Communication As ... : Perspectives on Theory

by Gregory J. Shepherd

• ISBN13: 9781412906586
• ISBN10: 141290658X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-05-26
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

What does it mean to argue that communication is organizing? Or ritual? Or failure? What is at stake in choosing one metaphor or stance over another? What is gained and what is lost - for the field, for the theories themselves, and especially for humans communicating in everyday contexts? In Communication as...: Perspectives on Theory, editors Gregory J. Shepherd, Jeffrey St. John, and Ted Striphas bring together a collection of 27 essays that explores the wide range of theorizing about communication, cutting across all lines of traditional division in the field. The essays in this text are written by leading scholars in the field of communication theory, with each scholar employing a particular stance or perspective on what communication theory is and how it functions. In essays that are brief, argumentative, and forceful, the scholars propose their perspective as a primary or essential way of viewing communication with decided benefits over other views. Key Features: Compares and contrasts different metaphorical views on the theory and practice of communication, challenging students to develop their own argument about communication theory Promotes an alternative way of examining communication problems - through the engaged interplay of a diversity of positions - encouraging readers to think through contemporary problems and questions in the field Compels readers to confront competing theoretical positions and their consequences head-on rather than outlining theories in ways that might separate them from their real-world consequences Communication as... is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on communication theory in the fields of Communication, Journalism, Sociology, and Psychology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Part I: Making	1	(48)
1. Relationality	3	(10)
Celeste M. Condit
2. Ritual	13	(9)
Eric W. Rothenbuhler
3. Transcendence	22	(9)
Gregory J. Shepherd
4. Constructive	31	(7)
Katherine Miller
5. A Practice	38	(11)
Robert T. Craig
Part II: Materializing	49	(50)
6. Collective Memory	51	(9)
Carole Blair
7. Vision	60	(7)
Cara A. Finnegan
8. Embodiment	67	(8)
Carolyn Marvin
9. Raced	75	(9)
Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama
10. Social Identity	84	(7)
Jake Harwood
11. Techné	91	(8)
Jonathan Sterne
Part III: Contextualizing	99	(54)
12. Dialogue	101	(9)
Leslie A. Baxter
13. Autoethnography	110	(13)
Arthur P. Bochner and Carolyn S. Ellis
14. Storytelling	123	(9)
Eric E. Peterson and Kristin M. Langellier
15. Complex Organizing	132	(11)
James R. Taylor
16. Structuring	143	(10)
David R. Seibold and Karen Kroman Myers
Part IV: Politicizing	153	(56)
17. Political Participation	155	(9)
Todd Kelshaw
18. Deliberation	164	(10)
John Gastil
19. Diffusion	174	(6)
James W. Dearing
20. Social Influence	180	(7)
Frank Boster
21. Rational Argument	187	(8)
Robert C. Rowland
22. Counterpublic	195	(14)
Daniel C. Brouwer
Part V: Questioning	209	(48)
23. Dissemination	211	(12)
John Durham Peters
24. Articulation	223	(9)
Jennifer Daryl Slack
25. Translation	232	(10)
Ted Striphas
26. Communicability	242	(7)
Briankle G. Chang
27. Failure	249	(8)
Jeffrey St. John
Index	257	(10)
About the Editors	267	(2)
About the Contributors	269