HierarchyA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWideological state apparatuses; mcdon-
aldization. See also topic guide under
media: values & ideology.
▶Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (Knopf,
1964); Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison
Notebooks (Lawrence & Wishart, 1971).
Helical model of communication See
dance’s helical model of communication.
Heliological metaphor See visions of order.
He/man language Dale Spender in her book
Man Made Language (HarperCollins, 1990
edition) refers to the principle by which for
several centuries the terms he and man have
been used to include women – for example,
mankind. According to Spender, this principle
has the eff ect not only of contributing to the
perspective of male-as-norm – of males as
more worthy – but also of helping to construct
the invisibility of women in language, thought
and reality. Not everyone, of course, either
agrees with or employs this principle, and it has
become the focus of some critical scrutiny in
recent decades.
Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model
See consent, manufacture of.
Hermeneutic code See codes of narrative.
Hermeneutics The science of interpretations
or understanding. Th e word is taken from the
Greek, hermeneuein, and derives from Hermes,
messenger of the gods; it means to make things
clear, to announce or unveil a message. In fi lm
study, a hermeneutic code, or ‘code of enigma’,
explains by one device or another the myster-
ies of the plot – the situation or predicament
characters fi nd themselves in – and indicates the
process of resolution.
Heterophily See homophily.
Hidden agenda When the underlying objective
of an act of communication is diff erent from that
which is stated. See impression management.
Hidden needs Vance Packhard in Th e Hidden
Persuaders (Penguin, 1960, with updated
editions) cites eight ‘hidden needs’ which the
adman can cater for. These are: emotional
security; reassurance of worth; ego-gratifi cation;
creative outlets; love objects; a sense of power; a
sense of roots; and immortality. See advertis-
ing; hot buttons; maslow’s hierarchy of
needs; vals typology.
Hierarchy Classifi cation in graded subdivisions.
Th e hierarchy of a company starts at the top with
the chairperson or managing director; a social
hierarchy is dominated by the elite classes, who
varyingly infl uence those class divisions below
them. In the media, the dominant hierarchy are
the owners, top executives, major shareholders,achieved when a provisional alliance of certain
social groups exerts a consensus that makes
the power of the dominant group appear both
natural and legitimate. Hegemony can, however,
only be maintained by the won consent of the
dominated. It is therefore, like consensus,
subject to renegotiation and ongoing redefi ni-
tion. Also, the consensus may be broken as the
ideologies of the subordinate cannot always be
accommodated.
Institutions such as the mass media, the
family, the education system and religion play a
key role in the shaping of people’s awareness and
consciousness, and thus can be agents through
which hegemony is constructed, exercised and
maintained. The definition and workings of
hegemony have obviously undergone adapta-
tion since Gramsci’s day. Th e power, reach and
global penetration of the media as instruments
of hegemony have intensifi ed issues of control
and infl uence, though these need to be viewed
in relation to the impact over the last decade
of internet communication, which some
commentators claim is in the process of under-
mining hegemony.
In the view of Todd Gitlin in his chapter,
‘Prime time television: the hegemonic process in
television entertainment’ in Television: Th e Criti-
cal View (Oxford University Press, 1994), edited
by Horace Newcomb, hegemony is sustained by
the fl exibility of its ideology: ‘In the twentieth
century, the dominant ideology has shifted
toward sanctifying consumer satisfaction as the
premium defi nition of “the pursuit of happiness”,
in this way justifying corporate domination of
the economy. What is hegemonic in consumer
capitalist ideology is precisely the notion that
happiness, or liberty, or equality, or fraternity
can be affirmed through the existing private
commodity forms, under the benign, protective
eye of the national security state.’
In other words, consumerism and its playmate
celebritization have become integral to a
coalition of interests, including that of the state.
On the face of it, the internet has shown a
maverick tendency to serve diff erent purposes
because of the opportunities it provides to indi-
viduals and self-generated groups largely free of
authority and supervision.
The flexibility of hegemony both in prin-
ciple and practice which Gitlin remarks on must,
however, give us pause, for imperial ambitions
exist as prominently on the Net as elsewhere.
As ownership and control increasingly become
global phenomena, hegemony is as likely to fl ex
its muscles as suff er diminishment. See elite;