Ideology and Media
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An introductory lecture in ideological analysis of media, covering works of Marx, Gramsci, Adorno & Horkheimer, Hall, given to BA-1 students at the Erasmus University Rotterdam
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Ideology and Media
- 1. INTERNATIONAL BACHELOR COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA Ideology and Media MP&I Lecture 3 Lela Mosemghvdlishvili Guest lecture "gendered technologies" by Lela Mosemghvdlishvili is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- 2. Today’s lecture • What is Ideology? • What is the relationship between media texts and ideology(ies)? • What are the theoretical roots of ideological analysis? • How can one analyze media content for its ideology?
- 3. What is Ideology? “…a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgements about that world.“ . . .
- 6. problem with the concept Ideology The fundamental problem with the concept is its relation to truth and knowledge. think about: - how can we judge ideologies? - is there universal truth that we can compare untruth with? - is there an accurate view of the world, that we can compare a distorted view with?
- 7. one can compare ideologies in terms of their values, consequences and social/historical conditions of human existence, but not in terms of the absolute truth
- 8. What is Ideology? “…a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgements about that world.“ . . . do not necessarily reflect reality accurately [but] can represent a distorted view. (Croteau, Hoynes & Milan, 2012: 153)
- 9. Ideology and Power Ideology refers to system of meaning, which while implying to be universal truths, are historically specific understandings that obscure and maintain power. -dominant class - race, gender -criticism of class reductionism
- 10. MEDIA AND IDEOLOGYMEDIA AND IDEOLOGY • media as socialization agent • ideology as normalization • media as an arena for “culture wars”
- 12. Theoretical roots of Ideological Analysis • Marx • Adorno& Horkheimer • Gramsci • Hall
- 13. ‘philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point however is to change it’ (11th thesis, Theses on Feuerbach, Marx, 1845)
- 14. Karl Marx (1818-1883) early writings commodity labour capital social class base and superstructure
- 15. Lithograph showing young Marx (1836) at a drinking club of Trier with students at the University of Bonn
- 16. -Young Hegelian - from God to Money G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831) Marx in 1836, aged 18 detail from the lithograph
- 17. “Money is the universal, self-constituted value of all things. Hence it has robbed the whole world, the human world as well as nature, of its proper value. Money is the alienated essence of man’s labour and life, and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it.” A quote from Marx’s “‘On the Jewish Question’”
- 18. • economics - the chief form of human alienation • the material force needed to liberate humanity from its domination by economic mode of production is to be found in the working class (proletariat)
- 20. commodity Use Value Manufacturing value Exchange Value Surplus value an elementary unit of analysis of capitalism
- 21. capital: two ways of its circulation CMC (commodity - money – commodity) MCM (money – commodity – money)
- 22. Labour
- 23. A photograph by Lewis Hine/ Building the Empire State Building “Capital is nothing than accumulated labour“
- 24. notion of class • working class • ‘false consciousness’ • class antagonism • proletariat and bourgeoisie
- 25. base and superstructure • Base - economic infrastructure (means of production) and relations of production •Superstructure: top layer, determined by base (politics, art, culture)
- 26. Recap • Criticism of capitalism – proletarians have a false conscious – capitalism is self-destructive Criticism of Marx – economic determination – Class reductionism – ideology
- 27. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1903-1969) the Frankfurt School Critical Theory theoretical roots of ideological analysis
- 28. The Frankfort school – Institute of Cultural Research at Frankfurt University – Western Marxism (reinterpreted orthodox Marxism in light of recent changes) • culture could not be explained only as determined by base (economic relations) • influence of avant-garde movements • Critical Theory (transforming society into a “real democracy”)
- 29. “Dialectics of Enlightenment” (1944) – enlightenment as a mass deception – domination of “instrumental reason” • the reason, the intellectual faculty of human mind was first utilitarian (out of angst (fear) of nature) its purpose to define and control elements of organic life-world in which humankind finds itself. This was achieved through identification naming and objectifying the elements (of experience). • culture industry as “false totality of instrumental reason” – discussed culture in terms of ‘late’ capitalism – culture industry
- 30. culture industry • culture commodities • Pre-inscribed (commercial) value • standardization • homogenization high and low/popular art distinction – High art: autonomous, inherent conflict and contradiction • often disturbing for audience – Low art: lack of autonomy, totalizing, absence of real conflict • mostly comforting for audience, not challenging
