Encoding and Decoding – Reception Theory!

   20 November 2023  2 Comments on Encoding and Decoding – Reception Theory!  Posted in 3. ‘Manufacturing Consent’ Or ‘Ideas of encoding and decoding’

Stuart Hall was a British cultural theorist with Jamaican lineage, he is deemed by many as one of the most influential figures to come out of the UK as he was crucial in examining the way that media, culture and society interlink with one and other. Hall also analyzed identity, power and representation of the black community in media which is also very influential in today’s society. 

‘Encoding’ is an idea that was explored by well-known theorist Stuart Hall, it follows the construction of media and highlights the way that the producer of a media product put together their media text. ‘Decoding’ is the partner of ‘Encoding’ and instead of focusing on the construction of the media text it focuses on the way that the audience reads and interprets what they are consuming. In ‘Decoding’ there are three main stances that Stuart Hall suggests the audience takes after consuming a form of media and these are the dominant reading, negotiated reading and the oppositional reading.

 If the audience has a dominant reading this means that they completely understand what the producer is try to insight in the media text that is being consumed and that they agree with the way that it has been presented, negotiated reading is when the audience can understand the message that is being portrayed in the media content but they do not fully agree with it or accept it and finally, the last reading which is an oppositional reading is when the audience does not understand what is being illustrated to them or have some idea but completely disagree with it. Everybody will have a different reading on the same media product due to their different social contexts and this is a key point to what Hall argues, people that are from different demographics are most likely going to have varied answers due to the dissimilar characteristics of their demographic and background. 

I am also a contributor to this idea that Stuart Hall presents, this is because I can give an example of a media text that I decoded in a certain way. In the animated TV series ‘Naruto’ there is a character by the name of ‘Pain’ and he is a villain due to the fact that he kills other people to get what he desires, however the reasoning behind his madness is in fact quite heroic. ‘Pain’ wants to avoid unnecessary war whilst saving the lives of innocent/vulnerable people, he wants to create ultimate peace; this is because of the traumatic history of the characters past. I have a negotiated reading when it comes to this exact example and this is because I understand what the characters main end goal is and I certainly agree with him, however on the other hand the way that he conducts going about the matter is unacceptable as he is slaughtering people. The example of ‘Encoding’ was the author’s philosophical input on the character and his actions, whilst the ‘Decoding’ stage happened with me subconsciously making my mind up about how I feel towards the character at hand. 

References:

Featured Image: https://www.ica.art/learning/stuart-hall-in-the-here-and-now

Encoding and Decoding Image: https://abdullahimedia.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/reception-theory/

Pain Image: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/16724121-pain-tendo-akatsuki

2 thoughts on “Encoding and Decoding – Reception Theory!”

  1. Your explanation of the topic and further expansion into its theories and ideas was well articulated. The Naruto comparison is inspired, and relating it back to your view of the show and its character “Pain” was brilliantly done, emphasizing your understanding of this complex topic. I would have loved to have seen more of a deep dive into Naruto, as the show has many instances of Halls theory. All in all, wonderful read.

  2. In other comments i’ve said how I’ve enjoyed how people link theories to real life examples, and as much as I love the link you’ve made here with the Naruto character, Pain, I really enjoyed the breakdown of Stuart Hall’s theory. The use of images and clear and concise language gave me a good understanding of what you were trying to explain.

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