The document discusses several key concepts in Marxism and media theory, including representation of Karl Marx and his ideas, traditional and neo-Marxism, Marxism and ideology, Stuart Hall's perspective on media constructing reality rather than reflecting it, the concepts of pluralism and hegemony in media representation, capitalism, Louis Althusser's focus on the role of ideology, repression and its effects, theorists Laura Mulvey, Gaye Tuchman on symbolic annihilation, David Gauntlett's perspective on media and identity, Noam Chomsky's propaganda model, and the definition of ideology.

1. Representation

2. Karl MarxThe philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary, Karl Marx, is without a doubt the most influential socialist thinker to emerge in the 19th century. Although he was very much ignored by scholars in his own lifetime, his social, economic and political ideas gained rapid acceptance in the socialist movement after his death in 1883. Until quite recently almost half the population of the world lived under regimes that claim to be Marxist. This very success, however, has meant that the original ideas of Marx have often been modified and his meanings adapted to a great variety of political circumstances. In addition, the fact that Marx delayed publication of many of his writings meant that is been only recently that scholars had the opportunity to appreciate Marx's intellectual stature.

3. Traditional, and Neo MarxismMarxism is an economic and socio-political worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalismNeo Marxism is seeking to incorporate principles of Marxist thought into modern political and economic systems.

4. Marxism and IdeologyMarxism- is an economic and socio-political worldview and method of socio-economic inquiry that center's upon a materialist interpretation of history, view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. was pioneered in the early to mid 19th century by two German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

5. Marxism and IdeologyIdeology- In the Marxist economic base and superstructure model of society, base denotes the relations of production, and superstructure denotes the dominant ideology (religious, legal, political systems). The economic base of production determines the political superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests determine the superstructure and the nature of the justifying ideology-actions feasible because the ruling class control the means of production.

6. Stuart HallStuart Hall, now Professor of Sociology at the Open University, was a major figure in the revival of the British political Left in the 1960s and '70s. Following Louis Althusser, he argues that the media appear to reflect reality whilst in fact they construct it. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism11.html

7. PluralismPredictably enough, the pluralist idea is the exact opposite of a hegemonic one. A pluralist model argues that there is diversity in society (everyone is different) and therefore there is also choice. So in media terms, because the audience (society) is diverse, with different points of view, the media is influenced by society. Because the media need to please the audience they will try to reflect the values and beliefs that are predominant in society. In other words, they give us what we say we want rather than telling us what to think and believe, in order to make us stay ‘in our place’. The hegemonic and pluralist perspectives are most clearly seen in all kinds of media representation, but the main area is in politics.

8. HegemonyA hegemony is a system where one group is dominated by another. The dominating group achieves its domination by ‘winning’ popular consent through everyday cultural life. In media studies terms, this model works by achieving dominance through media representations of the world. The media ‘tell us’ what to think, what to believe and how our world ‘should be’. This works through ideology – a set of ideas which gives a partial or selective view of reality. For example, the ‘powerful’ rule over the ‘poor’ by promoting the idea (the ideology) of privilege and wealth belonging exclusively to a select group of people. There is an argument that all belief systems or world views are ideological. Beliefs become ‘truthful’ or ‘natural’ and this leads to power inequalities. The media can circulate or reinforce ideologies OR it can undermine and challenge them

9. CapitalismAn economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

10. Louis AlthusserLouis Althusser was a French Marxist philosopher. He was a member of the French communist party. His arguments were set against threats attacking the theoretical foundations of Marxism. He developed Marxist ideas. He was commonly referred to as a structural Marxist. He focused on the role played by ideology. He believes we are controlled by the ruling classes, and being some what brainwashed to believing their ideologies. http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_althusserlouis.htm

11. RepressionRepression involves placing uncomfortable thoughts in relatively inaccessible areas of the subconscious mind. Thus when things occur that we are unable to cope with now, we push them away, either planning to deal with them at another time or hoping that they will fade away on their own accord.The level of 'forgetting' in repression can vary from a temporary abolition of uncomfortable thoughts to a high level of amnesia, where events that caused the anxiety are buried very deep.Repressed memories do not disappear. They can have an accumulative effect and reappear as unattributable anxiety or dysfunctional behavior. A high level of repression can cause a high level of anxiety or dysfunction, although this may also be caused by the repression of one particularly traumatic incident.Repressed memories may appear through subconscious means and in altered forms, such as dreams or slips of the tongue ('Freudian slips').

12. Laura MulveyLaura Mulvey (born August 15, 1941) is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position.

13. TuchmanGaye Tuchman (1978) divided the concept of symbolic annihilation into three aspects: omission, trivialization and condemnation. Symbolic annihilation is the absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of some group of people in the media (often based on their race, sex, status, etc.), understood in the social sciences to be a means of maintaining social inequality.

14. David GauntletDavid guantlett suggests that we use the media as a navigation point for developing identity. He suggests that the audience develop their identity based on characters in the media that the audience watch.

15. Noam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher,cognitive scientist, and activist. His social criticism has included Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), co-written with Edward S. Herman, an analysis articulating the propaganda model theory for examining the media. The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that states how propaganda, including systemic biases, function in mass media

16. IdeologyAn ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things, as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies, or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society.