Encoding / Decoding

COM 327 Stuart Hall Lego

February 11, 2013 From Theory.org.uk
Quiz!!
1. ‘Encoding’ refers to the activities of
media producers. ‘Decoding’ refers to
the activities of media _________.

a) educators
b) consumers
c) dupes
d) conglomerates
2. To put it paradoxically, the event must
become a “______” before it can become
a communicative event.

a) paradox
b) story
c) tragedy
d) tabloid
3. Hall distinguishes between the
denotative and _________ meanings of
symbols.

a) connotative
b) hyperactive
c) false
d) productive
4. The three positions modes ‘decoding’
in Hall’s model are:

a) Happy, Angry & Bored

b) Aggressive, Passive & Passive-
aggressive
c) Dominant-hegemonic, Negotiated &
Counter-hegemonic
d) Transmission, Ritual, Symbolic
BONUS!
“McDonald’s food is delicious, but I
don’t eat it because it’s bad for me.”

In Hall’s theory, this would be an

example of a ______ reading.

a) useless
b) negotiated
c) satanic
d) oppositional
COM 327
February 11, 2013

Encoding / Decoding

1. Quiz
2. Unit overview
3. Stuart Hall & cultural studies
4. Group work: Close reading
5. Encoding/decoding in practice
Stuart Hall
February 3, 1932 to February 10, 2014

Multiculturalism
Critical race theory
Cultural studies
Encoding/decoding
CULTURAL STUDIES

Guiding questions:
• Whose voices, identities and
experiences most often get
communicated in mainstream media?
• Whose do not?
• Whose interests does this serve?
• How & why does this matter?
 Political economy Cultural studies

Considers… Systems Practices

Analyzes… Labor ‘Texts’

(economic relations) (meanings)
Power happens Who owns what Media representations
through… (capital) (ideology)
Archvillain is…
Stuart Hall on Representation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbYyw1mPdQ

From thinking that the media “re-presents” events to the

idea that there is no meaning outside of representation
GROUP WORK!
Groups of 3. Answer the assigned question in 250/300 words.

Tips:
• Look at the “head and shoulders” of the quote; what precedes
it? What follows it?
• Where else are the key concepts used in the text?
• Where else have we seen a similar concept in the course?
Stuart Hall vs James Carey
Carey:
Rejected ‘transmission’ model in favor of
‘ritual’ view of communication

Hall:
Did not challenge the basic FORM of the
transmission model, but infused it with new
vocabulary using 1) Marxism and 2) semiotics
Stuart Hall used Marxian analysis &
vocabulary (“dominance”, “hegemony”,
“production”) to re-cast communication
as a struggle for power…

over MEANING.
SEMIOTICS

Study of symbols (linguistic, visual,

aural, etc) and the ways they ‘stand
in’ for reality & for other ideas.

“COW”
Semiotic analysis gets away
from “effects” model:

“representations of violence
on the TV screen are not violence
but messages about violence...

but we have continued to research

the question of violence, for
example, as if we were unable to
comprehend this epistemological
distinction.” (Hall, p. 166)
In between the “message” and its
“effects” is a whole series of layers:
- Prior experiences
- Identity & subjectivity
- Culture & ideology

E.g. INTERPRETATION.
“Denotative” meaning:
Conventional meaning of the message.

“COW”
“Connative” meanings:
Implied meaning of the message

“COW?”
Bringing Marxism &
Semiotics together…

Three modes of “decoding”:

• Dominant-hegemonic
• Negotiated
• Counter-hegemonic

How you will “decode” a message depends on

the extent to which you “buy in” to the
dominant ideology underlying that message.
 Examples:
What are your favorite / love-to-hate
Ads? Images? Memes? Movie clips?

• What are the CODES used?

• What are the “DOMINANT MEANINGS”?
• What is a NEGOTIATED reading? OPPOSITIONAL?