Critical Introduction to Media and Communication Theory - Böcker

Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas have had a major impact on a number of fields of inquiry. As scholars of media and communication begin to think more frequently and more carefully with Bourdieu’s ideas, this book offers a wealth of points of contact between Bourdieu’s ideas and research topics concerning media and communication. This book addresses how Bourdieu’s ideas can be used to raise questions concerning: media production, media audiences, symbolic authority, and the history of communication study. The result is a compact but comprehensive volume that gives the reader a sense of the scope and relevance of Bourdieu’s ideas to a wide range of domains of study in communication research.

Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas have had a major impact on a number of fields of inquiry. As scholars of media and communication begin to think more frequently and more carefully with Bourdieu’s ideas, this book offers a wealth of points of contact between Bourdieu’s ideas and research topics concerning media and communication. This book addresses how Bourdieu’s ideas can be used to raise questions concerning: media production, media audiences, symbolic authority, and the history of communication study. The result is a compact but comprehensive volume that gives the reader a sense of the scope and relevance of Bourdieu’s ideas to a wide range of domains of study in communication research.

One of the world’s most influential and prolific media scholars, George Gerbner played a major role in the development of communication theory and research. His critical approach to mass communication changed the way we think about media industries, the messages and images they produce, and their social and cultural impacts.Gerbner is most widely known for his decades of work on television violence, but his research and writing focused on many other vital aspects of the symbolic cultural environment. This book provides a broad-based introduction to Gerbner’s theories of mass communication, his long-term research on media content and effects, and the critical and policy contributions of his work.Although hundreds of studies have been conducted based on Gerbner’s ideas, this is the first volume to provide a concise and comprehensive overview of his many contributions to the field.

Although Erving Goffman never claimed to be a media or communication scholar, his work is definitely relevant to, and has already served as a substantial resource for, those who are. This is the first detailed presentation and analysis of his life and work intended specifically for a communication audience. While primarily an introduction to Goffman’s work, those already familiar with his ideas will also learn something new. In addition to summarizing Goffman’s major concepts and his influence on other scholars, the book includes an intellectual biography, explication of his methods, and an example of how to extend his ideas. Readers are invited to consider Goffman as a lens through which to view much of the pattern evident in the social world. Goffman’s work always appealed to the general public (several of his books became bestsellers), and so this book has implications for those who are interested in the role of media or communication in their own lives as well as those who study it professionally.

Although Erving Goffman never claimed to be a media or communication scholar, his work is definitely relevant to, and has already served as a substantial resource for, those who are. This is the first detailed presentation and analysis of his life and work intended specifically for a communication audience. While primarily an introduction to Goffman’s work, those already familiar with his ideas will also learn something new. In addition to summarizing Goffman’s major concepts and his influence on other scholars, the book includes an intellectual biography, explication of his methods, and an example of how to extend his ideas. Readers are invited to consider Goffman as a lens through which to view much of the pattern evident in the social world. Goffman’s work always appealed to the general public (several of his books became bestsellers), and so this book has implications for those who are interested in the role of media or communication in their own lives as well as those who study it professionally.

Walter Lippmann has been widely misrepresented in media and communication scholarship. Classified as a utilitarian and characterized as an antidemocratic adversary of philosopher John Dewey in a legendary debate in the 1920s about the role of the public in modern democracies, Lippmann has been portrayed as the bête noir of the post-1980s revival of pragmatism and humanistic studies within the field. Consequently, his formative contributions to the field have not only been under-valued, but more importantly, the richness and continuing relevance of his generative work to the challenges of the twenty-first century are largely under-appreciated.There are, however, some recent signs of the beginnings of a Lippmann renaissance. Focusing primarily on his early career when Lippmann directly addressed the challenges posed to democracy by the emergence of new communication technologies, this book is part of that renaissance. It presents a radical reconsideration of Lippmann’s thought and legacy and offers a broad-based introduction to his theories of mass communication. Arguing that he was a political ally rather than an adversary of Dewey as well as a humanist and a democrat, influenced by William James’ pragmatism and George Santayana’s critical realism, Jansen contends that Lippmann developed a fully formed social constructivism decades before Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman’s seminal 1966 treatise, The Social Construction of Reality. She boldly concludes that Lippmann deserves to be recognized as a founder of the field of media and communication research.