- 31. “…the culture industry no longer even needs to directly pursue everywhere the profit interests from which it originated. These interests have become objectified in it ideology and have even made themselves independent of the compulsion to sell the cultural commodities that must be swallowed anyway. The culture industry turned into public relations… each object of the culture industry becomes its own advertisement.” Adorno, Selected Essays on Culture Industry (as quoted in Taylor & Haris, 2008)
- 32. • Recap – mass culture is imbued with capitalistic ideology of the upper class – cultural commodities are inferior to high art – they presuppose commercial nature and are influenced by mode of production – there is no real conflict in cultural commodities – systematic repetition numbs the mind and destroys the ability to think critically • Criticism – context (1930s-1940s) – Elitist, absence of agency of audience/readers
- 33. theoretical roots of ideological analysis Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937) Italian / neo-marxism Hegemony
- 34. Antonio Gramsci Criticism on Marxism The Prison Notebooks (1926) • what are the relations between authority, ideology and culture? • connecting culture, power & ideology • Hegemony is achieved through consent and cultural leadership
- 35. Hegemony traditional meaning of the word: a form of indirect political rule, where a Hegemonic state rules sub- ordinate state by not by direct power, but by implied power. Gramscian hegemony •Prevailing cultural norms of society (“the way things are”) are imposed by the ruling class and accepted as the cultural norm by subordinate classes; •Hegemony (totalizing discourse) justifies the status quo of the dominant ideology and its economic, political, cultural and social situation as inevitable/natural/normal. • through consent and not through coercive power only
- 36. • class struggle = struggle of meanings • class struggle involves ideas and ideology • dialectic instead of determinist • people have agency Antonio Gramsci Criticism on Marxism
- 37. Ideological hegemony is the process by which certain ways of understanding the world appear so self-evident and/or naturalized as to render alternatives as nonsense/unthinkable.
- 39. after the break • Stuart Hall, active audience, cultural studies • How to analyse media texts for ideological connotations? – economic news – Advertisement and consumer culture
- 40. Coffee Break
- 41. Stuart Hall (1932 - ) Birmingham Centre of Contemporary Cultural Studies • How dominant ideology is constructed and negotiated in the media • the politics of signification: – construction of meanings, not simple reproduction – re-presensentation
- 42. Reception Model Encoding/Decoding of media texts (Stuart Hall, 1972) encoding decoding meaningful discourse social context I social context II
- 43. Recap • Media – as a discursive arena • media – as a site of construction and contestation of cultural meaning • struggle of meanings in the media: Culture Wars • never one image, but a patternpattern of images/instances/ideas • a certain timetime and placeplace
- 44. – corporate voice – not questioning dominant ideology of neo-liberal capitalism and belief in “free market” – coverage of 2008 financial crisis (40% investors vs. 2% labour union) Economic news as ideological construct
- 47. Ads and consumer culture • mass advetisement emerged in 20ies • aim: creation of consumer lifestyle rather than selling an individual product • cross-class ideology • focus on consumption, pleasure and social statys gained through consumption • idea of a `consumer choice` •connection with political freedom •globalization of consumer goods
- 48. Culture Jamming
- 51. Ideological Analysis 1. reflection of producers 2. reflection of audience preferences 3. reflection of society in general 4. influence on audiences 5. self-enclosed text
- 52. Re-Presentation and social inequalities • what about the roles and identities, and their representation in media texts? •Race • Gender • Ethnicity • Sexuality not only manifested but implied messages/ connotative meanings
- 53. denotation and connotation • denotation: – ‘literally’ ‘dictionary’ meaning – common-sense, obvious meaning • connotation: – second order meaning (the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word) – “..interaction that occurs when the sign meets the feelings or emotions of the users and the values of their culture.” (Fiske, 1990, p. 86) a word: Snake denotation: a type of reptile connotation: evil, dangerous connotation: evil, dangerous
- 58. Portrayal of racial and ethnic differences 1. Inclusion 2. Roles 3. the control of production Race •early Hollywood movies (20-30) Afro-Americans portrayed as servants/entertainers • by 2000 – 16% of characters on prime-time TV • traditional vs. modern racism (Entman, 1992)
- 59. Gender • inclusion (Global Media Monitoring of 130 countries, 2010, 24% of news subjects were female) • roles/identities • new momism • change in women’s roles • inequality in control of production (28% female writters, 27% on executive positions)
