Media Analysis Techniques

Part I. Techniques of InterpretationChapter 1: Semiotic Analysis A Brief History of the Subject The Problem of Meaning Social Aspects of Semiotics: The Individual and Society Saussure on the Science of Semiology Grid-Group Analysis Signs Signs and Truth Facial Expressions as Signs Hyperreality Language and Speaking Connotation and Denotation The Synchronic and the Diachronic Syntagmatic Analysis Paradigmatic Analysis Intertextuality Dialogical Theory Metaphor and Metonymy Codes Culture Codes Michel Foucault on Codes Semiotics of the Television Medium Some Criticisms of Semiotic Analysis A Checklist for Semiotic Analysis of TelevisionChapter 2. Marxist Analysis Materialism The Base and the Superstructure False Consciousness Ideology The Frankfurt School Class Conflict Alienation The Consumer Society John Berger on Advertising Bourgeois Heroes Hegemony The Problem of Media Consolidation The Society of Spectacle The Danger of Being Doctrinaire Grid-Group Analysis Marxist Criticism in the Postmodern WorldChapter 3. Psychoanalytic Criticism The Unconscious Sexuality The Oedipus Complex On the Importance of Myth Media and the Oedipus Complex Id, Ego, and Superego The Structural Hypothesis Applied to Culture Symbols Defense Mechanisms Martin Grotjahn on Horror Films Dreams Condensation and Displacement Aggression and Guilt Stereotypes and Aggressive Humor Jungian Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalytic Analysis of Media: A Cautionary NoteChapter 4. Sociological Analysis Emile Durkheim on Our Social Nature Some Basic Concepts Herbert Gans and Taste Cultures Uses and Gratifications Genres and Formulas Content AnalysisChapter 5. Disclosure Analysis Defining Disclosure Analysis Tuen A Van Dijk on Disclosure Analysis Spoken and Written Discourse Styles and Writing Discourse Political Ideologies and Discourse Analysis Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Advertising and Critical Discourse Analysis Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) Multimodal Critical Disclosure Analysis (MCDA) A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of an Advertisement ConclusionPart II. ApplicationsChapter 6. Murderers on the Orient Express Organizing a Mystery Detectives as Semioticians Social and Political Dimensions Poirot as RevolutionaryChapter 7. Seven Points on the Game of Football (And Some Interesting Statistics) Football Is a Game of Signs Instant Replay and the Modern Sensibility Football Socializes Us Statistics on Televised Football Why Baseball Is Boring Football as an Alternative to Religion The Marxist Perspective Football and the Psyche Concluding RemarksChapter 8. The Maiden with the Snake: Interpretations of a Print Advertisement Signs in Signs: A Primer on Applied Semiotics The Maiden in Paradise: A Case Study A Paradigmatic Analysis of the Fidji Advertisement Using the Myth Model Psychoanalytic Aspects of the Fidji Text An Aside on Moisturizers and Anxiety Final Comments on Perfume and AnxietyChapter 9. All-News Radio and the American Bourgeoisie News and Alienation News and Ruling-Class Ideology Commercials and Anxiety Caught in the Middle News and Conversation News from the Internet and Social MediaChapter 10. Video Games: A New Art Form An Investigation of MMO's Are Video Games an Art Form or a Medium? New Technologies and Video Games Janet Murray on Interactivity and Immersion Video Games and Addiction Video Games and the Problem of Violence Social and Physical Problems Caused by Video Games Video Games and Sexuality ConclusionsChapter 11. Cell Phones, Social Media, and the Problem of Identity An Epiphany The Internet Social Media A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Youth and Social Medi The Cell Phone as Sign: A Semiotic Perspective Marxist Perspectives on Cell Phones Conclusions