CHAPTER 1 “Never Underestimate Your Audience. They're Generally
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CHAPTER 1 “Never underestimate your audience. They’re generally sensitive, intelligent people who respond positively to quality entertainment”. (Stargate SG-1 ‘200’, 22nd November 2006) This dissertation investigates how fans attempt to negotiate with a particular text and how certain texts display awareness of their audience and their fandom. The interest in fan culture has stemmed from my engagement with cultural theorists through study of Media. Stuart Hall (1973) in particular informs much of this study in that his theories on how audiences view certain cultural texts through three key hypothetical readings; dominant- hegemonic position, negotiated position and the oppositional code’. These three readings are the means by which the audience relate to a text and are especially pertinent in a study which demonstrates how the audience and specifically the fandom chose to receive the text in question. Hall has also added to the debate on what is meant by quality within the communication framework. Hall and Whanell (1964) argue that “…“The struggle for what is good and worthwhile and what is shoddy and debased is not a struggle against the modern forms of communication but a conflict within these media.” (1964: 15). It is apparent from the previous statement that the debate on what constitutes ‘good and worthwhile’ subject matter has changed from judging the entirety of ‘forms of communication’ to attempting to judge within these parameters. Bignell and Lacey echo this particular sentiment in their exploration of just what is meant by ‘quality’ and how it “…is not a matter of contested definition as an academic term but also relates problematically to the notion of ‘good’ television” (2005:11). In Kincaid’s view, watching television and, in particular, television drama, is such an involving exercise both mentally and emotionally it is easy to see how viewers can become caught up in that world. It is also possible for viewers to start to identify with a 1 certain character to such a degree that they see themselves as similar to the character, “… perceives that others think they are like that character, wants to be like the character, and cares about what happens to the character.” (2002: 138). Alasuutari discusses the shift in the theory of audience reception studies from Stuart Hall’s (1974) theory of ‘Encoding/decoding’ to the more modern ‘Constructionist’ viewpoint where programmes have the audience ‘built-in’ or, as Alasuutari refers to it, “…programmes-with-an-audience…” (Alasuutari, 1999:7). In many ways the ‘constructionist’ viewpoint is more relevant now as more viewers have access to a computer and the internet than seven years ago. Viewers are able to express their opinion wholesale and seek out like-minded individuals in both blogs and websites to create ‘Fandom’s’ and in a way they are constructing their own enjoyment. Science Fiction as a genre and especially drama series Science Fiction can and does have a different impact and interpretation for those both viewing and critiquing. The long running Star Trek franchise, in its five carnations (Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise) has inspired many varied cultural readings. Geraghty informs that the series “…used the science fiction setting to comment on American social problems of the sixties such as racism, sexual inequality, and American imperialist foreign policy.” Geraghty then goes on to argue that once the “…fans realized that these were his intentions the series was perceived differently and academic interest steadily followed.” (Geraghty 2003: 443). This is a very good example of one fandom propelling discussion on a sociological level and in an academic manner. There is a lot more literature on both the Star Trek series and indeed its audience than there is on the much more recent Stargate SG-1 owing to the longevity of the franchise of Star Trek. However, Stargate SG-1 is a series that takes an incredibly postmodern stance towards the 2 stories and the audience through its extensive use of pop culture references and extreme self-awareness as well a good few references to issues mentioned within the ‘Fandom’ in general. In this respect I believe it to be a useful text as it is one that attempts to connect to both the audience at large whilst also singling out the ‘Fandom’. CHAPTER 2 There is a growing body of academic work on the subject of Media Studies that can be traced at least as far back as Hall and Whannell (1964) in their book The Popular Arts. They argue that Media should not be counted off-hand to be less than culturally “…good and worthwhile…” but they go on to insist that the conflict lies “…within these media’ as to what was academically valuable and what was “… shoddy and debased…” (Hall and Whannel, 1964: 15). Stuart Hall (1973) in