- 60. 1932 cigarette advertisement, photograph: Blue Lantern Studio/Corbis
- 65. Recap: Ideology • gives meaning and defines: – what is normal and what is deviant • is a construct and dynamic – historical roots of theoretical analysis • is a system of ideas/values • problem with truth
- 66. • Dominant ideology Media Content gives us impressions of (dominant) ideology in a certain time and place •Hegemony (and antagonism) •Resistance? Social Movements, Campaigns, Culture Jamming, Satire, Art Recap: Ideology
- 67. Last note on Ideological Fantasy The point is not that people possess distorted representation of reality, since in our post- ideological society many people no longer tryst ideological truths, but rather, that even when we keep an irony distance from totalizing ideological representations, we still act according to these representations. e.g. Commodity Fetishism Slavoj Žižek
Hinweis der Redaktion
- ideology and (mass) media what is ideology how to study it and what to look in media in order to understand ideology – we need.. Because although we acknowledge that world is socially constructed, whose reality is ‘matters’, how the way world is constructed influences our ‘realities’. I always warn you to remember context, today we will talk about development of critical thought in western (which is scholarship philosophically grounded in rationality, seperation between rationality (reason) and irrationality (?). Karl Mark: from god to money young Hegelian political economy commodity is produced (and pressuposes surplus value) has use value exchange value surplus value sold and purchased consumer society Antonio Gramsci: The Prison Dairies Hegemony Agency agency and superstructure mass media, culture & arts (& ideology) Critical theory: Frankfurt school Adorno & Horkheimer ‘real democracy’ Society of Spectacle/ simulacra/ 10 minutes Break Representation, Encoding/decoding of texts, Stuart Hall, Birmingham school ideology in media various examples:
- what is ideology and what we mean when we analyze media through the lesn of ideology. when we try to discuss what ideologie does content, media, its production, its reseption represent.
- It is easy to relate ideologies to particular historical figures. When we look at these people, they differ in their understanding of the world, values, belief sustems.
- The fundamental problem with the concept Ideology is its epistemological status, meaning its relation to truth and knowledge. Think about it, how can we judge ideologies? Do we have the universal objective truth that we can compare with? Do we have objective, undistorted view of the world, an accurate view of the world? So that we can compare a distorted view with it and find a true answer? Answering this question with YES, means having a particular view of world, which we already defined as ideology? But
- main question: what does media content tell us about ourselves, society and changes in that regard? Relation with socialization: media do tell us about the roles different groups and we ourselves have in society. In that sense media are constructing social reality. Dominant ideology Ideology as normlization Media as an arena for culture wars
- The lecture will explain to you historical, philosophical, roots of ideological analysis of media explicit and implicit messages, manifested or assumed, (presupposed), ingrained (and challenged/contested) values
- Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism. (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883)
- Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism. (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883)
- And subordinated classes accepted this world view thus had “false consiousness”
- Karl Marx was born in Trier, in the German Rhineland, in 1818. His parents, Heinrich and Henrietta, were of Jewish origin but became nominally Protestant in order to make life easier for Heinrich to practise law. The family was comfortably off without being really wealthy; they held liberal, but not radical, views on religion and politics. Marx’s intellectual career began badly when, at the age of seventeen, he went to study law at the University of Bonn. Within a year he had been imprisoned for drunkenness and slightly wounded in a duel. He also wrote love poems to his childhood sweetheart, Jenny von Westphalen. His father had soon had enough of this ‘wild rampaging’ as he called it, and decided that Karl should transfer to the more serious University of Berlin. Karl Marx was born in Trier, in the German Rhineland, in 1818. His parents, Heinrich and Henrietta, were of Jewish origin but became nominally Protestant in order to make life easier for Heinrich to practise law. The family was comfortably off without being really wealthy; they held liberal, but not radical, views on religion and politics. Marx’s intellectual career began badly when, at the age of seventeen, he went to study law at the University of Bonn. Within a year he had been imprisoned for drunkenness and slightly wounded in a duel. He also wrote love poems to his childhood sweetheart, Jenny von Westphalen. His father had soon had enough of this ‘wild rampaging’ as he called it, and decided that Karl should transfer to the more serious University of Berlin.
