S EVEN TRADITIONS IN THE FIELD OF COMMUNICATION THEORY Anne Suryani Dani Vardiansyah Novita Damayanti Universitas Multimedia Nusantara 2010.

SEVEN TRADITIONS IN THE FIELD OF COMMUNICATION THEORY

Anne Suryani

Dani Vardiansyah

Novita DamayantiUniversitas Multimedia Nusantara

2010

1. The socio-psychological tradition2. The cybernetic tradition3. The rhetorical tradition4. The semiotic tradition5. The socio-cultural tradition6. The critical tradition7. The phenomenological tradition

1. THE SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL TRADITION

Communication as interpersonal interaction and influence

Scientific/objective perspective Communication truth can be discovered

through systematic observation Cause & effect relationship Carl Hovland did experimental research on

the effects of communication - the Yale Attitude Studies: “who says what to whom with what effect”

Result: Credibility = expertness & character

2. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION

Communication as a system of information processing

Norbert Wiener Cybernetics: the study of information processing, feedback, and control in communication systems

Claude Shannon a mathematical theory of signal transmission

Information: the reduction of uncertainty; the less predictable a message is, the more information it carries

Channel capacity = Information + Noise

Noise source

message signal received signal

message

Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication(Griffin, 2009, p. 44)

Communication as artful public address Rhetoric: the art of using all available means

of persuasion, focusing upon lines of argument, organization of ideas, language use, and delivery in public speaking

Aristotle Logos (logical) Ethos (ethical) Pathos (emotional)

3. THE RHETORICAL TRADITION

4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION

Communication as the process of sharing meaning through signs

Semiotics: the study of verbal and nonverbal signs that can stand for something else, and how their interpretation impacts society

Symbols: arbitrary words & nonverbal signs that bear no natural connection with the things they describe

Their meaning is learned within a given culture

5. THE SOCIO-CULTURAL TRADITION

Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality

Language Edward Sapir & Benjamin Lee Whorf Linguistic relativity the structure of a

culture’s language shapes what people think and do

Contemporary socio-cultural theorist reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed through communication processes

6. THE CRITICAL TRADITION

Communication as a reflective challenge of unjust discourse

Frankfurt school: Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse

1. The control of language to perpetuate power imbalances

2. The role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression

3. Blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings

7. THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TRADITION

Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue

Phenomenology: intentional analysis of everyday experience from the standpoint of the person who is living it, explores the possibility of understanding the experience of self and others

Congruence: the match between an individual’s inner feelings and outer display; authenticity, genuineness

Pragmatism: an applied approach to knowledge; the philosophy that true understanding of an idea or situation has practical implication for action

8. THE ETHICAL TRADITION

Communication as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways

Credo for communication ethics 1. Truthfulness, accuracy, honesty2. Consequences 3. Understanding, respect

SUMMARY

1. The socio-psychological tradition2. The cybernetic tradition3. The rhetorical tradition4. The semiotic tradition5. The socio-cultural tradition6. The critical tradition7. The phenomenological tradition8. 8. The ethical tradition

Reference: Griffin, 2009, pp. 41-54