Alternative/dominant and resistant readings
Dominant readings are the most common and widely-accepted interpretations of a given text. An alternative reading is
any reading that differs from the commonly-accepted interpretation. A resistant reading is an alternative reading that
contradicts the dominant reading. Think about the words resistant (the noun form of the verb to 'resist') and dominant
(the noun form of the verb to dominate) and it will help you to retain the meanings of the terminology. An example is given
in Mitchell English Workbook 4 pg. 36 of two readings of the fairytale Cinderella:
Reading One Dominant reading
The story presents an ideal image of romantic love. It shows that true love will prevail no matter what the odds, and it
encourages people to believe that dreams can come true. The story encourages an optimistic outlook on life.
Reading Two Resistant reading
The story is about the shallowness of men who judge women solely on the basis of physical attractiveness. A man who
will marry a woman on the basis of a few hours of dancing is likely to leave her just as quickly. No wonder most of the
women in the story are bitter. This should be read as a cautionary tale against the idea of romantic love.
Brian Moon, Literary Terms
What is culture?
Culture is a system of beliefs, lifestyles, customs (usual habits and practices), values, attitudes and lifestyle of a particular
people. Culture can refer to groups of people such as nations or, more specifically, groups such as sporting teams. The
culture of a particular person will influence the way they perceive (look at or understand) gender (male/female), ethnicity,
religion, youth, age, disability, sexuality, cultural diversity, social class and work.
What is a cultural assumption?
A cultural assumption is when we assume that a person has particular values and attitudes based on their cultural
background.
Understanding cultural assumptions and how they work will help to analyse visual texts. Composers of texts often use
cultural assumptions to reach their audience. A visual text such as the film 'Looking for Alibrandi' directed by Melinda
Marchetta, for example, is based on a number of cultural assumptions. These are based on:
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Age - it is assumed that growing up is often a difficult time.
Gender - that growing up as a girl has its own issues.
Lifestyle/family - that it is the norm to have two parents.
Ethnicity - that being Italian puts particular pressures/expectations on a person.
You will make many cultural assumptions in your everyday life. Think very carefully about the cultural assumptions that
you make about:
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Gender - what are the characteristics of males and females? Are girls nice like sugar and spice and boys mean
and never clean?
Age - what are the characteristics of young people (perhaps you believe them to be fun-loving) and older people
(perhaps they are boring).
What is a stereotype?
These assumptions are based on stereotypes. A stereotype is an assumption made about a person based on superficial
(only the very obvious) criteria. You must always be careful not to use stereotypes and remember that each person is an
individual and their personality is not defined by their ethnicity, gender or age. Assuming characteristics of people based
on race is racism and through gender is sexism. Be aware of how composers use stereotypes and be able to identify
them.
Composers of visual texts will also use the cultural assumptions of their audience in more subtle (less obvious) ways. For
example, what does the colour red mean to you? You may think of things such as danger, stop, love and passion. When
the composer of a visual text uses red they are perhaps trying to make you think of these things. So, a stop sign or traffic
light that is red tells you that you should stop. A warning sign that is red informs you of danger.
Typically it is assumed in Australia, and many Western countries around the world, that the following colours signify the
following things:
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Red: anger, passion, danger, stop
White: peace, purity, cleanliness, life
Black: death, sickness, evil
Green: go, nature, happiness
Blue: peace, serenity, boys
Pink: love, girls
This of course is not exhaustive - there are many, many more. When you approach a visual text remember that the use of
colour is an attempt to communicate through cultural assumptions.
It is important to be aware that different cultures attach meaning to colours in different ways. In China red is a colour that
has connotations of happiness. Significantly, the traditional colour for Chinese brides to wear is red. Notice also that red is
the dominant colour on the Chinese flag. The colour green dominates the flags of many Muslim countries and this is
because green represents Islam. These differences in meaning can have a significant impact on visual images. Consider
what an advertisement washed with red might mean in Australia and what it might mean in China. An Australian
responder is positioned to see anger or danger whereas in China the responder is positioned to see happiness.
More discussion on the use of colour in visual texts is included in Chapter 2 of 'Required Skills and knowledge: Language
Features and Techniques'.
Using cultural assumptions to analyse a text
Refer to Text One
Text One is a visual text that demonstrates stereotypes. The girl in the left is stereotypical because she fits the cultural
assumption that teenage girls use telephones. Also, the composer has used the pink school bag to further highlight her
girlishness. Is it only girls who use telephones? Do all girls wear/use pink? The boy in the right is kicking a football. This is
a stereotypical image because it is culturally assumed that all boys like sport. Further, the boy is wearing blue which is the
culturally assumed colour for boys.
In this unit;
It is important to be aware of the fact that each individual responder is positioned by their cultural background to attach
meanings to particular visual cues. The interpretation of a text is often dependent upon the values that individuals place
on age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle as well as the connotations that arise from more subtle cues such as colours. An
awareness of the use of these cultural assumptions will enable you, as a responder, to view visual texts more objectively
and, as a composer, to express views more concisely.