- When Marx moved to the university of Berlin, he got interested with Philosophy and abandoned studying law. After arrival in Berlin he wrote to his father, that he was getting immersed “in current philosophy”. What was current philosophy of that time in German. Hegel in his most famous book on ‘phenomenology’ wrote about Universal Mind. What was universal mind – was something the spiritual side of the world and our minds (minds of human beings) were little manifestations of this big whole. In his writings Hegel traced development of human mind from its first appearance as individual minds, which were consious but not self-consious and free. For Hegel humankind’s history, was history of development of MIND, which will reach its goal when Mind will be liberated, free and self-consious. Mind, according to him was universal, but in its little manifestations, as mind’s of human beings, it was not aware of its own universal nature. He said mind is alianated from itself, meaning that humans perceive other human’s often as hostile, without understanding that they all constitute and are part of this universal mind. But why our mind’s are not able to comprehend their universal nature, why we cannot understand, rationalize and feel this universal nature? Hegel thought it was due to oppositions and barriers, which ‘blocked’ mind. So, how to understand what appears as opposition and barriers to our mind to understand its true nature? Hegel did nt have an answer on it himself. Here is when young hegelians try to find an anwer and make sense of how to liberate mind.
- In so doing, it can link empirical and interpretive social science to normative claims of truth, morality and justice, traditionally the purview of philosophy. He came to see economic life, not religion, as the chief form of human alienation. Now Marx insists that it is neither religion nor philosophy, but money that is the barrier to human freedom. The obvious next step is a critical study of economics. This Marx now begins. At this time he moves to Paris, which is a Mecca of radical thought that time. Most young intellectuals are either socialists or communists.
- And he starts critical study of economics, that later will be termed as political economy. His reasons for placing importance on the proletariat are philosophical rather than historical or economic. Since human alienation is not a problem of a particular class, but a universal problem, whatever is to solve it must have a universal character – and the proletariat, Marx claims, has this universal character in virtue of its total deprivation. It represents not a particular class of society, but all humanity.
- is produced (and pressuposes surplus value) has use value exchange value surplus value sold and purchased
- He starts to draw on classics in economics and write on the issues that economics were concerned, but from a critical point of view. Marx draws important points from the classical economists. Those who employ the workers – the capitalists – build up their wealth through the labour of their workers. They become wealthy by keeping for themselves a certain amount of the value their workers produce. Capital is nothing else but accumulated labour. The worker’s labour increases the employer’s capital. This increased capital is used to build bigger factories and buy more machines. This increases the division of labour. This puts more self-employed workers out of business. They must then sell their labour on the market. This intensifies the competition among workers trying to get work, and lowers wages. the classical economists take the present alienated condition of human society as its ‘essential, original and definitive form’. They fail to see that it is a necessary but temporary stage in the evolution of mankind. labour in the sense of free productive activity is the essence of human life. Whatever is produced in this way – a statue, a house, or a piece of cloth – is therefore the essence of human life made into a physical object. Marx calls this ‘the objectification of man’s species-life’. Ideally the objects workers have freely created would be theirs to keep or dispose of as they wish. When, under conditions of alienated labour, workers must produce objects over which they have no control (because the objects belong to the employers) and which are used against those who produced them (by increasing the wealth and power of the employers) the workers are alienated from their essential humanity. A consequence of this alienation of humans from their own nature is that they are also alienated from each other. Productive activity becomes ‘activity under the domination, coercion and yoke of another man’. This other man becomes an alien, hostile being. Instead of humans relating to each other co-operatively, they relate competitively. Love and trust are replaced by bargaining and exchange. Human beings cease to recognize in each other their common human nature; they see others as instruments for furthering their own egoistic interests. The next question was WHAT can be DONE to overcome this? Communism he says, however only sketched of what it means.
