Terminology and concepts in
communication studies
Class 2: Approach – paradigm
Multidisciplinarity Combining or involving several academic disciplines (or professional
specializations) in an approach to a topic or a problem.
Paradigm A coherent system of models and theories that offers a framework in
which reality can be investigated
Paradigm shift A sudden and radical change (Kuhn)
Dominant Context:
mainstream paradigm - Post WWII
- North American hegemony
- Growing bipolar global context
Perspective:
- Powerful mass media
- Liberal-pluralistic normative view on man and society
- Functionalism
- Information theory
- Behaviourism
- Positivistic methods/quantitative approaches
Critique:
- Linearity of communication process
- Effect-oriented
- Almost exclusively Western perspective
- Little attention to contradictions and ambivalences
- Little attention to social context (to communication as a social
and interactive process)
Hegemony Leadership of dominance, by one state over another. (zie class 12)
Liberalism Focus on individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, free enterprise.
Pluralism More than 2 states, groups, etc. can coexist.
Functionalism The idea that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary
for the survival of that society.
Positivism A philosophical system recognising only that which can be scientifically
verified or which is capable of logical or mathematical proof.
Class 3: Paradigm – theory – classification tools
Alternative critical Context (different worldview):
paradigm - Liberal-capitalist model is not unavoidable, nor undesirable
- Rejection of incorrect rational and utilitarian model
- Rejection of pluralist and conservative functionalist ideology
Perspective:
- Marx’ political and cultural criticism
- Frankfurter Schule
- Mass communication seen as a manipulative and repressing
process which confirms the status quo
- Structural power imbalances need to be overthrown
Taking further shape:
, - Political-economy of mass organisations and structures
- Qualitative research
- Ideology
Marxist origins Zie class 9
Frankfurter Schule Zie class 9
School A group of academics who share the same (social, political and historical)
context, time and space, and who also work in the same field on the basis
of the same angle of approach or paradigm (usually: international
reputation)
‘Linguistic turn’ A major development in philosophy in the 20 th century.
Most important characteristic: the focus (of philosophy) primarily on the
relation between language, language users, and the world.
Ideology A set of ideas from a certain group.
Political economy of Ownership of media.
communication
Cultural studies Meanings and messages of media.
Theory A general explanation.
An abstract way to better understand (parts of) the communication
process.
A 1) logical set of 2) connected (non-conflicting) statements, ideas, and
concepts 3) regarding (part of) empirical reality, 4) formulated to induce
testable hypotheses.
Deductive approach (theory -> reality)
Inductive approach (reality -> theory)
Dichotomy A division or contrast between 2 things that are or are represented as
being opposite or entirely different.
Agency vs structure Agency: individuals act on their own.
Structure: social structure determines the choices of the individuals.
Social structure An arrangement of social relations among groups/individuals that
determine the latter’s activities and actions
Consensus vs conflict Consensus: driving force of societal change is consensus. (evolutionary
and functionalist approaches)
Conflict: driving force of societal change is conflict.
Matter vs mind Matter: ‘facts’, quantitative methods, materialist theories.
Mind: ‘value’, qualitative methods, culturalist theories.
Materialist theories Society consists of real, objective structures and institutions, established
historically, economically, politically, and technologically, which
determines the structure’s form and (re)produces social action
Culturalist theories Society is created and constructed intersubjectively, reflexively and within
a particular context
Reflexivity The fact of someone being able to examine their own feelings, reactions,
and motives and how these influence what they do or think in a situation.
Idealistic theories
Functionalism The idea that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary
for the survival of that society
Class 4: Central themes – media history & Class 5:
Media history
Power to Associating power with consensus, cooperation, conviction and the
effective realization of objectives.
,Power over Associating power with dominance, control, manipulation and
oppression. (more radical-critical)
Dominant media Media are an instrument of power in the hands of the few powerful
groups and organizations. They present a uniform image, for which the
public only has very limited options to react or resist.
Pluralist media There is no power elite that prevents democratic control and social
change through its monopoly of the media. Audiences are active
participators, who can reject, reinterpret or see through messages.
Centrifugal effects Media (messages) contribute towards social change, freedom,
individualism and fragmentation. (away from centre, core)
Centripetal effects Media (messages) contribute towards (social) unity, order, cohesion and
integration. (towards centre, core)
Technological Theory that a society’s technology progresses by following its own
determinism internal logic or efficiency.
