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TEXTUAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH. CRITICAL ANALYSIS. CRITICAL ANALYSIS I. DEFINITIONS. A. The analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of a text, using some type of method of analysis (can be drawn from theory or emerge from data).

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TEXTUAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH

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  1. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH CRITICAL ANALYSIS

  2. CRITICAL ANALYSISI. DEFINITIONS • A. The analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of a text, using some type of method of analysis (can be drawn from theory or emerge from data). • 1. Descriptions focus on meanings, functions, themes, patterns, etc. • 2. Interpretations extend the descriptions into logically-deduced inferences (may be about effects of the message or some other inference).

  3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS DEFINITIONS, CON’T. • 3. Evaluation uses standards or criteria to assess message. • a. Drawn from theory, emerge from data, or from society, or the critic’s own values: • 1) Effectiveness of message • 2) Aesthetic quality of message • 3) Social-cultural worth of message • 4). Truth quantities of message • b. Critics should justify why standard is appropriate for a particular message. • 4. Burden of proof is on the critic for making an argument as to the validity of his/her interpretations & evaluations.

  4. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, DEFINITIONS, CON’T. • 5. Qualities of the “ideal critic”: • a. Skepticism ("taking a second look"). • b. Discernment ("paying attention“--able to concentrate on less obvious details). • c. Imagination (able to ask non-obvious questions about a message). • d. Objectivity (follows structured procedures for critical interpretations; able to “bracket out” biases, etc.). • e. Familiar with multiple methodologies (or ways to analyze artifacts).

  5. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:II. BASIC PROCEDURES • A. Formulate tentative RQ(s) for analysis. • [May select artifact first, then derive RQ(s) from it—may be implicit rather than explicitly stated] • B. Select an artifact (or artifacts): • 1. Constitutes basic data for the analysis. • 2. Should be appropriate for the RQs. • 3. Artifact(s) usually a symbolic text of some type (written, oral, visual, mediated, etc.) • 4. Can examine whole artifact (or a set of artifacts) or a part of an artifact.

  6. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, BASIC PROCEDURES, CON’T. • 5. Assumes that technology influences both form of artifact(s) & its reception. • 6. Unobtrusive & relatively fixed--some type of source (or sources) produced the text & receivers react to it. • 7. Differs from Content Analysis • 1) Limited focus. • 2) Does not use coders. • 3) Does not aim to generalize its results. • 4) Usually does not make hypotheses or test relationships between variables. • 5) Usually descriptive & interpretive in approach.

  7. CRITICAL ANALYSIS BASIC PROCEDURES, CON’T. • C. Select unit of analysis (or a method)--what aspects of artifact will be used to answer the RQ? • 1. Should illuminate significant features of the artifact. • 2. Should be appropriate to artifact & RQ. • 3. May be broad (e.g. strategies, values, etc.) or relatively narrow (e.g. metaphors, non-verbal actions, etc.) • 4. Can also select units from theory or theories (e.g. the Burkean pentad; psychoanalysis defense mechanisms, feminist film theory, etc.).

  8. CRITICAL ANALYSIS BASIC PROCEDURES, CON’T. • D. Analysis of the artifact--usually in detail, based on units (or method). • 1. Aim for “objectivity” (not making a priori assumptions & conclusions about what will be discovered) • 2. Stance is one of “informed innocence” (Fisher), or “letting the text speak to you” (permits serendipitous outcomes). • 3. Includes descriptions & preliminary interpretations of the artifact. • 4. Usually interpretive, but may use statistics.

  9. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, BASIC PROCEDURES, CON’T. • E. Interpretations of artifact--two basic types: • 1. Intrinsic--focus on content. • a. Manifest content—surface or explicit meanings in a text, including style, structure, apparent meanings, themes, etc. • b. Latent content—deconstructingthe text, or “reading between the lines,” to find more hidden, or implicit, messages.

  10. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, BASIC PROCEDURES, CON’T. • 2. Extrinsic interpretation--focus on context or other external phenomenon • a. Social, cultural, or political issues • b. May analyze message effects. • F. Evaluate message–Hart’s "incomplete" list of potential standards for critics: • 1. Utilitarian (did the message do what it intended to do?) • 2. Artistic (was the message well-formed?)

  11. CRITICAL ANALYSIS DEFINITIONS, CON’T. • 3. Scientific (did the message accurately represent reality?) • 4. Moral/ethical (did the message advance 'the good' & encourage public virtue?) • 5. Historical (will the message endure?) • 6. Psychological (did the message engage the emotions of the listeners, reassuring, motivating, and/or renewing such listeners?) • 7. Political (did the message advance the goals of social groups studied)?

  12. CRITICAL ANALYSIS--III. TYPES • A. RHETORICAL CRITICISM • 1. Definitions of rhetoric • a. Traditionally defined as the study of all available means of persuasion. • b. More current--any use of symbols for the purpose of communicating with each other. • c. Assumes reality created through rhetoric (communication).

