Research On Kellner’s Media Culture Theory From The Perspective Of Critical Theory

Douglas Kellner is one of the most influential "public intellectuals" in the United States and a scholar who studies native American media culture.Kellner has a wide range of academic research,and his theory is highly socially critical.Under the influence of American society’s multicultural thoughts,he has made his own analysis and understanding of the media culture phenomenon in American society.Kellner used Marxist dialectical analysis methods,based on the ideas of the Frankfurt School and the British Cultural Studies School,combined the theory with the development of American society and media culture,and formed a critical media culture theory that has a positive impact on China.The study of media culture in China has a certain reference significance.This article is divided into four parts.The introduction part introduces the research status and research methods of this thesis.The first part makes a general analysis of the theoretical sources of Kellner’s media cultural theory.Kellner’s theory on media culture have both the critical consciousness of the Frankfurt School and the traditional spirit of British cultural studies.They have both the perspective of Marxist dialectical analysis and certain viewpoints of post-modern theory.It also combines the influence of multicultural theory on the United States.Media phenomena have been specifically analyzed and studied.This type of analysis has implications for revision,renewal,and reconstruction,and is highly critical.The second part analyzes the connotation of Kellner’s media culture theory,and then grasps the characteristics of his media culture theory and the theory of media spectacle.Kellner is opposed to dividing culture into elegance,popular,elite,and popular.The term media culture is different from what we usually call popular culture.Media culture has three characteristics.First,Kellner believes that the current media Culture is between modern and post-modern,and it has both modern and post-modern characteristics.Secondly,media culture is the field of ideology.Those in power try to control the masses through the media,but the masses are not passive and will use the media to resist those in power.Finally,there is the prosperity of media spectacles.Kellner believes that media spectacles appear in all aspects of people’s lives and will expand to the Internet field.Starting from the case of media spectacle,Kellner critically analyzed spectacle phenomena and enriched Debord’s spectacle society theory.The third part summarizes the critical methods of Kellner’s media culture research.Facing a variety of theories,Kellner uses Marxist dialectics as the basis,using diagnostic criticism and multi-perspective research methods in cultural studies to critically interpret media culture.The fourth part analyzes the time value of Kellner’s media culture theory.Although Kellner’s media culture theory have not formed a unified and complete theoretical system,they are of great reference to the interpretation of my country’s media cultural phenomena,and are also instructive for how China resists the cultural invasion of capitalism and develops critical media pedagogy.