Represenation & Reception Theory

Representation is a key concept in Media Studies. It refers to the 'construction' of media texts; what we see is re-presentation of events, people or ideas. This is also known as mediation.
Representation comes in many forms e.g. radio, newspapers etc. It may seem realistic but is constructed.

Stuart Hall

• People interpret media texts in different ways, depending on their background, economic standings and personal experiences.
• Audience members can play an active role in decoding messages of the text which has been encoded by the producer.

Dominant – The hegemonic response, people share the code and preferred meaning

Negotiated – they accept what the text is saying and adapt it according to their social background

Oppositional – They understand, but reject the message.

• Meaning is established by representation, by what is present, absent or different.
• A representation implicates the audience is creating its meaning.
• Power – through ideology or by stereotyping – tries to fix the meaning of a representation in a ‘preferred meaning’.