Media Studies A-Level
Decoding
What Decoding means in Media Studies A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Decoding
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Reference: AQA
The process by which audiences interpret and make meaning from the encoded text, interpreting through their own frameworks, which may differ from the producer's.
The process by which audiences interpret and make meaning from a text, actively producing readings that may differ from the encoded meaning.
Topics that use Decoding
- Reception theory - Hall's ideas and theories on reception theory (AQA A-Level)
- Theories of representation - Hall's ideas and theories on representation (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- Encoding
- Asymmetry of meaning
- Dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings
- Negotiated reading
- Oppositional reading
- Reception theory
- Stuart Hall
- Hegemonic reading
Using Decoding in the exam
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