Hermeneutic and Critical Theory- Of Mass Comm ( Part 2 )

Hermeneutic Theory

Understand  How and Why that behavior occur in social world. It is done through the systematic interpretation of actions and text. So also called interpretative theory.

The ontology of hermeneutic theory says that there is no truly “real,” measurable social reality. Instead, “people construct an image of reality based on their own preferences and prejudices and their interactions with others, and this is as true of scientists as it is of everyone else in the social world” (Schutt, 2009 )

hermeneutic theory’s epistemology, how knowledge is advanced, relies on the subjective interaction between the observer (the researcher or theorist) and his or her community. Put another way, knowledge is local; that is, it is specific to the interaction of the knower and the known.

 the axiology of hermeneutic theory embraces, rather than limits, the influence of researcher and theorist values. Personal and professional values, according to Katherine Miller, are a “lens through which social phenomena are observed” (2005, p. 58).

A researcher interested in understanding teens’ interpretations of social networking websites like Facebook, or one who is curious about meaning-making that occurs in the exchange of information among teen fans of an online simulation game, would rely on hermeneutic theory.

Critical Theory

Seeks Emancipation and Change in dominant Social order.

They start from the assumption that some aspects of the social world are deeply flawed and in need of transformation.

 Their aim is to gain knowledge of that social world so they can change it. This goal is inherently political because it challenges existing ways of organizing the social world and the

people and institutions that exercise power in it.

Critical theory is openly political (therefore its axiology is aggressively value-laden).

it assumes that by reorganizing society, we can give priority to the most important human values. Critical theorists study inequality and oppression. Their theories do more than observe, describe, or

interpret; they criticize.

Critical theories view “media as sites of (and weapons in) struggles over social, economic, symbolic, and political power (as well as struggles over control of, and access to, the media themselves)” (Meyrowitz, 2008, p. 642).

Critical theory’s epistemology argues that knowledge is advanced only when it serves to free people and communities from the influence of those more powerful

than themselves. Its ontology, however, is a bit more complex.

According to critical theory, what is real, what is knowable, in the social world is the product of the interaction between structure (the social world’s rules, norms, and beliefs) and agency (how humans behave and interact in that world). Reality, then, to critical theorists, is constantly being shaped and reshaped by the dialectic (the ongoing struggle or debate) between the two.

 When elites control the struggle, they define reality (in other words, their control of the structure defines people’s realities).

When people are emancipated, they define reality through their behaviors and interactions (agency).

Researchers and theorists interested in the decline (and restoration) of the power of the labor movement in industrialized nations or those interested in limiting the contribution of children’s advertising to the nation’s growing consumerism would rely on critical theory.

Source: Baron and Davis.