Chapter 2 : culture, communication and representation

Communication
Communication is the process of making meaning. It is how one individual (or a
word, object, sign, gesture or similar) conveys meaning to another individual.
representation
This process of communication also involves representation, in that meaning is
represented through objects or actions.
Significant For Cultural studies
it is through language and communication that we define and shape our social and
cultural world
It is through language and communication that we make sense of our world, and
convey these meanings to others, through which we develop shared meanings and
shared cultures, which shape our understanding and interpretation of our whole
social world.
2.1 The organisation of meaning
Spoken, written and visual texts
- A ‘text’ is any cultural item that can be ‘read’ or interpreted.
- A significant contributor to the meaning of a text is the form that this takes;
such as spoken, written or visual texts.
Marshall McLuhan: ‘the medium is the message’.
- Spoken language first developed as sounds made to accompany gestures,
which through use, developed into more elaborate codes.
• The history of any language is a history of contest, conflict and struggle.
(Ex: the development of English)
• the meaning of spoken words can be greatly influenced by
‘Paralanguage’ (tone, pitch, speed and volume)
‘response cries’ (noises such as ouch, oops),
• ‘non-verbal forms of communication’ (facial expression, gestures)
• Social interaction between people is shaped by their social status.
people’s behavior and speech patterns may alter if they are talking to
someone more or less powerful than themselves. (‘impression
management’)
- Written language can be understood as a technology, which allows
communication at distance.
 • written language often lacks the same ability to convey the subtle
meanings and variations that can be conveyed through paralanguage.
• To convey subtle meanings, written language must rely on:
emphasis and punctuation, emoticons (also known as ‘smileys’),
punctuations to represent faces and emotions
• Written language is a form of communication that negates some of the
unequal power relations associated with speech. (it is often easier to
tell a powerful person something in a letter than face to face.
• written words still involve some of the social conventions and role
taking associated with speech. (letters style)
• Written language styles also differ in various forms of document. (legal,
academic or scientific documents, comic books, novels, love letters and
newspapers)
Though all texts (including written words) are open to multiple
readings/interpretations by their audiences, it is evident that most texts will have a
‘preferred reading’ which was intended by the author.
- Visual communication (such as painting, photographs and television)
• visual imagery is just as prone to, and shaped by, ideologies and
discourses as written or spoken texts .
• it is important that visual images are seen as a representation, and not
presentation, of the world.
Communication and meaning
linguistic theories, such as semiotics and the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, language is
seen as a structural system, which is both stable and provides a useful tool for
understanding the social world . Therefore, linguists such as Saussure provides the
basis of structuralism – the idea that there are structures to be found below or
behind everyday interaction.

- semiotics (or semiology), which is the study (or science) of ‘signs’, shows us
that ‘meaning’ is not straightforward or ‘natural’; but rather that there is an
arbitrary relationship between a signifier (word, symbol or similar) and the
signified (the meaning that this carries). there is no commonsensical reason why
we attach certain meaning to words or symbols. So de Saussure suggests that the
semiotic systems (such as language) we use are not made by ‘the world’, but
rather it is semiotic systems that make the world.
 - The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis states that language creates mental categories
through which humans make sense of the world.
The world is filtered through the conceptual grids produced by language and
the routine and regular use of particular languages produces habitual thought
patterns, which are culturally specific.
It is these culturally specific thought patterns that Sapir and Whorf refer to as
thought worlds.
Structuralism and the order of meaning
- everyone makes sense of the world at two distinct levels, which take place
simultaneously.
The first is at the level of deep structure where the binary oppositions
operate.
The second is at the surface level of contemporaneous activity where
knowledge of a cultural code allows sorting and classifying to operate and
meaning to emerge.
- Mary and Edmund, and Strauss both agree that meaning arises out of
patterning and order, but they differ from Lévi-Strauss in locating the source
of order in the social world and not in physiology. It is the social and cultural
contexts and the agreed meanings of shared experience through interaction
that allocate and set meanings
Hermeneutics and interpretation
- Tradition in the social sciences concerned with meaning and interpretation.
Hermeneutics argues that it is impossible to divorce the meaning of a text from the
cultural context (and fore understandings) of its interpreter

- for both Bourdieu (habitus) and Goffman meanings are shaped by existing frames
of reference that social actors possess. However, these frames do not simply
‘appear’ ready-formed within individual heads, but rather it is important to
recognize the role of ideology and the political economy in shaping these.

