In his influential essay “Encoding/Decoding”, Stuart Hall discusses the process of conveying and receiving ideas through media. He claims that the main reason why messages are interpreted not in a preferred way is the gap between perceptions of people responsible for creating the – “the encoders” – and people who receive and “read” them – “the decoders” (Hall, 2000). Therefore, it is essential to remember that the audience exists in a certain social context and may have varying ideas, believes, and concerns.
Hence, while receiving the message, viewers do not simply see the main ideas the way the encoder does – they actively interpret the information according to their experiences and perceptions. Hall describes three methods of “reading” the signs conveyed by media – dominant, negotiated, and oppositional (2000). The dominant type of decoding corresponds to the intended interpretation, which usually concerns some universals (Hall, 2000). In contrast, while still perceiving the global aspects of the message, people who employ the negotiated type tend to concentrate more on some local and situational implications (Hall, 2000). A viewer who operates the oppositional type of decoding may also correctly understand the dominant idea but prefers to read the message through an alternative framework (Hall, 2000).
Hall’s essay makes me think about the differences in the ways individuals perceive the same objects, signs, and messages. Socio-economic conditions, political views, and cultural beliefs define how we interpret ideas and put them to practice. The essay also reminded me about the importance of visual signals in creating a specifically intended impression. For instance, while there is a direct understanding of the word “sweater” different visual contexts can induce varying feelings in the audience (Hall, 2020). However, even in the same context, the reactions are likely to differ depending on the level of an individual’s exposure to certain concepts (in the example of sweaters, a romanticized idea of a long walk in the woods in autumn).
However, there are some questions that I would like to explore in more detail. The paper was written before the rapid development of the Internet. Therefore, I believe it is essential to look deeper at how Hall’s ideas correlate with the modern ways of conveying information through various social media platforms. Consequently, I am also interested in analyzing the best technics to make the audience decode “the preferred meaning” in the world of a wide diversity of views and social contexts.
References
Hall, S. (2000). Encoding/decoding. Media studies: A reader, 3, 28-38.