Retheorizing Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy
Biographical Sketch
Professor and Head of the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies, Grady College, University of Georgia.
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
This paper addresses how theories of communication constitute the pedagogy of critical media literacy.
Abstract of Proposal
This paper addresses how theories of communication constitute the pedagogy of critical media literacy.
An essentialist view of communication indebted to the philosophy of John Locke relies on a pluralist social theory in which individuals are seen as self-sufficient individuals aligned against what is seen as a coercive society. In this view, communication is the use of messages to transmit ideas from one person to another, with a message seen as a container in which ideas as content are deposited and transferred.
While such a view is commonsense today, the logical and historical contradictions of posing people as unique but also sharing a common basis that enables communication remain unaddressed. Not only does an essentialist conception of communication lack logical coherence. It also lacks the robustness to take account of instances that do not support it.
This view underlies both consensus and radical versions of media literacy pedagogy. For one, it provides the rationale for depoliticized media-literacy projects that seek to teach and enhance technical skills of message making. Yet it also provides the rationale for politicized critical-media-literacy projects that seek to build abilities to recognize and resist dominant ideologies seen as embedded in messages.
In response, the paper argues that a theoretical perspective on communication informed by articulation instead of by conveyance/transmission is better equipped to take account of instances and possibilities for critical media literacy. It concludes by outlining its differences and offering some examples of how it might provide a more robust basis for critical media literacy.
Location
Session 4A (Grand Salon, Double Tree)
Start Date
2-23-2019 8:30 AM
End Date
2-23-2019 10:00 AM
Recommended Citation
Hamilton, James F., "Retheorizing Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy" (2019). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 24.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2019/2019/24
Retheorizing Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy
Session 4A (Grand Salon, Double Tree)
This paper addresses how theories of communication constitute the pedagogy of critical media literacy.
An essentialist view of communication indebted to the philosophy of John Locke relies on a pluralist social theory in which individuals are seen as self-sufficient individuals aligned against what is seen as a coercive society. In this view, communication is the use of messages to transmit ideas from one person to another, with a message seen as a container in which ideas as content are deposited and transferred.
While such a view is commonsense today, the logical and historical contradictions of posing people as unique but also sharing a common basis that enables communication remain unaddressed. Not only does an essentialist conception of communication lack logical coherence. It also lacks the robustness to take account of instances that do not support it.
This view underlies both consensus and radical versions of media literacy pedagogy. For one, it provides the rationale for depoliticized media-literacy projects that seek to teach and enhance technical skills of message making. Yet it also provides the rationale for politicized critical-media-literacy projects that seek to build abilities to recognize and resist dominant ideologies seen as embedded in messages.
In response, the paper argues that a theoretical perspective on communication informed by articulation instead of by conveyance/transmission is better equipped to take account of instances and possibilities for critical media literacy. It concludes by outlining its differences and offering some examples of how it might provide a more robust basis for critical media literacy.