  13. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, TYPES, CON’T. • 2. Definitions of rhetorical criticism: • a. “Illuminating & evaluating the products of human activity“ (Andrews). • b. No universal criteria, but some accepted methodologies. • c. As much analytical as it is evaluative, with several goals: • 1) To inform us about the state of discourse. • 2) To ascertain the social worth of discourse. • 3) To discover the limits of knowledge (to understand ourselves).

  14. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • 3. Dimensions of rhetorical criticism: • a. Systematic analysis (using a set of procedures to guide the analysis). • b. Studying symbolic acts & artifacts (to describe qualities, characteristics, etc.). • c. Understanding rhetorical processes (how particular symbols operate & what they mean in a broader socio-cultural sense. • d. Understanding the nature of rhetoric.

  15. CRITICAL ANALYSIS, TYPES, CON’T. • 4. Procedures • a. Description comes before interpretation & evaluation (explain a message prior to drawing inferences & assessing it). • b. After developing RQ, consider focus of your criticism (foci can be combined): • 1) Source-centered focus [e.g. Neo-Aristotelian] • a) Could be historical/biographical. • b) Examine personal ethos or credibility of the source. • c) Examine psychology of the source.

  16. CRITICAL ANALYSISTYPES, CON’T. • 2) Message (or discourse)-centered • a) Examines text & its meaning. • b) Looks at structures, patterns, symbols, etc.; e.g. metaphoric criticism, archetypal criticism. • c). Also may consider channels of discourse (e.g. TV, film, speech, etc.). • 3) Situation (context)-centered • a) Might examine the rhetorical situation (Bitzer), or the exigencies producing the message. • c) Might examine general social-cultural-political environment (as in many social movement studies)

  17. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • 4) Audience-centered • a) Can do directly, through interviews with an audience, but usually inferred from the text • b) Examine message effects—need not relate to intentions of the source. • c) May be a type of social-cultural criticism; can be combined with critical theory to examine issues of power, ideology, etc. (e.g. neo-Marxist criticism, feminist criticism).

  18. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • 5. Four Rhetorical Criticism approaches: • a. Traditional/Neo-Aristotelian criticism. • 1) Concentrates on source & his/her persuasive response to rhetorical problems. • 2) Usually involves a deductive analysis of the message, speaker, & situation, which can be historical or current. • b. Burkean Dramatism. • 1) Focuses on psychological components of rhetoric (audience & situation focused). • 2) Includes concepts of identification, form, the pentad, etc.

  19. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • c. Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Approach. • 1) Focuses on common rhetorical visions acting as coping mechanisms "for those who participate in the drama." • 2) Situational & audience focused. • d.Feminist rhetorical criticism. • 1) Many diverse approaches, not limited to rhetorical criticism. • 2) Seeks to understand rhetorical construction of gender (to resist oppression), as well as the recovery of significant female rhetors, etc.

  20. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • B. MEDIA CRITICISM [including film, TV, etc.] • 1. Analysis of media texts, controversial issues related to the media, and/or the structure & operation of media institutions. • 2. Not the same as media reviewing, but an interpretative & evaluative process. • a. Attempts to answer one or more RQ(s). • b. Documentation/evidence is from the media text/artifact itself. • c. Methodology usually derived from theory (sometimes called a model).

  21. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T • 3. Assumptions of critical media theory. • a. Assumes reality is constructed. • b. Assumes a relationship between artifacts & their historical contexts. • c. People are not passive "cultural dopes”; instead are active participants in creating & understanding meaning. • d. Mass media is the "literature" of the people as well as the expression of a particular society. • f. Thus often critique "low" or popular culture (e.g. advertising, movies, TV shows, comic books, etc.).

  22. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • g. Major goal is to enhance media literacy in the general population (criticism is both pragmatic as well as theoretical). • h. Most media critics freely admit their subjectivity in dealing with social texts, believing that it is impossible to be completely "objective.“ • i. May focus on issues of meaning & representation; subjectivity & identity; and/or society, culture, & power, as these issues affect the communication process.

  23. CRITICAL ANALYSIS • 5. General types of media criticism (may be combined): • a. Aesthetic--an analysis of the artistic qualities of the media text/artifact. • b. Audience-centered--how messages are interpreted by audiences; also analyzes possible effects on audiences (may be rhetorical) • c. Pragmatic--how might media texts/artifacts, institutions, policies, etc. function to attain specific professional goals?

  24. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • d. Ethical--analyzing the ethical & moral implications of media texts/artifacts, institutions, policies, etc. • e. Archetypal (or Mythic) Analysis--examine influence, effects, etc. of shared cultural stories & universal symbols in media. • f. Psychoanalytic (or Poststructuralist) Analysis--explores how symbolic aspects of media express our unconscious, repressed desires, especially our desires for sex, violence, etc. (often applied to film).

  25. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • g. Semiotics & structuralism--Looks at how representation of signs & story structures establish meaning for particular groups. • h. Sociological—uses cultural theory to analyze how media texts & institutions reflect, reinforce, and/or shape social values, human behavior, & social-cultural institutions. • i. Ideological/neo-Marxist Analysis--understand how media reinforce dominant power structures & social ideologies, etc. Often looks at an entire media industry, esp. with the rise of media conglomeration.

