Abstract

This audience study explores how a group of children from Southeast Mexico, perceive the animated cartoon «Dexter’s Laboratory». The objective is to observe the ways in which a young local audience, still in the process of building its cultural identity, perceives an American television program. A qualitative approach was applied: 44 children between 8 and 11 years old participated in a series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups, which took place in a provincial city in Mexico (Villahermosa, Tabasco). In each session, the participants watched an episode of the cartoon dubbed into Latin Spanish. Afterwards, it was assessed if they were able to notice cultural elements present in the series (texts in English, traditions, ways of life, symbols, etc.), which are different from their own culture. It was also observed if age, gender and social background had any impact on the degree of awareness. The results showed that most of the participants were aware of beingthat they were watching a foreign program, that they could recognize elements of American culture and that they applied diverse strategies to make sense of these foreign narratives. Older children, and those studying English as a second language, were able to make more sophisticated comparisons between the cultures of Mexico and the United States.

Abstract

We approached the theory of the social representations, from the epistemologic perspective of the rhetorical change of the philosophy, like a model for the creation of musical uhits. and soundtracks spread by mass media and characterized by musical topics, figures that reflect the social and psychological processes of the elaboration of musical ideas. The dynamics of this creation seem to be effective for the development of a «sgnificant» teaching process of music teaching.

Abstract

The article revisits the old debate about media influence, focusing on whether children learn from television or not. It argues that TV per se does not guarantee that a child will build knowledge because mediations connected to family members, peers, or school teachers are necessary to activate learning processes. From this perspective the issue of media influence is related to cultural and school capital and to impersonal communication. Attention is drawn to the contribution of the media to the child’s acquisition of cultural capital.

Abstract

This article shows some results of a present study about the main childhood stereotypes in TV programmes (soap operas, sitcoms), news and advertising. The application of content analysis makes it possible to describe the portrayal of children built by mass media, such as the «good wild» myth as a metaphorical image, at the same time that it shows punishment for the social transgression of rules.