Political economy, ideology and meaning

- An interest in political economy means an interest in issues of power and
inequality that are associated with the allocation of resources and the formation
of wealth.
- A more sophisticated way of connecting the concerns of political economy and
questions of cultural meaning are through the concept of ideology.
 - Antonio Gramsci divided up ideologies into three categories:
• Common-sense ideas are those we all take for granted.
• particular philosophy. This means not so much the thought of a particular
philosopher but of a particular group of people in society who put forward
a reasonably coherent set of ideas. These people Gramsci calls
intellectuals;
• A dominant or hegemonic ideology, that is one that has a leading role in
society.
Poststructuralism and the patterns of meaning
- Poststructuralism questions what are seen as the rigidities of structuralist
systems of thought. Instead of binary oppositions it suggests that there are much
more complicated and ever-changing systems of meaning that need to be
understood in their particular contexts. Thus, the meanings that things have are
not fixed they are fluid and changing.
It is not, therefore, the systems and structures of meaning that are important but
the ways in which more diffuse patterns of meanings intersect in particular
situations
- Instead of asserting that there are ideologies appropriate to classes, they argue
that the relationships are both contingent and contextual. (differ depending on
the time, the place, the nature of the struggle, and the history of that struggle.
- A central element of poststructuralist thought is the idea that culture – in all its
forms – is a ‘text’ which can be ‘read’.
- Poststructuralism highlights how meanings are not always intended, and that
texts are polysemic (open to multiple readings).
- Volosinov, argues that the sign is a site of social contestation. This means that
different groups within society struggle, argue and dispute over the meanings of
different signs
Postmodernism and semiotics
- what defines our postmodern social lives is language and linguistic, but there
exists no one true meaning, no one true reality. There is no truth, but only truths.
- Therefore for postmodernists there is no social world, or individuals, just an all
consuming mass wrapped up in the consumption of signs and spectacles.
2.2 Language, representation, power and inequality
Language and power
- language has become increasingly politicised and implicated in social struggles
 - Anderson’s argument that says that the invention of print language gave a ‘new
fixity’ to language and created languages of power; particular forms of language
became dominant. Spoken languages that were close in form and vocabulary to
printed language were the most prestigious . In this way written language came
to be viewed as more ‘correct’ than spoken language and oral communication
was, and often still is, evaluated socially according to its degree of resemblance
to written language
- The specialised lexicons and forms of speech that characterise certain social
groupings serve to facilitate communication among those who belong to the
group but exclude those who are outside.
Language and class
- lower-class members of English society spoke a language that was restricted in
comparison with the elaborated code of the middle classes.
- For Bernstein, class-based language is not simple variation but reflects the
hierarchies of the English class system with the consequence that some
languages are socially and culturally dominant.
- Success comes to those who speak the dominant language and use its skills.
formal or elaborated language is better than public or restricted language
because it is constituted through the operation of logic and abstract thought –
qualities that are functionally necessary for learning.
- Lower-class language is more context bound and encourages the assertion of
uniformity, not the appreciation of difference. In this sense lower-class language
is a less competent form than middle-class language and its speakers and users
are not able to benefit from education which requires discrimination and logic.
- Bernstein’s analysis suggests that the class base of English society is perpetuated
and made visible through language; language both represents and constitutes the
class system.
- Empirical and theoretical work has shown that all languages are characterised by
the capacity for logical argument and abstract thought; the privileging of one
form of language against others is a political and not a linguistic act.
Consequently the reasons that children fail must be sought in the realms of social
and political economy.
- Language, race and ethnicity
- Bereiter and Engelmann concluded that ‘the poor intellectual ability of Black lower class
children is reflected in their inadequate speech’ and the children showed ‘a total lack of
ability to use language as a device for acquiring and processing information. Language
for them is unwieldy and not very useful’
 - Labov Demonstrated that language of black youth was different from that of middle-
class speech forms; however, to describe it as a poor language was simply middle-class
ideology
- language and language use are political and that it is important to treat critically any
claims that language speaks for everyone, everywhere, at all times.
- writings from former colonial countries written in the metropolitan language have been
declared not to be literature. This example serves as another illustration of language as
‘the medium through which a hierarchical structure of power is perpetuated.
- In these circumstances it is no surprise that aspirant national groups seek to recreate or
revivify local languages to symbolise their identity and carry the weight of their political
ambition. The intent is to rid themselves of identities imposed by the language of
others.

Language and gender

- The meaning and the power of language is determined by social practice; even a native
speaker may be mute or dumb in certain settings.
- the arenas of public discourse are typically dominated by men and the language of
public discourse is ‘encoded’ with male meanings.
The implication of this for women is that they must struggle to be heard and that they
must learn male language.
- women’s language is characteristically weak in form (not in content) and that this fits
well with women’s subordinate position vis-à-vis men.
• men are said to use competitive, aggressive speech while women’s speech is
cooperative.
- characteristics of the two forms of speech are so distinct that talk between men and
women really represents a form of cross-cultural communication.
- Tannen stress cultural difference rather than super and subordination. She does not see
women’s language as inferior to men’s, for her the two languages are directed towards
the creation of different discourses about the world.

