MEST 4: Xmas Task #2 - ADDITIONAL READING

1. Malik, Sarita (2002) Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images on Television: London. Sage Publications

“The way in which these visions of diversity are delivered will ultimately determine their efficacy and meaningfulness”. Page 11

The above quote can be linked to my study as it discusses if the representations of ethnic minorities within the media are real representations of ethnic minorities within society, and if whether they have any real meaning to them.

“Race or racism is a problem which only arrived when ‘the Blacks’ did, that Britain was inherently homogenous and conflict-free before ‘the Blacks’ came”. Page 11

The above quote is relevant to my study as it discusses the social impact that Black people have had on society and puts into perspective that more crime was committed when Black people came to the UK, which is something of which I will be able to link to my study when discussing S.H.E.P. contexts regarding ethnic minorities.

2. Curran, James. Gurevitch, Michael (2005) Mass Media and Society: London. Hodder Education

“Local TV news also tended to focus on decontextualised acts of crime by black perpetrators on white victims in ways that strengthened racial stereotypes and animosity”. Page 130

As I will also be analyzing news stories which concern ethnic minorities, the above quote is relevant to my study as I will be able to link it to how the news contributes to the reinforcement of stereotypes surrounding ethnic minorities.

3. Rayner, Philip. Wall, Peter. Kruger, Stephen (2004) Media Studies: The Essential Resource: New York. Routledge

“The media, and particularly television, are often described as a ‘window on the world’ although in fact media are highly selective in the way in which they construct and represent the world back to us”. Page 47

The above quote is relevant to my study as I will be able to investigate if whether the media choose to use stereotypes to represent ethnic minority groups in order to show and teach viewers about the world around them.

“Hegemony is the process by which a dominant class or group maintains power by making everyone accept their ideology as normal or neutral, through cultural influence rather than force”. Page 85

The above quote is relevant to my study as it puts into perspective how the media maintains power over its viewers by representing social groups in a particular way, and therefore forcing the viewers to become passive rather than active as they will be just accept what is being shown rather than questioning it.

4. Clark, Vivienne. Baker, James. Lewis, Eileen (2003) Key Concepts & Skills for Media Studies: London. Hodder Headline

“There is a constant struggle between the dominant groups’ need to sustain their position and the subordinate groups’ attempts to gain recognition and status”. Page 76

The above quote is relevant to my study as it discusses the media wanting to maintain control over their audience’s views and opinions whilst the ethnic minorities try to gain recognition and status on-and-off screen.

“The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media in controlled by a relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white) and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products themselves”. Page 113

The above quote is relevant to my study as it suggests that these small groups of people may use stereotypes in order to represent a social group in a particular way as they may not know or understand how to represent them if they are not part of that social group themselves.

5. Bennet, Peter. Slater, Jerry. Wall, Peter (2006) A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction: New York. Routledge

“The lack of positive role models and the way in which black minority characters are routinely stereotyped contribute to feelings of low self-esteem and failure”. Page 79

The above quote is relevant to my study as it puts into perspective that the continued use of stereotypes within television and film could have a negative effect on those who are being stereotyped, where I will be able to apply this quote when discussing the social context of S.H.E.P.

“Stereotypes are moulds into which reality can be poured, or at least part of it”. Page 81

The above quote suggests that stereotypes are things of which parts of reality can be showcased and therefore is relevant to my study as I will be able to investigate if there is any truth to stereotypes.

“The repetition of stereotypes and the absence of plausible alternative means that the values wrapped up in the stereotype come to appear as ‘common sense’”. Page 81

The above quote applies to my study as it suggests that we end up seeing the stereotypical images of a particular social group as normal, and something of which we should all know, which in turn puts into perspective how we live in a hegemonic society where the media controls our ideas, views and opinions.

6. Williams, Kevin (2003) Understanding Media Theory: New York. Arnold Publishers

“An individual cannot personally experience the vast majority of events in which they might be interested and thus must rely on their own mental maps in order to make sense of what is going on”. Page 130

The above quote is relevant to my study as it suggests that people rely on what they see on-screen in order to make sense of what is going on in the world, and therefore by using stereotypes, the media choose to use them in order to help others learn.