Walter Lippmann has been widely misrepresented in media and communication scholarship. Classified as a utilitarian and characterized as an antidemocratic adversary of philosopher John Dewey in a legendary debate in the 1920s about the role of the public in modern democracies, Lippmann has been portrayed as the bête noir of the post-1980s revival of pragmatism and humanistic studies within the field. Consequently, his formative contributions to the field have not only been under-valued, but more importantly, the richness and continuing relevance of his generative work to the challenges of the twenty-first century are largely under-appreciated.There are, however, some recent signs of the beginnings of a Lippmann renaissance. Focusing primarily on his early career when Lippmann directly addressed the challenges posed to democracy by the emergence of new communication technologies, this book is part of that renaissance. It presents a radical reconsideration of Lippmann’s thought and legacy and offers a broad-based introduction to his theories of mass communication. Arguing that he was a political ally rather than an adversary of Dewey as well as a humanist and a democrat, influenced by William James’ pragmatism and George Santayana’s critical realism, Jansen contends that Lippmann developed a fully formed social constructivism decades before Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman’s seminal 1966 treatise, The Social Construction of Reality. She boldly concludes that Lippmann deserves to be recognized as a founder of the field of media and communication research.

bell hooks’ writings have been touchstones for major debates in the «culture wars», fostering insight into many central questions in communication studies. Her work is vital to students and scholars who explore the ways in which media shape our sense of our selves, our roles, and those with whom we interact. This book provides readers with a measured, contextualized introduction to how hooks’ writings on media and culture enhance our understanding of key concepts in communication. hooks’ insistence on focusing our attention on the workings of power and the impact of history and her willingness to explore connections between individual and group experiences have produced provocative, fruitful conjectures about media and culture.

bell hooks’ writings have been touchstones for major debates in the «culture wars», fostering insight into many central questions in communication studies. Her work is vital to students and scholars who explore the ways in which media shape our sense of our selves, our roles, and those with whom we interact. This book provides readers with a measured, contextualized introduction to how hooks’ writings on media and culture enhance our understanding of key concepts in communication. hooks’ insistence on focusing our attention on the workings of power and the impact of history and her willingness to explore connections between individual and group experiences have produced provocative, fruitful conjectures about media and culture.

Neil Postman’s most popular work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), provided an insightful critique of the effects of television on public discourse in America, arguing that television’s bias towards entertaining content trivializes serious issues and undermines the basis of democratic culture. Lance Strate, who earned his doctorate under Neil Postman and is one of the leading media ecology scholars of our time, re-examines Postman’s arguments, updating his analysis and critique for the twenty-first-century media environment that includes the expansion of television programming via cable and satellite as well as the Internet, the web, social media, and mobile technologies.Integrating Postman’s arguments about television with his critique of technology in general, Strate considers the current state of journalism, politics, religion, and education in American culture. Strate also contextualizes Amusing Ourselves to Death through an examination of Postman’s life and career and the field of media ecology that Postman introduced. This is a book about our prospects for the future, which can only be based on the ways in which we think and talk about the present.

Neil Postman’s most popular work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), provided an insightful critique of the effects of television on public discourse in America, arguing that television’s bias towards entertaining content trivializes serious issues and undermines the basis of democratic culture. Lance Strate, who earned his doctorate under Neil Postman and is one of the leading media ecology scholars of our time, re-examines Postman’s arguments, updating his analysis and critique for the twenty-first-century media environment that includes the expansion of television programming via cable and satellite as well as the Internet, the web, social media, and mobile technologies.Integrating Postman’s arguments about television with his critique of technology in general, Strate considers the current state of journalism, politics, religion, and education in American culture. Strate also contextualizes Amusing Ourselves to Death through an examination of Postman’s life and career and the field of media ecology that Postman introduced. This is a book about our prospects for the future, which can only be based on the ways in which we think and talk about the present.

