David Morley And Media Theory

Cultural studies has obtained a significant position in contemporary academic circle. However, nearly all the articles are scattered and perceptual commentaries on some given theoretical points in China. Birmingham School is the cradle of western cultural studies, David Morley is one of the most brilliant figures in The Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies. This thesis attempts to introduce and evaluate the academic thought of David Morley in a systematic way. By analyzing his academic results, the author hopes to grasp some characteristics of Birmingham cultural studies and present the phylogeny of cultural studies in a comparatively comprehensive way.The first part is preface, in which I simply introduces David Morley, and then presents an analysis in detail on the relationship between him and the Birmingham School. This thesis investigates three of her representative research fields: audience, family television and post-modern geography. The author also introduces simply the acceptance and evaluation of David Morley both in abroad and in China.The first chapter is'The classical model of audience studies', the author introduce and evaluate the history and school of audience studies. Morley is clearly aware of the criticisms of Hall's original encoding/decoding model, he discovered that different readings may not be the product of audience members'different class position. He foregrounds the role of the'discourse'in constituting and differentiating individual readings. The'Nationwide'Audience has exerted a significant influence over the approach taken to audience since its publication.The second chapter will discuss the methodological issues. Morley's book is among the earlier attempts to appropriate ethnographic methods for a cultural studies approach to audience. Family Television focus on the gender relations within the family as they affect the watching of television. Morley's study reveals how television is adopted to family's economic and cultural needs and involves interrogation of the power structure within the family. The author adopts theories in Home territories and then point out that gender differences are in fact the effects of the particular social roles that these man and woman occupy within home.Morley try to think of communications process within the terms of a postmodern geography and the role of communications in the ongoing construction and reconstruction of social spaces and social relations Most recently. In the third chapter, I will briefly introduce three aspects: Media Imperialism and Monopoly of Communication, the symbolism of home and Crisis of National Identity in Europe. This thesis grasp the significance of the process of globalization and localization through such detailed'domestic'and'local'studies.