Reception Theory Phillips

8/2/2019 Reception Theory Phillips

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David Phillips

Reception theory


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Reception Theory Understanding the early theory of reception of

text.

Use of media content anaysis (1970's to 90's)Phillips 1995

Negotiated reception

Expansion of theory from text to semiotic 1990's(Chandler)

The understanding of environment and context ascomponents of reception (neuropsychology)

Using reception models such as celebrity

Understanding of reception is changing because

of neuroscience and the new brain sciences


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Some early thoughts

Reception theory is a version of reader response

literary theory that emphasizes the reader's reception

of a literary text.

In literature, it originated from the work of Hans-

Robert Jauss in the late 1960s.

Reception theory was at its most influential duringthe 1970s and early 1980s in Germany and USA

(Fortier, 2002: 132), amongst some notable work in

Western Europe.


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People are not passive

This approach to textual analysis focuses on the

scope for "negotiation" and "opposition" on the

part of the audience.

This means that a "text"

be it a book, movie, orother creative workis not simply passively

accepted by the audience, but that the reader /

viewer interprets the meanings of the text based

on their individual cultural background and lifeexperiences.

In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent

within the text itself, but is created within the

relationship between the text and the reader.


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What do we interpret from amessage

Stuart Hall stressed the role of social positioning in

the interpretation of mass media texts by different

social groups.In a model deriving from Frank Parkin's 'meaning

systems', Hall suggested three hypothetical

interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a

text.


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Reception models Dominant (or 'hegemonic') reading: the reader fully shares thetext's code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading (a

reading which may not have been the result of any consciousintention on the part of the author(s)) - in such a stance the codeseems 'natural' and 'transparent';

Negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the text's code and

broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists andmodifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiencesand interests (local and personal conditions may be seen asexceptions to the general rule) - this position involvescontradictions;

Oppositional ('counter-hegemonic') reading: the reader, whosesocial situation places them in a directly oppositional relation tothe dominant code, understands the preferred reading but doesnot share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing tobear an alternative frame of reference (radical, feminist etc.) (e.g.when watching a television broadcast produced on behalf of apolitical party they normally vote against).


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Uses and Gratification The basic theme of Uses and Gratifications is the

idea that people use the media to get specificgratifications.

This is in opposition to the Hypodermic Needlemodel that claims consumers have no say in how

the media influences them.

The main idea of the Uses and Gratificationsmodel is that people are not helpless victims of all

powerful media, but use media to fulfil theirvarious needs.

These needs serve as motivations for using

media.


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Uses and Gratification - people playand active role.... Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz devised their uses andgratifications model in 1974 to highlight five areas of gratification

in media texts for audiences. These include: Escape Some media texts allow the user to escape from

reality. For example, video games. Social interaction People create personal relationships with

the characters in a media text. Potentially this could becomedangerous if people do not question the reality of such texts. Italso creates a common ground for conversation in people's everyday lives.

Identify People often identify a part of themselves in a mediatext, either through character or circumstance. For example, hairstyle trends stemming from a magazine feature. This can go a

long way in people's ideologies. Inform and educate the audience gain an understanding of

the world around them by consuming a media text, for exampleprint and broadcast news.

Entertain - consumed purely for entertainment purposes,meaning that text need not have any other gratifications.


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Shared experience The basis for this hypothesis, that it is the sharing

of subjective experience that is the fundamentalelement that underlies attachment drive andbehaviour, requires an examination of the very

basis and context of our living experience.

It requires us to delve perhaps in a ratherphilosophical view, but one that appears to onquite solid ground.


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The role of role models Fashion

Celebrity

WoM

Association Sense of group and belonging

Makes reception easy in social context


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Evidence of the influence of massmedia

A single story has little effect

Need for context

Need for repetition

All publicity is good publicity? Is this how propaganda works?

David Fan says a free press is a defence against

but not complete.


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The Authors

Phillips, D (1995) Evaluating Press Coverage Kogan Page

Hall, Stuart. "Cultural Studies: two paradigms" in Media, Culture and Society 2, 1980, 57-72.

Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, 1997.

Hall, Stuart. Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse, 1973.Hall, Stuart. "Notes on Deconstructing the Popular" in People's History and Socialist Theory, London:

Routledge, 1981, 227-49.

Blumler, J. and E. Katz, The Uses of Mass Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1974.

Bennett, Susan, eds. "Theatre Audiences, a Theory of Production and Reception" New York/London:

Routledge, 1990.

Fortier, Mark, ed2. "theory / theatre: an introduction" New York/London: Routledge (2002).

Hohendahl, Peter Uwe. "Introduction to Reception Aesthetics." New German Critique 10 (1977): 29-63.

Holub, Robert C. Crossing Borders: Reception Theory, Poststructuralism, Deconstruction. Madison: U

of Wisconsin P, 1992.

Holub, Robert C. Reception Theory: A Critical Introduction. London: Methuen, 1984.

Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP,

1978.

Jauss, Hans Robert. Toward an Aesthetic of Reception. Trans. Timothy Bahti. Minneapolis: U of

Minnesota P, 1982.


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Reception Theory did we learn? Understanding the early theory of reception of

text.

Use of media content analysis (1970's to 90's)

Negotiated reception

Expansion of theory from text to semiotic 1990's(Chandler)

The understanding of environment and context as

components of reception (neuropsychology) Using reception models such as celebrity

Understanding of reception is changing becauseof neuroscience and the new brain sciences

(listem to Vicky Tuck on Radio 4 and In Our Time

Reception Theory Phillips

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