2.3 Mass communication and representation:

- The term ‘mass communication’ is generally used in academic studies to refer to
the study of the mass media.
- history
• The advent of ‘mass media’ is usually attributed to what are referred to as
‘popular prints’, which became popular in Europe from the fifteenth
century onwards.
• The invention of The mechanical printing press, lead to the production of
the first newspaper in Strasbourg, Germany.
 • The development of the mass media is then greatly enhanced by several
key inventions in the nineteenth century, such as photography, the
telephone, phonograph, cinematography, the wireless telegram and
loudspeakers. Shortly after, the early twentieth century brings radio and
talking film and television, and the importance of the mass media in our
society begins to increase to the levels of saturation that it has reached
today.
The mass media and representation
• What the mass media gives us is a selected view of the world, which is
always given to us from a certain perspective and angle. Hence, the mass
media does not present the world, but rather gives a representation of it.
• There can never be an unbiased, objective representation of the world, as
all representations come from humans and hence come from a particular
position or viewpoint.
- Mass media representations of race and ethnicity
• It is often assumed by the mass media that ethnic or ‘racial’ groups are
fundamentally different, with ‘black’ and ‘white’ frequently set up as
binary opposites.
• ‘cowboy’ films represent these as stories of native (non-white) ‘savages’
attacking the civilised (white) ‘settlers’. This association of ‘colour’ with
good and evil even continues over to the dress of characters in many
‘cowboy’ films, where the hero would frequently wear a white hat,
compared with the black hat of the villain.
• Stereotyped ways of portraying black and minority ethnic people in the
mass media today may be less obvious, but are still apparent. For instance,
non-white people continue to be stereotyped as ‘deviant’ and threatening
by the mass media
• The mass media is primarily run and produced by white people, who
convey through this, dominant (often racist) ideological attitudes.
• Though certain black celebrities are sometimes elevated and promoted by
the mass media, these individuals can lose their ‘privileged status’ and be
‘re-raced’ when associated with deviance.
• Today, images of black people are often used in advertising, film and music
to represent something as ‘cool’, or part of ‘street’ or ‘urban’ culture.
Though some could argue that through this, black culture is being
portrayed in a more positive light, this is still a very stereotypical and one-
 dimensional view of black people, and one that still carries many negative
connotations and connections.

- Mass media representations of gender

• Though, of course, there is some evidence of women taking more active
and prominent roles within the mass media (journalists, television
presenters and movie)
• women continue to be largely portrayed in the mass media as sexual
objects, and/or fulfilling their traditional roles as wives, mothers and
partners. This is clearly visible in the way women are objectified in men’s
magazines and advertising, song lyrics.
• the mass media reflects society, not as it really is, but rather how it would
like to see itself. (‘typical’ British family life)
• The ways in which women are represented in the media in traditional
‘male’ domains, such as sport.
• Unlike women, men never become truly objectified.
- Mass media representation of celebrity
• people gain celebrity status for either ‘glamorous’ reasons (super-models,
footballers and pop stars), or for more ‘notorious’ reasons, (serial killers or
people who have committed ‘lewd acts’).
• the rise in social importance of celebrities has occurred due to three main
and interrelated historical processes:
o The democratization of society.
o The decline in organized religion (where in a secular society
celebrity culture replaces religious icons and role models)
o The commodification of everyday life (where almost everything in
life becomes commodified and purchasable)
• it is suggested that where ‘fame’ was once based upon success or
achievement, contemporary celebrity is primarily a media creation or a
‘cultural fabrication’
• three ‘types’ of celebrity:
o Ascribed celebrity – which is celebrity status that typically follows
bloodline and biological dissent (monarchy)
o Achieved celebrity – derives from the accomplishments of an
individual in open competition
 o Attributed celebrity – result of the representation of an individual as
noteworthy or exceptional by cultural producers (media)
• The contemporary celebrity is therefore closely associated with the mass
media and a postmodern era, where depth or meaning are no longer
important, and increasingly what is important is surface and image.
• the mass media created ‘celebrity’ can be very short-lived.
The celetoid receives their moment of fame and then disappears from
public consciousness rapidly, although they can achieve a degree of
longevity
• Just as celebrity fades, so too can media and public adulation be transformed
into revulsion.
Audiences and reception
The relationship between message or textual production and its reception should be
understood as a complex cycle, rather than a unidirectional process.
- Stuart Hall: encoding, decoding and ideology
• In ‘Encoding/decoding’, Hall argues that television programmes, and by
implication all other forms of text, should be understood as ‘meaningful
discourse . In the language of structuralism and semiotics introduced earlier
in this chapter, they consist of codes. To achieve this status they must be
encoded by those involved in their production, and be capable of being
decoded by the audiences who watch them.
• Hall identifies three positions ‘from which decodings of a televisual discourse
may be constructed’:
1 ‘dominant-hegemonic’ 2 ‘negotiated’ 3 ‘oppositional’
- Audiences
Prior to the work of Hall audience members were frequently cast as passive dopes who
passively absorbed messages communicated to them by the mass media. (Behavioural
Paradigm)
the influential work of authors such as Stuart Hall led to a recognition that audiences are
not passive but can actively ‘decode’ and engage with texts (Incorporation/Resistance
Paradigm).
there is now occurring a shift towards a new paradigm, and this they refer to as the
Spectacle/Performance Paradigm. They suggest that within an increasingly spectacular
and performative society individuals become part of a ‘diffused audience’
The Incorporation/Resistance Paradigm therefore recognises audiences as not the
passive product of production/text process, while more contemporary debates (within
a Spectacle/Performance Paradigm) allow us to break down the boundaries between
production/text/consumption, and see audiences as both consumers and producers of
texts and performances.