John Dewey: A Critical Introduction to Media and Communication Theory reintroduces John Dewey to scholars in communication studies by presenting new material and interpretations from his works, lectures, and correspondence. Dewey has been credited as being one of the giants of American philosophy, a key figure in the development of pragmatism. Going beyond Dewey’s reputation in received histories in communication, this book documents his role beginning at the University of Michigan in 1884 until his death in 1952 in establishing a view of communication as the means by which associated life and adaptation to the environment is possible. Communication enables the production of collective knowledge generated through experience and reproduced across time and space, subject to change and correction as those truths are applied and yield consequences. It is also subject to manipulation and misuse. So integral is communication to his philosophy that Dewey is best seen as having a philosophy with communication, not of it. By reviewing Dewey’s history of work relevant to communication, technology, and culture, previous assumptions by communication scholars are challenged. A fresh history is presented of his relations to key figures and his significance to the development of speech, rhetoric, journalism, mass communication research, and public relations. Because of his concerns about power, participation, identity, and knowledge, his work remains relevant to contemporary scholars. This book is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in theory, history, and philosophy of communication and is relevant to other disciplines with interests in pragmatism, feminist and race theory, technology, and cultural studies.

Sigmund Freud’s theories and clinical practices focused primarily on individuals. As such, they are rarely considered when critiquing collective behavior or symbolic re-presentations. However, as the founder of depth psychology – a field of study that considers how unconscious components of the human experience influence psychological conditions – Freud understood the collective nature of thought and behavior. While his ideas are not typically a perspective applied to the study of media and popular culture, of audiences, or of content creation, once unpacked through a psychoanalytic lens, Freud’s theories shine a bright light on human motivation and expression.This book is the first presentation of his ideas within this context. It is primarily an introduction to Freud and his theories intended for a communication studies audience. In addition to summarizing Freud’s major concepts, how/when/if they are taught in psychology programs, and the resultant "Freud Wars," this book offers examples of application of his ideas to cinema, advertising, public relations, and other forms of expression and recommendations for future research.There are implications and applications to the everyday world as well for anyone interested in how theories of human development, beginning with childhood personality construction through adult sexuality, repression, and expression, can be understood through a contemporary lens."Of all of the contentious and oft-misconstrued figures in the history of ideas, few provide such a thorny and frustrating subject as Sigmund Freud. In this short-butsubstantial book, Deb Merskin gives us a considerate and approachable understanding of Freud’s work. She begins with a biographical sketch of Freud, builds on this foundation to outline the full spectrum of Freud’s theoretical interventions. With the basic rhythms and motifs established, Merskin then combines all of these elements to develop a symphonic sense of what Freud’s ideas can contribute to communication and media studies, with emphases on social theory, film theory, advertising, political communication, media psychology, and cultural studies. Here is a true introduction to Freud’s ideas as they relate to communication and media studies."—David W. Park, Lake Forest College

Larry Gross is one of the most influential figures in the history of media studies. In this collection of original essays, his former students reflect on his groundbreaking contributions to three major developments: the emergence of visual studies as a distinct field of media theory and research; the analysis of media fiction as a symbol of power structures and a perpetuator of social inequalities; and the growing scholarly attention to the relationships between mass media and sexual minorities.

Larry Gross is one of the most influential figures in the history of media studies. In this collection of original essays, his former students reflect on his groundbreaking contributions to three major developments: the emergence of visual studies as a distinct field of media theory and research; the analysis of media fiction as a symbol of power structures and a perpetuator of social inequalities; and the growing scholarly attention to the relationships between mass media and sexual minorities.

John Dewey: A Critical Introduction to Media and Communication Theory reintroduces John Dewey to scholars in communication studies by presenting new material and interpretations from his works, lectures, and correspondence. Dewey has been credited as being one of the giants of American philosophy, a key figure in the development of pragmatism. Going beyond Dewey’s reputation in received histories in communication, this book documents his role beginning at the University of Michigan in 1884 until his death in 1952 in establishing a view of communication as the means by which associated life and adaptation to the environment is possible. Communication enables the production of collective knowledge generated through experience and reproduced across time and space, subject to change and correction as those truths are applied and yield consequences. It is also subject to manipulation and misuse. So integral is communication to his philosophy that Dewey is best seen as having a philosophy with communication, not of it. By reviewing Dewey’s history of work relevant to communication, technology, and culture, previous assumptions by communication scholars are challenged. A fresh history is presented of his relations to key figures and his significance to the development of speech, rhetoric, journalism, mass communication research, and public relations. Because of his concerns about power, participation, identity, and knowledge, his work remains relevant to contemporary scholars. This book is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in theory, history, and philosophy of communication and is relevant to other disciplines with interests in pragmatism, feminist and race theory, technology, and cultural studies.