COM 327January 10 2013

Lineup:1. Housekeeping2. Quiz3. “Communication as culture”4. Groupwork: 2 models of communication5. Carey & critical media studies

HousekeepingGroup presentations

- overview of 1 reading from that day- groups of 3- 10% of final grade- Google doc: “COM 327: Group Presentation sign-up”- first group next Tuesday? (I will be generous with marks!)

QUIZ!!!

1. Both models of communication that Carey presents in Section I have their origin in ________.

a) politicsb) economicsc) agricultured) religion

2. In Section 1, the two models of communication Carey discusses are the “transmission” model, which he sees as dominant in American culture and thought, and the ______ model.

a) exchangeb) communistc) rituald) utopian

3. In Section 1, what media does Carey use to compare these two models of communication? a) newspaperb) typewriterc) telegraphd) fax machine

4. According to Carey (in Section II), the Chicago School offers the following definition of communication:"a  ______ process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed”a) boringb) symbolicc) behavioristd) scientific

Too hard? Too easy?

James Carey“Communication as Culture”

Book was published in 1989, but ideas in it were developed much earlier.

Key Concepts from Tuesday:-

So what makes Carey’s

approach to understanding communication “CRITICAL”?

Critical approaches to communications media make

VISIBLE the relations of POWER that operate on and through different media technologies,

industries and practices.

The goal is to affect CHANGE in the

current conditions of media production and

consumption.

Communication theory (in America) before Carey (and still to this day):

Mathematical Theory of Communication (Shannon and Weaver, 1948)

Theorists Carey uses to discuss the “ritual” model of communication

Raymond Williams (1921-1988)- one of the founders of cultural studies- “culture is ordinary”- key work: Culture and Society (1958)

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)- Canadian media theorist - ‘rock star’ academic- our relationship to communication is like a “fish in water”- key work: Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1962)

Erving Goffman (1922-1982)- also born in Canada (pattern..?)- we are always “performing” our identity- key work: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959)

NONE of these were “communication” theorists or researchers…

Raymond Williams

Previous notions of culture:

1. Culture as foreign

2. Culture as breeding

Culture is1) The everyday2) The realm of signification & communication – media

Established the field of “cultural studies” – aka, the role of media in our daily lives

Carey’s connection: culture IS communication.

Marshal McLuhan

“One thing about which fish know exactly nothing is water, since they have no anti-environment which would enable them to perceive the element they live in.”

We’re the fish; media is the water.

It’s impossible to separate our understanding of the role of media in society from the effects that media HAS on structuring our thought and communication.

Carey’s connection: Communication is the act of constructing and maintaining the reality we live in.

Key Concepts from Tuesday:-

So what makes Carey’s

approach to understanding communication “CRITICAL”?

Critical approaches to communications media make

VISIBLE the relations of POWER that operate on and through different media technologies,

industries and practices.

The goal is to affect CHANGE in the

current conditions of media production and

consumption.

Media technologies don’t just alter the means of transmission; they transform the content

Critical approaches to communications

media make VISIBLE the relations of

POWER that operate on and through different media technologies, industries and

practices.

The goal is to affect CHANGE in the

current conditions of media production and

consumption.

So what makes Carey’s approach to

understanding communication

“CRITICAL”?

Erving Goffman

“Dramaturgical” view of social relations: we’re constantly performing.

We present different versions of ourselves depending on the situation & ‘audience’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlDBi0cyIA

Carey:We maintain – ‘co-construct’ – our culture through interactions with each other & with various media forms & practices.

(Also: we re-affirm our own identity/ies through these practices)s

“Ritual” vs “transmission” views

Not just academic theories, but ways of understanding, enacting, and living our relationship with each other & with media.

Communication as transmission:“a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people” (p. 15)

Communication as ritual:“directed not toward the extension of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting information but the representation of shared beliefs” (p. 19)

Game-burning at Southington, Connecticut (30 miles from Newton)

Now cancelled, because the group (SouthingtonSOS) has ‘already accomplished what they set out to do’

Which model of communication (ritual vs transmission) were they acting on?

Which model of communication (ritual vs transmission) would they have acted out?

Transmission Ritual

“a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people” (p. 15)

“directed not toward the extension of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting information but the representation of shared beliefs” (p. 19)

Facebook Statuses are transmissionCan be used for email

Statuses go viral & the actual meaning (“content”) gets interpreted in different ways.“a social network”. Commenting/sharing/liking.- Liking statuses = connection to others; statuse

YouTube Uploading a video to website.Anyone can upload any kind of video.

Viewed by anyone, commented by anyone, likes/dislkes- “youtube party”.- Viral videos- “ritualistic transmission”

Clothing Uniform designates authority Uniforms – give power“Feel different” when put on outfitEngineering vs design

In groups of 4, consider how ‘transmission’ vs ‘ritual’ models would frame one of the following technologies… use specific (everyday!) examples.

Carey & communication studies: THE AFTERMATH

1. Opened up the communications theory itself to critical attention- attention to the ways “effects” research shores up political & economic power

2. Legitimated as an object of study the CULTURAL study of communication, opening the door to:

- Political economy (the study of capitalist production & its relation to socio-economic privilege, aka CLASS)

- Feminist theory (the study of gender as something we DO rather than as something we ARE)- Queer theory (the study of heterosexism, its production, and its

effects)- Post-colonial theory (the study of imperialism and its relationship

to ethnicity)- Race theory (the study of race as a social, political & economic construction)