To what degree, Nichols asks, does ideology inform images in films, advertising, and other media? Does the cinema or any other sign system liberate or manipulate us? How can we as spectators know when the media are subtly perpetuating a specific set of values? To address these issues, the author draws from a variety of approaches-Marxism, psycholanalysis, communication theory, semiotics, structuralism, the psychology of perception. Working with two interrelated theories-ideology and image-systems, and ideology and principles of textual criticism-Nichols shows how and why we make emotional investments in sign sytsems with an ideological context.
- ISBN10 0253182875
- ISBN13 9780253182876
- Publish Date 1 December 1981 (first published 22 October 1981)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 17 October 2003
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Indiana University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 384
- Language English