Product Description

This is an expanded and revised edition of an investigation of the critical approach in contemporary media studies. The main media studied on university courses (advertising, magazines, the press, TV, cinema, "new media" including computer games, the Internet and the World Wide ) are all addressed substantially and in separate detailed chapters. New material in this second edition includes sections on men's style magazines, docusoaps and "reality TV", digital interactive television, and mobile phone text messaging. It begins by explaining the concept of the sign and the ideological roles of media in contemporary culture and then scrutinises advertisements, glossy magazines, daily newspapers, TV programmes, recent films, and interactive media, with each chapter containing close analyses of particular examples. Key strands in critical theory such as ideology and psychanalytic theory are explored and challenges to established semiotic methods posed by audience studies and postmodernism are discussed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127915 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Clear introductory account to a difficult subject
In a field which has been deluged for years by analyses that are weighed down with jargon and abtruse theorising (and therefore only of interest to other academics), Dr. Bignell's book offers a clear introduction to the ideas of media semiotics. It is intended for use by 1st year university students, but could equally well be used as a general introduction at 6th form, or for the lay reader. It is written in a clear, precise style, and though it covers all the major theories to have emerged in the last decades concerning the analysis of the media (linguistic philosophy, marxism, structuralism, feminism, deconstruction), Bignell's use of everyday examples drawn from popular drama and advertising illuminates even the most difficult point.

Great book for an introduction to semiotics
This is a very easy book to understand and read about semiotics. Great for media students who are learning about the topic.