Form and Function

Form And Function

Form

• The shape and structure of a text. (do not confuse with context)

• Genres are examples of form.

• We can identify a particular genre through formal features; this does not mean that the content is always the same.

Function

Some approaches to the study of media have drawn attention to the function that the media have in social and cultural life

This can be at the level of the individual providing for them entertainment and a means to relax e.t.c (uses and gratifications)

OR

At a social level where the media acts as a social glue that binds people together in a common culture.

The functionalist theory would argue that media produced community.

Whereas

Marxist writers would argue that such a mode disguises inequality and conflict.

E.g A functionalist would argue that the coverage of Princess Diana’s death brought people together whereas a Marxist approach would argue that such coverage heightened and exaggerated public feelings at the expense of covering other important events.