- In these books, Marx explains his ideology of capitalism To put it shortly, and explain Marx' important ideas in a rather simplistic way: According to Marx, each society is marked by a specific stage in economical situation. The first and primary driving force of society is only economic structures. So, according to Marx there is just one major structure: economy. Secondary to economic as the driving force of society, or as the basis of each and every society, are politics and culture. They are kind of the second layer to economics and also change with economics and not vice versa. He then explains how societies develop over time in what can be called a dialectic mode (Marx derived a lot of inspiration from Hegel). He argues how societies slowly move through one stage and then all the sudden can know a sudden change. This sudden change is caused by the economic system. In each period economic systems cause a tension between different social classes. Important in this theory is that Marx claims that people behave like slaves because of religion. Religion is the opium of the people. But, of course there were critiques and further developments of Marx' ideas. In conclusion we might say that through socialization journalists take on different roles. Exactly how these roles are fulfilled is dependent on the ethics the journalist and the organisation he or she works for believe in. These two together: media professional and the organization have an influence on the mediaproduct.
- And subordinated classes accepted this world view thus had “false consiousness”
- What is (C)ritical in critical theory?
- At was often difficult and disturbing for its audience, since it involved a confrontatino with contradiction, in the form of closure, harmony, and form. Whereas within culture industry every individual product is leveled down in itself, there are no onger any real conflict to be seen. They are replace by the suroggate of shocks and sensations. Drawing on Benjamin’s essay of mechanical reproduction, adorno maintains that on the expanse of quantitative change in access to art /culture there was a qualitative decline in quality Masses were denied to access to art, however what they receive in terms of low art is ”false” solution devalued – low art
- And subordinated classes accepted this world view thus had “false consiousness”
- A second critic of Marx' ideas is Gramsci. Gramsci was a founding member of the communist party in Italy, at a very young age. In 1926 he gets arrested in Rome, taking as a pretext an alleged attempt on Mussolini's life that had occurred several days earlier. During the trial, Mussolini said about Gramsci: "We have to prevent that this mind continue thinking." He got sentenced to prison for 20 years. The first point refers to the idea that Gramsci argues that class struggle is always a struggle of meanings. This connects directly to what Croteau & Hoynes say about the media. It is never just 1 idea, there are always more struggling for importance Secondly, Gramsci thought of more agency for the people involved. He said that an economic crisis could not change the world all by itself. There were always humans involved. Thirdly, Gramsci wanted to investigate the relations between authority, ideology and culture. As opposed to Karl Marx who said that economic forces are overarching and determine culture.
- A second critic of Marx' ideas is Gramsci. Gramsci became a member of the communist party in early life. In 1926 he gets arrested in Rome for opposing Mussolini. During the trial, Mussolini said about Gramsci: "We have to prevent that this mind continue thinking." He got sentenced to prison for 20 years. The first point refers to the idea that Gramsci argues that class struggle is always a struggle of meanings. This connects directly to what Croteau & Hoynes say about the media. It is never just 1 idea, there are always more struggling for importance Secondly, Gramsci thought of more agency for the people involved. He said that an economic crisis could not change the world all by itself. There were always humans involved Thirdly, Gramsci wanted to investigate the relations between authority, ideology and culture. As opposed to Karl Marx who said that economic forces are overarching and determine culture.
- Ideology throuigh totalizing discourse strighves for hegemony, which is cultural domination. Not with power but with consent. However its a complex process and hegemony impies antagonism (between whether economic or social classes or other groups). Different ways to challenhge hegemony, one of them is through discourse (by rearticulating).
- Last but not least, though based on ideas of class struggle in the seventies Stuart Hall. Stuart Hall (born 3 February 1932, Kingston, Jamaica) is a cultural theorist and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall formulates his theories on how dominant ideology is constructed an negotiated in the media. He formulates his ideas on the politics of signification: the media produce images of the world that give events particular meanings. With other words, media images do not simply reflect the world, the re-present it, instead of reproducing it.
- A third and last perception in the thinking about power and media and audience is the encoding/decoding model of Stuart Hall. Instead of thinking about all powerful media or a very powerful audience, agency and structure lie with both media and audience. The core idea of this model is the fact that a message can always be interpreted in multiple ways. When I say: the big apple. Some people might think I see a very big apple. Other people might think I am referring to New York. Depending on the situation, the interpretation varies. There is a sender, who is called encoder, who is limited by structures in the social context, such as the organization in which the encoder works, his or her colleagues, his or her type of education, age, et cetera. The message is interpreted by a receiver, who is called the decoder. This decoder is also limited by structures of the social context.
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- How the historical roots work, we will see after the break in the case