Television and its audiences as dimensions of being: Critical theory and phenomenology

Abstract

John Fiske and John Hartley, in their Reading Television (1978), argue that the audience function of the television medium is formulated according to a "bardic" notion. The term "bardic" stresses the idea that television, as a primary mediator of Western culture, functions as social ritual, articulating and celebrating the central concerns of the society (culture) for whom its messages are intended. This perspective suggests that television can be understood best from a Communication Theory standpoint, that is, by concentrating equally on messages and their codes, communicators' intentions, and audiences' responses (Fiske and Hartley, 1978, p. 85). The purpose of my essay is three-fold. First, I briefly outline the position articulated by Fiske and Hartley (elaborating and clarifying their position in subsequent sections). Second, I examine it according to the critical theory paradigm of the Frankfurt School in order to determine whether and to what degree it "fits" within such a paradigm. Third, I explore how existential phenomenology might approach Fiske and Hartley's problematic, using as my criterion for analysis the phi? losophic position announced by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Fiske and Hartley belong to the tradition of British "cultural studies," which defines culture as the whole complex process by which meanings and definitions are socially constructed and historically transformed. As "second force" critical theorists (Lanigan, 1981, p. 142), their theoretical aim is to understand how culture should be specified in itself and in relation to production and social relations (O'Sullivan et al. 1983, p. 61). At an empirical level, they engage textual analyses of those cultural practices and forms in order to illustrate how people can