particular informs much of this study in that his theories on how audiences view certain cultural texts through three key hypothetical readings. The first reading being the ‘dominant-hegemonic position’. This occurs when…”the viewer takes the connoted meaning from, say, a television newscast or current affairs program full and straight, and decodes the message in terms of the reference code in which it has been encoded, we might say that the viewer is operating inside the dominant code.” The second reading is the ‘negotiated position’. Hall has stated that “…decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements: it acknowledges the legitimacy of the hegemonic definitions to make the grand significations (abstract), while, at a more restricted, situational (situated) level, it makes its own ground rules - it operates with exceptions to the rule.” The third and possibly most important reading for this research project is the ‘oppositional code’. This is when a viewer “…detotalizes the message in the preferred code in order to retotalize the message 3 within some alternative framework of reference.” Nick Lacey (1998) is one inheritor of Hall’s work on media analysis and impresses upon the reader just how much we are touched by the media in everyday life. In the book Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies, Lacey lays out the conventions used by media professionals to “… influence us every day of our lives…”. Lacey continues Hall and Whannels’ assertion that Media studies is important although he does so from the point of view that we are constantly surrounded by examples of media text, more so than Hall and Whannel while writing in the 1960’s. Lacey goes on to argue that in media texts the “…images are created in order to communicate a message…” (1998:5). It is the task of the media student to not only decode this message but to discover the methods by which it was encoded. Another successor of Hall’s is Jonathan Bignell and in his book Media Semiotics (2002) he lays down a solid framework for interpreting the signs we are subject to every day, just as Lacey has argued“…because society is so pervaded by media messages, semiotics can contribute to far more than our understanding of ‘the media’ in the narrow sense” (2002:1). In Media Semiotics, Bignell discusses the ‘signs’ encoded into texts from magazine advertisements, television fiction and cinema. The interest of this research, however, is in television, namely television drama, a genre which is, according to Paterson “…at the heart of every broadcasting schedule.” (1998:57). In this piece of work, Paterson charts the changes faced by television drama and how formats have changed due to international competition, changing technology as well as regulatory shifts. Paterson also explains the forms, genres and purposes of drama as well as the more political and social dimension it has taken in the past. An example of this is “…Alan Bleasdale’s Boy’s from The Blackstuff, maintaining a political eye on the culture and politics of the nation through the 1970’s” (Paterson 1998: 59). I would like to revisit a point made earlier by Hall and Whannel, that the ‘quality’ of 4 media texts is not up for debate but that the battle rages within the environment. This point is especially relevant in Hammond and Mazdon’s (2005) book The Contemporary Television Series. “Moreover, it is striking that so many of these ‘quality’ series/serials emanate from the United States. Critics have also tended to condemn much American Television, claiming it lacks the quality and integrity of British production.” (2005:4) Hammond and Mazdon suggest in this book, that American television has not, until recently been condemned by critics for its lack of quality and quite wrongly as it has produced numerous critically acclaimed series including Six Feet Under, The Soprano’s and the fast talking West Wing. This book does more than defend American television; it provides critique on these series as well as explaining the structure and history behind the format. In terms of the audience, a very useful book is Brooker and Jermyn’s (2003) The Audience Studies Reader in order to get to grips with the key theories and methods used in investigating such an area that is, of course, the aim of this research paper. Brooker and Jermyn identify World War I as the point where audience studies was first utilised. This is due to the fact that its “….significance lies in the fact that it was from this historical moment onwards that ‘propaganda’ arguably emerged as a primary and indispensable weapon in any war effort…”. Although an effective feature of warfare at that time, it also “…brought with it the enduring notion of ‘the public’ as a vulnerable and persuadable lot ‘at risk’ from propaganda.” (2003: 5) 5 CHAPTER 3 The method used by this research study to investigate ‘Fandom’ is an amalgamation of Discourse and Textual Analysis.