Stuart Hall's reception theory-1980
Who is Stuart Hall?
Stuart Hall was a Jamaican born cultural theorist, political activist and sociologist who lived and worked in the UK from 1951. He was one of the founding figures of the school 'British cultural studies' or 'The Birmingham school of cultural studies'.
What is the theory?
The Stuart Hall theory (1980) is a active audience theory which sees the audience as being actively engaged in the interpretation of media texts, rather than passive consumers (people that read/watch/listen to something and just let it wash over them and don't follow up or create discussion on what they have seen). The idea is that each individual interprets the text in a different way and even though one message is sent out different ones are received.
The studying of semiotics
Stuart Hall claimed that media texts go through stages of encoding and decoding. This theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer and decoded by the audience. This means that the message the producer tries to portray may not be the one the audience receives and understands. When a producer creates a media text it will have a message that they want to convey to their audience, this is called 'preferred reading'. If the audience do not decode the message the way the producer wanted it won't be effective.An example of this is the Miley Cyrus song 'we can't stop' where the producer wanted her to get rid of her 'Hannah Montana' image however some the audience believed she looked 'slutty' whilst others were pleased with her comeback.
Stuart Hall was a Jamaican born cultural theorist, political activist and sociologist who lived and worked in the UK from 1951. He was one of the founding figures of the school 'British cultural studies' or 'The Birmingham school of cultural studies'.
What is the theory?
The Stuart Hall theory (1980) is a active audience theory which sees the audience as being actively engaged in the interpretation of media texts, rather than passive consumers (people that read/watch/listen to something and just let it wash over them and don't follow up or create discussion on what they have seen). The idea is that each individual interprets the text in a different way and even though one message is sent out different ones are received.
The studying of semiotics
Stuart Hall claimed that media texts go through stages of encoding and decoding. This theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer and decoded by the audience. This means that the message the producer tries to portray may not be the one the audience receives and understands. When a producer creates a media text it will have a message that they want to convey to their audience, this is called 'preferred reading'. If the audience do not decode the message the way the producer wanted it won't be effective.An example of this is the Miley Cyrus song 'we can't stop' where the producer wanted her to get rid of her 'Hannah Montana' image however some the audience believed she looked 'slutty' whilst others were pleased with her comeback.
More examples of this are seen everyday on social media e.g 'YouTube'. 'Youtubers' will often upload videos and receive 'hate' from their audience. A good example of this is 'what I got from Christmas' videos where youtubers would share what they were gifted for Christmas and thank the people that got them gifts. Some of their audience love these videos whilst others argue that they are trying to 'show off' and brag about what they were given.
Some examples of these videos are:
Another example is the song 'Blurred Lines' which the guardian has said is 'the most controversial song of the decade'. The song is about a man at a nightclub wanting to have sex with a girl who may not want to have sex with him. Many have labelled the song to be about rape and encouraging men to not ask for consent. Over the internet there has been a uprising with different views about the song. One blogger has branded it as a 'rape song' whilst a US music critic disagreed and said it was just 'a cheesy pick up line song'. The mix of views demonstrates different audience types.
Audience types:
- Dominant- The audience agree with the message the producer is trying to convey.
- Negotiated-The audience agree on some areas of the text but disagree on others.
- Oppositional-The audience fully disagree with the meaning of the text and create their own.
Factors for how the audience take the meaning:
- Life experience
- Mood at time of viewing
- Age
- Culture
- Beliefs
- Gender
For more in-depth information about the theory:
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