Introduction: According to Poepsel (Ch 3), “central to the modern critical theory” are “ideas about questioning hierarchies and asking for whom social systems really work…They work to develop better analytical theories that teach us how to analyze messages in media systems and the mass media and help us to discuss with clarity what is beneficial and what is harmful to society.” For this paper, you will critically analyze a television show to better understand how cultural ideologies are encoded into TV narratives.
Meanings are commonly derived from dominant ideologies present in our cultural storytelling, and television programming has dominated our cultural storytelling for more than half a century. Overwhelmingly, television is a for-profit industry controlled by a few huge media conglomerates, so dominant ideologies, while subtle, are almost always present. Ideology is the set of cultural ideas, values, and beliefs accepted by mainstream society that inform our definitions of acceptable attitudes and behavior. Often, the most “invisible” or “normal” ideologies are the most powerful in society. In television and film, dominant ideologies are reiterated over and over through storytelling, characters, and production choices.
According to Fiske (1987/2010), TV shows are “replete with potential meanings.” While meanings are “determined socially” by “variously situated viewers,” meanings are produced according to “a rule-governed system of signs, whose rules and conventions are shared amongst members of a culture.” The main codes, which include social codes of reality, technical codes of representation, and encoded ideologies, serve as links between producers, audiences, and texts (TV shows). To refine your understanding of the social and cultural production of meanings, you will analyze a contemporary TV series according to frameworks laid out in Television Culture. Fiske states, “a semiotic analysis attempts to reveal” how “layers of encoded meanings are structured into TV programs.”
Directions: Using Fiske’s semiotic framework from Television Culture, analyze a contemporary TV show, explaining in detail how social codes of reality and technical codes of representation encode dominant ideologies in the text (TV show). From the active audience perspective, address the dominant, oppositional, and negotiated readings of encoded ideologies.
Topic Guidelines: Choosing a TV show to analyze
choose a single-camera television series that has aired in the past 20 years (no multi-camera sitcoms).
choose a fictional comedy or drama series set in everyday life with professional actors; (no reality TV, no sci/fi or fantasy, no animation, but historical fiction is fine)
analyze 2-3 episodes long episodes (about 45-60 min) or 3-4 short episodes (about 20-30 min), preferably in the order in which they aired (this makes it easier to track narrative arcs or character development
Definitions (see Fiske for more explanation)
social codes of reality: how characters-as-people, sets-as-places, and the “world” of the show reveal cultural values and social norms; audience immersion in the story, or suspension of disbelief
technical codes of representation: how production choices such as costume, set design, sounds, camera angles, editing, etc. reveal cultural values and social norms.
ideological codes of cultural values and social norms: your conclusions of how one or more dominant ideologies (“isms” such as capitalism, racism, colorism, sexism, ethnocentrism, ableism, hetereosexism, just to name some common examples) are communicated based on the first two codes and the larger cultural values communicated in the show.
Are the encoded ideologies reinforced or resisted in the narrative of the show? How is this apparent in the social codes and/or the technical codes of the text (TV show)?
How do you think the audience interprets (Ch 5: Active Audiences) or makes sense of the ideologies? What is the dominant, oppositional, and negotiated reading of the text (TV show)?
Structure, style, and formatting: Writing the paper
Traditional essay structure: introduction with central idea, body, transitions, and conclusion.
Organization suggestion: some writers prefer to establish the ideologies up front and some prefer to work through the codes in order. It is your choice.
Avoid long plot summaries; focus on interpreting signs and codes according to Fiske’s framework.
1,300-1,500 words, double-space, 12 pt font, easy-to-read font (such as Arial, Geneva, or Times).
Format your paper according to MLA or APA conventions (choose one and be consistent).
Add a reference list including Fiske, the episodes you analyzed, and any other sources you used.
