Cultural Studies: Birmingham and Toronto

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Del curso dictado por University of Amsterdam

Introduction to Communication Science

716 calificaciones

University of Amsterdam

Introduction to Communication Science

716 calificaciones

Since Antiquity, scholars have appreciated the importance of communication: as social beings, we cannot exist without communication. We need to interact with people around us, to make sense of the world and to position ourselves in a wider social and cultural reality. In this course, we look at how and why communication evolved as a science and reflect on today’s dominant paradigms. The course also extends beyond the boundaries of communication science itself, exploring dimensions of history, sociology and psychology. Join our class, together with people all over the world. Introduction to Communication Science explores some of the basic theories, models and concepts from the fields of mass, interpersonal and intrapersonal communication. The course begins with a consideration of several basic models, subsequently progressing to the history of communication theory, linear effect-oriented theories, the reception approach and, finally, exploring theories on the production and reinforcement of culture through communication. Upon completion of this course, students should: • have knowledge of the history and development of communication science; • have knowledge of the dominant theoretical approaches within communication science; • have knowledge and understanding of the most important models and concepts in this field. Beginning the week of February 16, 2015, you will be able to join Signature Track, a system that verifies your identity when you take an exam. This option will allow you to earn a Verified Certificate, which provides formal recognition of your achievements in the course and includes the University of Amsterdam logo. Before then, you can complete a “test run” of the exam. You can then re-take the exam after the Verified Certificate becomes available. For information regarding Verified Certificates, see https://courserahelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201212399-Verified-Certificates"

De la lección

Cultural and Social Approaches to Communication Science

This covers theoretical approaches that understand communication processes as social and cultural forces, as building blocks of reality, and a binding element of power in society.

Introduction to the Cultural Approach3:48

Producing and Maintaining Culture4:07

Making Sense of the World4:46

Popular Culture: Reflection or Illusion?4:52

Cultural Studies: Birmingham and Toronto5:42

Cultural Groups4:33

How To Fit In?5:05

Conclusion: Cultural Conformity and Relativism4:20

Conoce a los instructores

Rutger de Graaf
PhD
Graduate School of Communication Science

In our previous section we talked about the interesting

but somewhat outdated Frankfurter School.

Let’s discuss two other, more modern, schools. The Birmingham and the Toronto School.

Like the Frankfurter School the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies,

championed by Stuart Hall,

was also very much interested in power structures, communicated through pop culture.

A central theme in the Birmingham School was the theory of Hegemony.

The core idea of which is again that pop culture communicates the dominant cultural framework.

This framework, per definition, even without actually being artificially designed that way,

communicates that dominant power structure, who is in power, what the rules are, who to obey,

what is considered ‘good behavior’ et cetera.

This cultural hegemony appears implicitly in all carriers of pop culture:

literature, songs, movies, game shows, soap opera’s, billboards,

commercials, newspapers, et cetera.

So even without knowing it,

we are constantly being programmed with rules and truths that benefit the status quo.

In later years the Theory of Hegemony lost its importance.

The important scientist Fiske for instance takes a very different approach.

He sees the worth of pop culture in its universal appeal.

The fact that many people respond to a certain music album it is an indicator of its

cultural quality. It is in other words in synch with the dominant social reality.

You can see that Fiske actually sees popularity as a indicator of quality.

Quite a difference from the Frankfurter School that regarded pop culture as an oppressive tool

designed to keep us ignorant and passive.

According to Fiske: If a movie appeals to millions of people

it is culturally closer to us than an elitist theater performance

that only a handful of people visit and appreciate.

Note that this way of looking at quality actually gives a lot more power to the audience.

It assumes that if many people like something, it has cultural worth.

A very important alternative to the Birmingham School is the Toronto School.

This approach focuses more on the channels of communication, the media themselves.

His famous quote is “the medium is the message”.

His famous quote is “the medium is the message”.

He meant that culture is influenced more by the characteristics of a medium

than by the actual content.

The cinema for instance is all about the experience of going to a theater.

Perhaps you go on a date with someone, buy popcorn, wait for the movie to start,

talk about the previews, sit in the dark together et cetera.

All of this is made possible by the particularities of the channel.

You have probably experienced something like this yourself.

Do you still remember the specific movie it was you saw?

You could just as well see the movie at home,

it saves a lot of money and you can pause it if you need to go to the toilet.

The movie experience in the cinema and at home are of course completely different,

not because the content is different but the channel you use is different.

McLuhan explains that media all have their own characteristics

and these characteristics imbed themselves in the experience.

If I tell you a joke in your face it will be different than if I send it by text message.

That’s why, according to McLuhan,

we should study the way specific channels, change and form our culture.

New media for instance will by their very nature always disrupt the status quo

quo because they allow for new ways of communicating,

and new ways of shaping reality.

Technologies, according to McLuhan in his groundbreaking book The Gutenberg Galaxy,

are not only things we use to make life easier, they actually re-invent us as people.

For instance the printing revolution, made possible by the innovation of the printing press,

completely changed they way people interacted,

how they formed ideas and shared cultural values and truths.

With every large media revolution, like the printing revolution, the rise of the newspaper

and television, mankind was culturally re- invented.

New media allowed new ways for people to talk to each other, to connect.

New ways to pass the time. New ways to give meaning to the world around us

and explore the difficult question of who we are.

McLuhan predicted in 1962 that the rise of television

and computers usher in an electronic age that will again force

society to restructure itself to deal with issues like increased feelings of uncertainty,

social fragmentation and globalization.

I would like to discuss these topics with you, in our next chapter.

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