THEORETICAL APPROACHES

“TEXT BOOKS” LIKE THIS ARE INVALUABLE IN GAINING A GOOD GROUNDING IN COMPLEX THEORIES, CONTEXTS AND HISTORIES. 

OTHER SUBJECTS AREAS THAT WE DRAW ON IN DESIGN SUBJECTS MIGHT BE:

MEDIA STUDIES/ AUDIENCE STUDIES 

CULTURAL STUDIES 

POPULAR CULTURE

CELEBRITY STUDIES 

POST STRUCTURALISM

GENDER STUDIES/ FEMINISM/ MASCULINITIES

SOCIOLOGY 

PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

MARXIST CRITICISM

A theoretical approach that utilises Karl Marx's work on the critique of the capitalist mode of production. Marx's work (Marxism) sought out to show how economy (modes of production) determines how people live socially. Capitalism favours those who own control of modes of production over the working classes. Capitalism is defined by class struggle. On a wider level, cultural institutions and structures are seen as systems that support and enable ruling classes - cultural hegemony. You can use the Marxist critical framework to explore certain aspects of mass communication (e.g graphic design, branding, advertisement, etc.) are constructed in such a way that enables power and social organisation under capitalism.

PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

Psychological theories such as behaviorism, cognitive psychology, social identity theory, etc. can help us explore human behaviours and motivations. This can be helpful for those who can explore why or how people react to certain visual stimuli.

Psychoanalysis is a method of analysing the unconscious processes that affect daily lives. This theory is developed from Freud and is still frequently used in academia as a useful theoretical framework. Freud's ideas were used to influence changes in workplace management, marketing, advertising, film theory, amongst others.

SEMIOTICS, STRUCTUALISM AND POSTMODERNISM

Semiotics is the study of the SIGN SYSTEMS (any language including visual languages are seen as sign systems). Units of information (broken into signifier and signified) that carry meaning are known as signs - words, symbols, icons, photographs. Semiotics is based on the notion that the meaning of signs is constructed rather than a natural quality of signs. Meanings are contextually dependent (arbitrary) and require active interpretation/ decoding.

Structuralism takes the element of “structure” from semiotics and applies to other cultural and social contexts. Semiotics provided a basis for analysing how structures produce culture and social relations. Importantly for us, this mode of analysis became a way of understanding mass media texts and their effect on audiences. 

Poststructuralism is based on scepticism and doubt - doubt about the assuredness and wholeness of any philosophical or critical theory. Poststructualists aim to critique and dismantle any perceived stability in texts by highlighting their internal contradictions. You may want to use poststructuralism (although I don’t recommend this!) if you wish to critique existing “common sense” or established ways of understanding things. 

FEMINISM 

Feminism an over- arching term describes efforts to address gender inequalities. Feminism is most frequently attributed to particular efforts by feminist groups to address rights and freedoms of women (rights to vote, work, ownership, abortion, contraception, etc). 

However, second and third wave feminism have brought about approaches to theory, philosophy and criticism based around the critique of patriarchy and the emancipation of women. 

Feminist theories have had a profond effect on academia and research paradigms and has generated innumerable texts, ideas and theories that can and have been used to show the depth and reach of patriarchal power. 

Rather than establishing new theories feminist philosophy is based in critique. As a critical theory feminisms establish critical positions or responses to existing theories/ concepts/ ideas- feminist psychoanalysis, feminist gender studies, Marxist feminism, ecofeminism, etc. 

GENDER PERFORMITY AND QUEER THEORY

Feminism has problematised the connection between biological sex and gender. Gender performity is a theory that signalled the absolute separation of these two terms. Where sex relates to the biological differences between “men” and “women” and gender refers to the social and cultural rules that structure masculinities or feminities as well as gender relations. Butler says that all gender is performance insofar as we perform a masculine or feminine role and that the qualities of this performance can and should be subject to changes. 

Queer theory is used in the analysis and exploration of sexualities and particularly those that fall outside heteronormalitive sexualities. However, queer theory is much more clearly defined as a means of breaking down the binary of inclusion and exclusion which relates to sexuality but also has but also relates a whole host of social phenomena. Foucault argued that heteronormativity and as such were seen as other, excluded, not normal. You can use queer theory as a means of explaining how queer cultural positions are formed and constructed particularly in critiquing heteronormalitive tendencies in popular visual culture.

MASCULINITIES

The academic interest in the circumstances and experiences of men (or masculine people) is fairly new in comparison to women. The emergence of masculinities as a field of academic research is often seen as being a result of what has ben called the crisis in masculinity. Although, scholars are generally skeptical that such a crisis exists, the study of masculinities has continued across a range of research fields - particularly: media studies, cultural studies, celebrity studies, etc. 

Masculinities as a theoretical field is indebted to Butler and gender performity in the sense that it positions masculinity as a social construction rather than a natural or biological state. 

Models such as hegemonic masculinity, hybrid masculinities, intersectional masculinities, are useful in the context of cultural  analysis because it gives us the tools to explore how masculinities (and as a result men) are represented in visual and popular culture. 

ORIENTALISM

Orientalism as a critical theory is attributed to Edward Said who deconstructed how “the orient” (being the middle-east, north Africa, Pakistan, India) had come to be defined by Western scholars. He argued the construction of the idea of the Orient was a fake representation (an amalgamation of a very diverse range of cultures) that enacted and sustained notions of Western superiority. Orientalism can be used as a theory to organise a critique of how other cultures (not just “the oriental”) are represented and depicted in the West. 

CRITICAL RACE THEORY

Critical race theory approaches race as a social construct (social constructionism) meaning that it observes how categories, practices and identifications of race are produced socially. So, “race” in this sense is defined not in terms of physical or genetic differences but in terms of the practices, categories and relational dynamics of race. 

Critical race theory can be a useful model to use in CoP research if you are interested in how races or ethnicities are represented in the media texts and how these contribute to societal definitions of race. 

SUBCULTURE THEORY

Subcultural theory provides a framework for understanding how subcultures come to be. Dick Hebdige provides the most explicit undertaking in this field. Hebdige demonstrated how style is used by small pockets of disenfranchised and marginalised groups as a means of resisting hegemonic norms and power. However, once this style spreads and evolves picking up new meanings it inevitably becomes another part of hegemonic culture. Punk is the most frequently cited example of this - through which we can see how once extreme approaches to style, fashion, behaviour, etc. become nothing more than cultural commodities that are exchanged and consumed. 

MAKING SENSE OF IMAGE "TEXTS"

It is likely that you will need to explore aspects of contemporary visual culture in your research. Analysing singular texts in isolation without first considering why you have chosen that particular text lacks objectivity. 

SURVEY- You may opt to explore a range of related texts - adverts, publications, logos, etc. and look for consistencies or trends across the whole range. Sometimes it can help to have a hypothesis of what you are hoping to find and it certainly helps to have some logical way of recording your survey. 

Content Analysis - You may want to record explicitly how many times certain items (a particular typeface, colour, type of person, etc.) appear in the range of texts. Content analysis provides empirical evidence for the frequency by which certain items appear in media texts. 

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - Once you have a fairly clear idea of the characteristics of a typical example you will be in a good position to begin to analyse what these typical characteristics mean. Textual analysis is a way of analysing texts and considering how they might be interpreted by audiences. There are many ways to do this but two you should consider first are semiotic analysis and DISCOURSE analysis.