Eric W. (Walter) Rothenbuhler – författare

From family traditions like weddings and funerals, to state ceremonies and media events, rites and ceremonies mark socially important occasions, define beginnings and endings, and aid social transitions. Ritual and ceremonial as formal modes of conduct are equally ubiquitous, appearing in everything from modes of talk and rules of politeness to elaborate protocols from events of state. Ritual and rite, ceremonial and ceremony are symbolic social actions, thus modes of communication that implicate individuals in the social order, creating realities while expressing ideas and attitudes about them.

In Ritual Communication, author Eric W. Rothenbuhler combines bibliographic essay and theory construction to provide a unique perspective on ritual as a special and powerful form of communication. Part I is a critical review of definitions of ritual from anthropology, sociology, communication studies, and other literature, ending with a theoretical essay on the contributions of communication theory to understanding ritual. Part II is a critical review of the uses of the term ritual in communication studies literature, covering mediated rituals and ceremonies, ritualistic media uses and audience activities, political, rhetorical, and civic rituals, rituals of everyday interaction, rituals of organizational life, and finally a conception of communication as ritual.

A groundbreaking and fascinating examination, Ritual Communication will interest those in the fields of communication, speech communication, social psychology, anthropology, and sociology.

Media Anthropology is an interdisciplinary reader that represents a convergence of issues and interests on anthropological approaches to the study of media. While other books on this topic examine traditional anthropology and push that field toward the media, in this book, editors Eric W. Rothenbuhler and Mihai Coman take a novel approach by analyzing media studies and guiding that field toward anthropological thinking. This anthology charts media anthropology as a field of study and provides examples of current research that identify its major concepts and methods in chapters written by leading scholars from several countries and academic disciplines.

Key Features:

Offers original articles, and a few selected reprints, from leading worldwide scholars in a variety of academic disciplines to provide the most integrated treatment of this interdisciplinary topicContains introductions that set the context for articles written from varying points of viewIncludes a "Theory into Practice" section that shows how anthropological concepts and methods can improve the teaching and practice of media studiesMakes the relevant literature accessible in an up-to-date and even-handed organization, offering students a broader understanding than they could obtain from other books, which are primarily anthropological in disciplinary orientation

Media Anthropology is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying media anthropology in communication and media studies, journalism, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies programs.