Historical Context
How genre conventions are historically relative. They reflect concerns and ideologies of the society at the time they were made.
This will discuss how the period in history has influenced the product in terms of:
- the social norms and ideologies/attitudes of the time
- particular social movements/developments (feminism or civil rights movement)
- specific events of occurrences (WW2 or changes in law)
EXAMPLE: Humans is an example of a Sci-Fi text that reflects current concerns in society and fears about artificial intelligence. Discussing and exploring the idea of "synthetic" humans being indistinguishable from "real" humans.
Social and Cultural Contexts
The ways in which products reflect the society and culture in which they are produced. There may be some overlap with historical context in terms of genre conventions and representations. Some areas to consider:
- the effect of social and cultural context on representations
- how audience responses to and interpretations of media products reflect social and cultural circumstances
- how and why particular social groups, in a national and global context, may be underrepresented or misrepresented
EXAMPLE: Dream by Dizzee Rascal reflects Britain in the early 2000s in terms of youth culture and the debate about the banning of ‘hoodies’ – (black and other culturally stereotyped youths are shown in conflict with the police). The overall message of the video is generally positive and the narrative reflects triumph over adversity, implying that 21st century Britain is an inclusive, multicultural society. However, the repeated shots of the TV presenter looking shocked and her patronising tone towards Dizzee Rascal implies that society is not as integrated as the lyrics suggest.
Some areas to consider:
- production, distribution and circulation in a global context
- the significance of patterns of ownership & control, funding and regulation.
Economic contexts can be considered specifically in relation to industry, and in relation to different types of organisation and their sources of funding. Media products reflect their economic and industry contexts in terms of the different organisations and sources of funding that impact on their distribution and circulation.
EXAMPLE: Straight Outta Compton was co-produced by members of NWA and distributed by Universal Pictures, a vertically integrated subsidiary of NBC Universal, which is owned by Comcast. This ensured widespread global distribution of the film.
Political Contexts:
Some areas to consider:
- how media products reflect the political contexts in which they are made through their representations, values and messages, and through aspects of their ownership and political orientation.
Newspapers offer plentiful opportunities for consideration of political contexts in terms of the political landscape in which news stories are constructed and the political leaning of particular newspapers – the ways in which this influences representations and messages that they construct.
EXAMPLE: The Daily Mirror front cover set for Component 1 Section A, reporting the US election result, is influenced by the political context in Britain in 2016 (including the recent EU referendum result), as well as the political leaning of the newspaper. The representation of this event as being disastrous, connoted by the image of the Statue of Liberty holding her head in her hands against a post-apocalyptic background, reflects the newspaper’s left leaning political stance and its assumption that this view will be shared by its readers.