Social determinism Theory that social interactions alone determine individual behaviour.
Typographical man A person characterized by a sharpened sense of awareness and precision.
These factors are crucial for the development of science and learning.
Increasingly individualistic and with a new notion of privacy. (McLuhan)
Contingency A future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted
with certainty.
Fourth estate Media was considered the ‘fourth estate’ by 19 th century liberalism. (1st:
clergy, 2nd: nobility, 3rd: commoners & bourgeois)
Partisan press Newspapers that serve(d) as the mouthpiece for political parties.
Democratization of Photography becoming cheaper, more accessible and more user-friendly.
photography Began in the 1880s, with the advent of the company Kodak.
(Also: the evolution of the camera)
Phenakistoscope / The first device to look at single flowing movement. (Plateau)
fantascope
Kinetoscope / Individual viewing box. (Edison)
kinetograph
Telecommunication All communication over a significant distance without the physical
transportation of the message.
The technologies that make possible the registration and preservation of
sounds and images over time.
(Sometimes called electronic communication or second orality)
Culture of ‘second The era or culture of electronic communication has perfected and
orality’ integrated elements of both oral and written culture, forging them into a
new form of communication.
Radio Sending electronic signals over radio waves, transporting sound.
Secondary / A medium that can be easily combined with other activities.
complementary Ex. radio
medium
Broadcasting Reaching the wider public.
Narrowcasting Reaching specific target groups or niches.
Displacement effects The advent of a new medium compels an older dominant medium to
accept a different and more marginal position in the media repertoire.
Ex. radio -> television
Television Images are registered and transported over airwaves.
Telegraphy Transmission of written messages.
Telephony Transmission of sound and spoken messages by cable, on a one-to-one
basis.
, Time-space The stretching of social systems across time and space. (Giddens)
distanciation
Smartphone A carrier for different signals and forms of communication.
Oral culture Spoken language.
Written culture The invention and evolution of written languages.
Pictography -> phonetic alphabet
Written culture resulted in knowledge and information being stored and
preserved, and transformed the social relationship between sender and
receiver.
Other social implications include: a more rigid organization of society, the
forming of abstract thoughts and the development of new disciplines and
sciences, the distinction between the private and the public, the
evolution of a new psychological conceptualization of time and space.
Pictography All forms of drawings on surfaces (hardware), in which objects from the
immediate environment (software) are depicted.
Modern-day remnants: pictograms, Chines script, etc.
Hardware Surfaces on which pictography is drawn.
Ex. cave walls, rocks, tree bark, etc.
The hardware used got progressively lighter and more vulnerable.
Ex. clay, wax, bones, animal hides -> papyrus, parchment, paper
Software Objects from the immediate environment that are depicted in
pictography.
Ex. the sun, the moon, the animals people hunted, etc.
Phonetic alphabet Specific sounds are represented by pictographic words or letters, allowing
rapid and more efficient communication. There is a limited number of
letters of characters, making the transmission of knowledge faster and
easier.
First full alphabet was the Greek one (also introduced left to right)
Periodization Dividing history into periods. This results in a wrong view on history, as
different phases and periods are part of a cumulative process. They
continue to exist alongside each other and very often exert a mutual
influence on each other.
Globalization The process whereby the lives and destinies of people across the world
are increasingly linked economically, politically and culturally.
(Chakravarty)
Media globalization A strongly branched worldwide network of media and communication –
both in terms of software and hardware – that operates side by side with
new transnational and multimedial forms of media concentration.
Pessimistic outcome: a uniform and homogenous culture as the final
result of (media) globalization, at the expense of the diversity and
autonomy of local cultures and smaller national media sectors.
Chicago School of Starting point for American research into communication and media.
Sociology Micro-sociological and pragmatic approach. Qualitative research
methods.
Mass communication and its impact on society was a key field of study
for the school right from the very beginning.
Now: more cultural media theory or cultural studies.
Media panic Each time a new medium is introduced, the public is amazed, then feels
threatened, fearful, and that the new medium is unnecessary. After a
while, the public’s confidence in the new medium grows, thus it gradually
becomes accepted and established its own position amongst the existing
