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Representation

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you apply Paul Gilroy's theory of ethnicity and post-colonialism, including the ideas of colonial discourse, otherness and diaspora, to media representations of race?

Ethnicity and post-colonial theory (Paul Gilroy): media representations of race can perpetuate colonial discourse and binary othering, but post-colonial and diasporic identities also offer ways of challenging and rethinking those representations.
How to apply Paul Gilroy's theory of ethnicity and post-colonialism in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers colonial discourse and binary othering, the persistence of imperial attitudes in media, diaspora and double consciousness, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
12 min answer →

How do you apply bell hooks' feminist theory, that feminism is a movement to end sexism and that oppression is intersectional, to analyse media representations?

Feminist theory (bell hooks): feminism is the struggle to end sexist oppression; that oppression is intersectional, shaped by the interlocking of gender, race and class, so media representation must be read across these axes together.
How to apply bell hooks' feminist theory in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers feminism as a movement to end sexist oppression, intersectionality (the interlocking of gender, race and class), reading representation across these axes, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
12 min answer →

How do you apply Liesbet van Zoonen's feminist theory, that gender is constructed through discourse and women's bodies are coded as spectacle, to media products?

Feminist theory (Liesbet van Zoonen): gender is constructed through discourse and varies with context; in patriarchal media, women's bodies are often used as spectacle and objectified through the codes of representation.
How to apply Liesbet van Zoonen's feminist theory in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers gender as a construction of discourse, the meaning of gender varying with context, the coding of women's bodies as spectacle and objectification, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
12 min answer →

How do you apply Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity, that gender is a repeated performance rather than a natural identity, to media representations?

Gender performativity (Judith Butler): gender is not a fixed, natural essence but is constructed through the repeated performance of conventional acts; media circulate and can also disrupt these performances and the gender binary.
How to apply Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers gender as constructed through repeated performance rather than essence, the instability of the gender binary, how media reinforce or subvert gender norms, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
12 min answer →

How do you apply David Gauntlett's theory of identity, that audiences use media representations as resources to construct their own identities, to media products?

Theories of identity (David Gauntlett): media offer a diverse and contradictory range of representations that audiences actively use as a 'pick and mix' of resources to construct and negotiate their own fluid identities.
How to apply David Gauntlett's theory of identity in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers media as resources audiences pick and mix to build identity, the move from singular to diverse and fluid representations, the active audience, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
12 min answer →

How do you apply Stuart Hall's theory of representation, that representation is constructed through shared codes and can naturalise stereotypes, to analyse media products?

Theories of representation (Stuart Hall): representation is the production of meaning through language and shared codes; it is constructive rather than reflective, and stereotyping fixes difference and reduces people to a few traits, often to maintain power.
How to apply Stuart Hall's theory of representation in WJEC A-Level Media Studies. Covers representation as the construction of meaning through shared codes, the constructionist view, stereotyping as the fixing and reduction of difference, the link to power, and how to use the theory on set products in the exam.
13 min answer →