A-Level Media Studies: Critical Perspectives & Advanced Analysis

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Postmodernism: Baudrillard's Simulacra

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Jean Baudrillard's concept describing a representation that replaces reality. The 'simulacrum' is a copy without an original, leading to 'hyperreality' where distinctions between reality and media representation collapse (e.g., theme parks or social media profiles).

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Intertextuality vs. Homage

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A literary concept describing the relationship between texts, especially how one text references, responds to, or transforms another. It involves the ways texts echo, adapt, or rework earlier works or other cultural texts.

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The Hyperreal

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A condition, proposed by Baudrillard, where the 'real' and the 'representation' become indistinguishable. Media simulations (e.g., CGI influencers, reality TV edited into narrative) become perceived as more real than reality itself, impacting how audiences construct truth.

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Media Ecology (Marshall McLuhan)

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The study of media environments and how technology and communication modes shape human perception, understanding, feeling, and value. The central tenet 'the medium is the message' implies that the delivery format (medium) influences society more than the content itself.

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Technological Determinism

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A theory within media ecology suggesting that technology is the primary driving force of history and social change. It argues that new media (like the internet) fundamentally alters social structures and individual agency, rather than just being a tool used by them.