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Dogmantra wrote (edited )

there are a few theories about story shapes (campbell's monomyth/hero's journey is probably the most famous - and reductive) and you have probably heard that "there's only seven stories", well in that theory faust is generally considered & taught to be one of them, they're mostly named after historical stories.

personally I don't buy into most theories about story types or story shapes, especially those that reduce stories to one or two or seven stories that are just retold again and again.

also you have to remember that faust was written many many years ago before people had things like teen titans go to the movies so they were much more willing to praise mediocre media

source: am an academic

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Dogmantra wrote

actually I'm not an academic anymore but I miss being at university so much, ask me questions about media theory please

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twovests wrote

ok

  1. what is media theory
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Dogmantra wrote

put simply it's the study of media, how it affects audiences, and why it has those effects, but you can go very very broad strokes where you get a lot of overlap with philosophy, or you can go very specific detailed & in depth where you get overlap with social science or more traditional English literature type study.

One of the most famous pieces of media theory definitely leaning towards the philosophical is Roland Barthes's Death of the Author which I imagine you have heard of.