“Stereotypes are thus neither neutral nor fair, preventing the examination of differences within groups”. Page 130

The above quote is relevant to my study as it suggests that stereotyping can often lead to the loss of individualized understanding of people which puts into perspective that when a group is stereotyped, the person or group stereotyping is ignoring the characteristics of an individual and is therefore just relying on the whole image of the group.

“The media have been criticised for the generalised, partial and selective way in which they have represented different groups, emphasizing easily identifiable, unchanging and often negative characteristics”. Page 131

The above quote is relevant to my study as it puts into perspective that the media decide what they want to show even if it is negative portrayals of a particular group.

“Media stereotyping occurs when the roles, behaviour on personal characteristics of a particular group are portrayed in a limited fashion. Young black men are stereotyped by linking their behaviour with violent or criminal activity”. Page 131

The above quote discusses how stereotypes occur within the media and suggests how young black men are likely to be stereotyped, and is therefore relevant to my study as I will be able to relate it to my main text, "Kidulthood".

“Stereotypes are criticised for both misrepresenting the world and for representing things as they are”. Page 134

The above quote is relevant to my study as it puts into perspective that stereotypes can be seen as both a positive thing and a negative thing as they help to teach us but sometimes do it in the wrong way.

7. Casey, Bernadette. Casey, Neil. Calvert, Ben. French, Liam. Lewis, Justin (2003): Television Studies: The Key Concepts: New York. Routledge

“Stereotyping as a mechanism is persistent; the form stereotypes take must change with shifting cultural norms and expectations”. Page 230

This quote discusses the change in stereotypes due to new cultural norms and expectations. This links to my critical investigation as I will be investigating the media's role within the forming of stereotypes, and to see if whether it challenges or reinforces them. I will be able to discuss what this quote could connote when investigating if whether stereotypes will continue to be used or if whether it is just a temporary thing.

“A weakness of the ‘positive images’ approach is that it tends to de-politicise and trivialise the experience of the stereotyped group. This ‘we are all alike’ approach can run the risk of ignoring specific cultural conditions in the effort to provide pleasant, acceptable images for an assumed ‘mainstream’ audience and raises a number of questions”. Page 231

This quote can be used when discussing if whether stereotypes have been used in order to portray a specific group. Generalised images of a specific group within the media suggest that all people of that group are alike. For example, Dev Alahan (a character from EastEnders) is a shopkeeper, which Asians suggest reinforces the stereotype that all Asians are shopkeepers. The above quote puts into perspective that television broadcasters have used these characters in order to show a relation to society, although they may not notice that they have in fact reinforced stereotypes as a result of portraying somewhat of a negative image of these groups.

8. Bignell, John (2004): An Introduction to Television Studies. New York, NY: Routledge

David Buckingham commented “Perhaps the most significant fact about EastEnders’ black characters is simply that they exist. Furthermore, the black characters are often given central dramatic roles within the narrative”. Page 220

EastEnders is one of the texts of which I will be analysing. David Buckingham's quote could connote that black characters have no real position within the text, they are just there to provide a dramatic storyline, which puts into perspective the way in which they are represented and if whether the television programme could be reinforcing stereotypes by using tokenism as a way of including characters of ethnic minorities.

“The crucial question is not whether EastEnders’ black characters are ‘realistic’, but how the serial invites its viewers to make sense of questions of ethnicity and in particular, how it defines ethnic difference and inequality or racism”. Page 221

The above quote indicates significance towards the way black characters are represented in EastEnders and if whether they are realistic enough to believe. This could link to the social context when investigating the audience's position within the media text, and how they are likely to interpret what the difference is between realism and racism by investigating if whether stereotypes have been used in order to represent others.

“Tokenism: that is the tendency to insert, for example one black person into a programme as a ‘positive’ character regardless of their relevance to the narrative”. Page 231

Ethnic minority groups have accused broadcasters of perpetuating racial stereotypes with token characters in a report which says their efforts to reflect a multicultural society are "very poor", and state that part of the problem is the way in which they have been represented within soaps. For example, Denise Fox (a character within EastEnders) has two children by different fathers. People of these ethnic minority groups have accused EastEnders of using stereotypes in order to represent those within society. The above quote relates to this claim as she can be shown as a positive character due to the fact that she has been able to do it on her own, however this can also be opposed as all people are not like this.