Textual Analysis

Text = films, television programs, shows, magazines, advertisements, songs, clothes, posters

Textual analysis =• The interpretation of media text

• Exploring the ‘obvious’ and ‘not-so-obvious’ meaning of text

• The beneath the surface meanings in text

• The connection of media stories, characters, events etc to the society at large

• Explore the denotative and connotative meanings in media contents

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• Denotative Meaning: literal, obvious and general meaning associated with a media text

• Connotative Meaning:socio-cultural and personal interpretation of media text. This interpretations can be influenced by viewers class, gender, race, belief etc

• “When we perform textual analysis on text, we make an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be made of that text” (Alan Mckee, 2003, p 1) Textual Analysis: A Beginner’s Guide

Semiotics as one method of textual analysis

• Semiotics is the study of Signs

• Signs = words, images, sounds, gestures and objects and other element in a media text.

• We ‘read’ the signs to understand the text

• We ‘read’ the text to interpret the meaning

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Semiotics as a study of signs

Sign

Singnifier Signified

WordsSoundsBody language

• Iconic Sign: always bear some resemblance to the what it signified : e.g a photo, sound effect in Radio/TV

• Indexical sign: is directly connected to the signified. There is causal link between the sign and what it signified. It ‘points out’ the signified ( e.g smoke)

• Symbolic: It’s arbitrary, does not resemble the signified. It’s learned. It socially constructed.Traffic signal colors

We read signs coded in media text in order to make meanings and interpret these meanings to society at large.

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