Film Reception Studies: Is a Third Way Possible

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the principal studies and theoretical approaches that have addressed film reception. Researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds have examined this issue from a variety of perspectives. Nevertheless, two major strands of research can be identified. On the one hand are studies that may be regarded as sociological, and on the other are those that can be characterized as textual, or more specifically, as grounded in semiotic approaches. This article argues for a third approach by proposing the sociologization of textual models, thereby integrating the analytical strengths of textual analysis with the explanatory framework of sociology in the study of film reception.