Three Satiric Television Decoding Positions
Document Type
Article - Merrimack Access Only
Publication Title
Communication Studies
Publisher
Central States Communication Association (CSCA)
Publication Date
7-2012
Abstract/ Summary
This essay explores viewer meaning-making with an ironic and satiric television text, analyzing focus group discourse from Chappelle’s Show viewers. Participants’ interpretations of Chappelle’s Show’s representation repeated historical mediated stereotypes of a ‘‘Black and White’’ world that includes violent Black characters and ‘‘dorky’’ White characters. Despite nearly uniform identification of the show’s stereotypes, focus group participants made varying meanings from the show using three primary decoding positions: refusing to acknowledge the show’s ideological implications, attending to the text’s ‘‘realistic’’ stated meanings, or actively deriving higher meanings from the humorous exaggerations. Explicating these decoding positions encourages viewers to be more conscious of their own interpretive practices and illuminates how critical television scholars can more thoroughly explore the interactions between viewers and satiric texts.
Repository Citation
Perks, L.
(2012). Three Satiric Television Decoding Positions. Communication Studies, 63(3), 290-308.
Available at: https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/com_facpub/5