Theories of reprisentaition

Hall

Cultural theorist Stuart Hall describes representationas the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture through the use of language, signs and images which stand for or represent things (Hall, 1997). 

Stuart Hall’s Encoding / Decoding Theory suggests that audience derive their own meaning from media texts. These meanings can be dominant, negotiated or oppositional. 

The Encoding / Decoding Theory is a theory of communication which suggests audiences actively read media texts and don’t just accept them passively. They interpret the media text according to their own cultural background and experiences. In his Encoding / Decoding theory, Hall suggested that media texts are read in three main ways. A dominant or preferred reading of the text is the way that its creators want an audience to understand and respond to it. An oppositional reading of the text is when an audience completely rejects the message. A negotiated reading is when the audience interprets the text in their own unique way, which might not be the way its producer intended.