MEDIA THEORY - RECEPTION THEORY

Reception theory was developed by Stuart Hall who assembled most of the media theories, reception theory is a version of reader response that empathises the readers interpretation in making a meaning from a certain production. This approach focuses on "negotiation" and "opposition" on the part of the audience, this means that a text be it a book or movie or other creative work is not simply passively accepted by the audience but that the reader or viewer interprets the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural background and life experiences. In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent within the text itself but it is created within the relationship between the text and the reader. Stuart Hall stressed the idea of social positioning in the interpretation as he idealised the difference between the social groups of his audiences. 

Dominant - The reader fully shares the text's code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading ( a reading which may not have been the result of any conscious intention on the part of the author - in such a stance the code seems natural and transparent)

Negotiation - The reader partly shares the text's code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests, this position involves contradictions. 

Oppositional - The reader, whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of reference. 

                       

For example if we look at a trailer for a reality show we can imagine the different encodings that the producers have chosen to include - through these encodings different audiences will react differently to this as they have their own interpretations. For example a dominate reading of this would be that the audience can see there is a lot more drama coming up within the new season of made in Chelsea and the audience may reflect this show as a trusted source to what life in Chelsea is like. Oppostional reading however may reject this as this is used only for gossip and that the source cannot be trusted however as oppositional reading can be divided between yes and no, the other half might believe one half of the season and not the other. Now looking at it from a dominant reading we must understand the ideology such as Made in Chelsea is a reality show with a large circulation, it chooses important parts of the season to portray and therefore the dominant reading constructs the dramatic side of celebrities and their importance in our society.