Through the forms of mass entertainment, the capitalist (economic base) convinces the rest of society to believe in their (capitalist) points of view.
Cultural forms (media) help to shape the modes of thought and behaviour that induce individuals to adapt to the social conditions of capitalist societies.
a) Ideology (Karl Marx – economic and material conditions)
The ideas and belief systems in terms of which individuals, society or groups in a society understand and interpret their political, economic, social and cultural realities.
It’s the allusion or false consciousness. Passive mass audiences uncritically accept the dominant underlying ideological meanings of mass media.
French Philosopher Louis Althusser rejected Marx’s economic approach to the explanation of sources of ideology. He instead identified important institutions that socialize and prepare people to accept society as it is. Family, church, politics, language, and the mass media.
Interpellation
Althusser identified Interpellation as an important ideological process where ideology defines and determines our experiences, our identity and our place in society as a whole (See Pitout, 2007).
Cont’d
b) Hegemony (Antonio Gramsci)
The power of a dominant, ruling group who continuously tries to persuade subordinate groups to accept its moral, political and cultural values (ideology). Popular culture is the battleground upon which dominant views secure hegemony.
-Encoding and decoding can explain how audiences relate with ideological text.
3 Hypothetical Decoding Positions
i) Preferred reading (or dominant-hegemonic)
Full acceptance of the text’s code and reproduces the preferred reading. Power has been exerted; audience is passive.
ii)Negotiated reading
Partial acceptance of the text’s code and broad acceptance of preferred reading but occasional resistance and modification to reflect their own position, experiences and interests.
Cont’d
iii)Oppositional reading (or counter-hegemonic)
A particular social situation puts the reader in direct opposition to the dominant code
The reader understands the preferred reading but rejects the reading and the code
