inter-relationship in any newspaper representations. Evidence that might support this theory includes: • Examples of representations reinforcing the ‘white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’ • Examples of oppositional black female responses to news
- 20. • Feminism isa movement to end patriarchy: sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. • ‘Intersectionality’ refers to the intersections of gender, race, class and sexuality to create a ‘white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’, whose ideologies dominate media representations. • She argues that black women should develop an ‘oppositional gaze’ that refuses to identify with characters – the ‘gaze’ is political for black Americans, as slaves were punished for looking at their white owners. bell hooks
- 21. Beyonce performs onstageat the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California.
- 23. The “This ishow a feminist looks like” campaign
- 24. Apart from theobvious decontextualisation and political instrumentalisation of the concept feminism shown in the previous examples, some other debates which imply ideological confrontations have prompted from the media. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2827035/Scandal-62p-hour-T-shirts- Shame-feminists-betrayed-cause-writes-ROSIE-BOYCOTT.html http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/feminist-t-shirts-made- ethical-conditions-fawcett-society http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion- blog/2014/nov/08/feminist-t-shirt-scandal-ethical-problem-economic Feminism: concepts and terminology
- 25. Representation of genderand feminist theory Apart from the obvious decontextualisation and political instrumentalisation of the concept feminism shown in the previous examples, some other debates which imply ideological confrontations have prompted from the media. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2827035/Scandal-62p-hour-T-shirts-Shame-feminists- betrayed-cause-writes-ROSIE-BOYCOTT.html http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/feminist-t-shirts-made-ethical-conditions- fawcett-society http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion- blog/2014/nov/08/feminist-t-shirt-scandal-ethical-problem-economic
- 26. Judith Butler Judith Butler(born February 24, 1956) is an American continental philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of feminist, queerand literary theory.
- 27. • Gender iscreated in how we perform our gender roles – there is no essential gender identity behind these roles, it is created in the performance. Performativity is not a singular act but a repetition and a ritual that becomes naturalised within the body. • Any feminism concerned only with masculinity and femininity excludes other forms of gender and sexuality. This creates ‘gender trouble’ for those that do not fit the heterosexual norms. • Butler is an important postmodern writer and has defined Queer theory – theory which deconstructs and aims to destabilise apparently fixed identities based on gender and sexualities. Judith Butler: Theory of Gender Performativity
- 28. Gender Trouble (1990) •In her most influential book Gender Trouble (1990), Butler argued that feminism had made a mistake by trying to assert that 'women' were a group with common characteristics and interests. • That approach, Butler said, performed 'an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations' - reinforcing a binary view of gender relations in which human beings are divided into two clear-cut groups, women and men. • Rather than opening up possibilities for a person to form and choose their own individual identity, therefore, feminism had closed the options down.
- 29. Gender Trouble (1990) Butlernotes that feminists rejected the idea that biology is destiny, but then developed an account of patriarchal culture which assumed that masculine and feminine genders would inevitably be built, by culture, upon 'male' and 'female' bodies, making the same destiny just as inescapable. That argument allows no room for choice, difference or resistance.
- 30. Gender Trouble (1990) Butlerprefers 'those historical and anthropological positions that understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts'. In other words, rather than being a fixed attribute in a person, gender should be seen as a fluid variable which shifts and changes in different contexts and at different times.
- 31. Gender Trouble (1990) •Butler says: 'There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... identity is performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results.' (Gender Trouble, p. 25). • In other words, gender is a performance; it's what you do at particular times, rather than a universal who you are.
- 32. Gender Trouble (1990) Evidencethat might support this theory includes: • Examples of repetition of representations reinforcing gender performances • Examples of news that ‘queers’ gender norms.
- 33. Gender Trouble (1990) “Genderis a performance and gender lifestyle magazines provide the script for this performance” • To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- 44. Man of theyear Woman of the year
- 51. Suit Supply Shameless-IIIcampaign for 2010
- 52. Suit Supply Shameless-IIIcampaign for 2010
- 53. Suit Supply Shameless-IIIcampaign for 2010
- 54. Representation 5: DavidGaunlett Identity and Media Representation
- 55. David Gauntlett David Gauntlett(born 15 March 1971) is a British sociologist and media theorist. His earlier work concerned contemporary media audiences, and has moved towards a focus on the everyday making and sharing of digital media and social media, and the role of such media in self- identity and self- expression.
- 56. “Identity is complicated.Everyone thinks they’ve got one. Magazines and talk show hosts urge us to explore our ‘identity’. Religious and national identities are at the heart of the major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea of ‘identity’ in the modern society. Blockbuster movie superheroes have emotional conflicts about their ‘true’ identity. And the average teenager can create three online ‘identities’ before breakfast…Thinking about self-identity and individuality can cause some anxiety – at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to value their personal uniqueness. Each of us would like to think – to some extent – that we have special, personal qualities, which make us distinctive and valuable to the other people in our lives (or potential future friends). But does this mean anything? Is individuality an illusion? Maybe we are all incredibly similar, but are programmed to value minuscule bits of differentiation.” (Gaunlett, David. Creative explorations: New approaches to identities and audiences. Routledge, London. 2007) David Gauntlett
- 57. “ I haveargued against the view that men’s lifestyle magazines represent a reassertion of old-fashioned masculine values, or a ‘back-lash’ against feminism. Whilst certain pieces in the magazines might support such an argument, this is not their primary purpose or selling point. Instead, their existence and popularity shows men rather insecurely trying to find their place in the modern world, seeking help regarding how to behave in their relationships and advice on how to earn the attention, love and respect of women and the friendship of other men. In post-traditional cultures, where identities are not ‘given’ but need to be constructed and negotiated, and where an individual has to stablish their personal ethics and mode of living, the magazines offer some reassurance to men who are wondering ‘Is this right?’ and ‘Am I doing this OK?’, enabling a more confident management of the narrative of the self” (Gaunlett, David. Media, Gender, Identity. Routledge. London. 2002) David Gauntlett
- 58. David Gauntlett: Summary •The concept of identity is complicated, however, everybody feels/thinks that they have an individual one . • Religious and national identities are at the heart of major international conflicts. • We create numerous identities in a short space of time depending of the circumstances (specially evident in the use of the social media and networking sites) • We like to think we are unique, but Gauntlett questions whether this is an illusion, and we are all much more similar than we think.