  26. CRITICAL ANALYSIS TYPES, CON’T. • j. Feminist media criticism. Very diverse, but usually focus in one of three areas: • 1) Rediscovering media made by women. • 2) Analyzing media genres targeted to women (e.g. soap operas, the “chick flick,” fashion magazines, etc.). • 3) Evaluating stereotyped images of both women & men in media, especially how such images denigrate & oppress both sexes.

  27. C. Specific types of analysis • 1.  Mythic/archetypal analysis • a. Myth involves a shared narrative or story • 1)  Operates at an unconscious level. • 2)  Themes of myths are probably universal. • 3)  Involves ultimate truths about life and death, fate and nature, God & humans. • b.  Film in particular is receptive to myth • 1) Means of modern mythmaking. • 2)  Film "speaks the same language" (picture/image) • 3)   As Suzanne Langer observed, both are associated with dreams.

  28. c. Media also uses archetypes • 1) Symbolic representations highly valued by societies  • a) Have common characteristics • b) Powerful appeal, esp. to the unconscious • c) Often have universal meanings, that is understood within a cultural context • 2) Films use both universal & cultural archetypes, & universal & cultural myths • 3) Types include character archetypes, story archetypes, and symbols

  29. 2. Semiotics Analysis • 1. The study of the social production of meaning from signs • a) The science of signs which investigates “the nature of signs" & their social impact, so as to create laws (Griffin 98) • b) Derived from linguistics (C. Pierce, F. Saussure, R. Barthes) • 2. The study of signs (both verbal and non-verbal) & how they mean in a culture

  30. Semiotics, continued • 3. Central focus of semiotics--"the relationship between a sign and its meaning; and the way signs are combined into codes" (Fiske and Hartley 34). • 4. Looks at how signs function, "how meaning is generated and conveyed" (Berger 17); communication is within "socially shared discourse" (Trenholm, 47). • 5. Looks at how the representation of signs & story structures establish meaning for particular groups, via discourse and texts

  31. Semiotics, con’t. • 5. Textual analysis articulates how this struggle between discourses is engaged. • a) Texts is how discursive knowledge is circulated, established, or suppressed. • b) A text is a signifying structure composed of signs & codes. • c) Usually refers to a message that has a physical existence beyond the sender & receiver, composed of representational codes. • d) Also is a network of codes working at a number of levels, capable of producing a variety of meanings.

  32. Semiotics, con’t. • 6. Codes--A code is a system of signs, governed by rules agreed upon (explicitly and implicitly) by a culture. •  a) There are behavioral codes (e.g. law, rules of football, etc.) & signifying codes. • b) Signifying codes have these characteristics: • 1) convey meaning which is shared, conventional, & learned; and • 2) transmittable through appropriate media of communication

  33. Semiotics, con’t. • c) Codes can be digital or analogic (think of particle/wave idea) • d) Presentational codes use the body as a transmitter & are indexical (indicate a subject's internal or social state) • e) Representational codes are free standing signs isolated from the sender--abstract, generalizable, iconic or symbolic. • f) Language depends on verbal codes, which are primarily representational & digital • g) Non-verbal codes may be digital or analogic, presentational or representational (more ambiguous)

  34. Semiotics, con’t. • 7. A sign is something which designates something other than itself. • a) Signs are arbitrary & learned through culture • b) Do not stand alone, but are part of a system of classification (or codes) • c) Have 3 characteristics: • 1) physical form • 2) reference to something other than itself • 3) recognizable as a sign • d) have 2 elements—signified & signifier

  35. Semiotics, con’t. • c. Types of signs (Peirce): • 1) icon--signifies through a marked physical or perceptual resemblance between signifier and signified • 2) index--signifies through a connection to its object • a) usually causal (but can also be existential); e.g smoke/fire, spots/measles, footprint/person, snarl/anger • b) Tend to operate metonymically (e.g. a cowboy hat for the whole cowboy)

  36. Semiotics, con’t. • 3) Symbols--signifies through conventions or rules; arbitrary, conventional signs which stand for something other than itself • a) Have to learn the meanings of symbols • b) All words are symbolic; other images may be a mixture of types • c) Tend to be metaphoric or abstract (e.g. a gold coin symbolizes wealth) • d) Symbols can be archetypal or stereotypical, as well as cultural or individual

  37. Semiotics, con’t. • d. Orders of signification (Barthes): • 1) Denotation, simple • a) simple or literal relationship of a sign to its referent • b) assumed to be "objective" & "value-free” • 2) Connotative, 2nd order--meaning extended to the realm of values, associative, expressive, attitudinal, evaluative meaning • 3) Ideological, 3rd order--the connotations & myths of a culture are manifest signs of its ideology

  38. Semiotics, con’t. • e. Signs can also be metaphoric or metonymic • 1) A metaphor is a sign used so as to stand for something else than original--creates images & myths • 2) Metonymy refers to when part of a sign stands for the whole, e.g. a city street for the city, 2 or 3 pickets for an entire union trade strike, a soldier for Army etc. (news often works with metonyms

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