Communication Science PDF

Communication Science Prof. Dr. Thomas Jacobs  04 po..pos… poststructuralism ‘Discourse’ as a theory of content and meaning Framing theory (post)structuralism Theorie...

Communication Science Prof. Dr. Thomas Jacobs  04 po..pos… poststructuralism ‘Discourse’ as a theory of content and meaning Framing theory (post)structuralism Theories of meaning Frames Discourse (framing analysis) (discourse analysis) What is discourse? Definition of discourse depends on theory one uses Howarth and Stavrakakis: discourses = “systems of meaningful practices that form the identities of subjects and objects” No schemata in people’s head, but rather intersubjective systems An easier definition: a discourse is a way of talking and acting that engages in social construction (it gives meaning) constitutes, reproduces, or challenges a hegemony (it creates) is an expression of power (it enables/disables) What is discourse? A discourse is… (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002) [abstract] a specific way to represent and understand (a part of) the world [explicit] language use as a social practice A discourse is a (socially shared) collection of ideas, statements, images, … regarding a specific topic (‘a group of statements’) A discourse is a representation of the world that… reflects a specific reality actively constructs a specific reality by giving meaning to reality, identities, social relations, … What is discourse? Language as code (positivism) Language labels a ‘pre-existing’ reality Language is transmission btw sender & receiver Language is instrumental Language as discourse (social constructionism) Language constructs reality by naming Language constructs reality by giving meaning to something Language is instrumental ànd symbolic Social construction Social constructionism posits that ideas about reality arise from human interaction and consensus, rather than from the observation of the intrinsic properties of that reality A social construct is a concept that needs human interaction to exist. A social construct exists because humans agree that it exists and collectively behave as if its existence is a neutral, natural, physical, and objective fact. However, the existence of a social construct ultimately depends on human imagination, cognition, and behaviour ○ E.g. countries, money ○ … ⇒ poststructuralism studies social constructs and social construction Social construction Is marriage gender (behavior/roles) religion time a social construct? Social construction Social construction is not about physical realities, but rather about structures of meaning and interpretation Meaning and connotation are not inherent or innate to objects, but always ascribed to them by humans Every time we give meaning to the world around us in our communication or our actions, we engage in social construction (‘good morning’) Poststructuralism analyses this process: how does the world around us come into being as a product of human action, interaction, understanding, and interpretation Social Construction Theory of meaning ○ Structuralism (the ‘linguistic turn’, social analysis of ‘difference’, F. de Saussure, 1916) Ideas: ○ A sign consist of two matching components: the signifier and the signified ○ Parole (practiced language) versus la langue (system of language, ‘rules’ like grammar, syntax) ○ Semiology: The study of signs as they are used socially  Dog Social Construction Theory of meaning ○ Structuralism: a sign consist of two matching components: the signifier (denotation) and the signified (connotation) ○ Progressive realization that signifiers and signifieds do not form matched pairs, but rather contingent and arbitrary combinations A given signifier has a limited number of literal, defined meanings (denotation), but an endless range of signifieds can attach themselves to it depending on the context in which it is used (connotation) Social Construction Theory of meaning ○ Structuralism: a sign consist of two matching components: the signifier and the signified ○ Progressive realization that signifiers and signifieds do not form matched pairs, but rather contingent and arbitrary combinations A given signifier has a limited number of literal, defined meanings (denotation), but an endless range of signifieds can attach themselves to it depending on the context in which it is used (connotation) ○ This context can be social, cultural, economic, historic,… => meaning is determined socially, culturally, economically, historically,…sl ○ Poststructuralism: a sign consists of two components: a signifier and a contingent, unpredictable, context-dependent signified (Roland Barthes, 1972; 1977) ○ Free play: language excludes totalization, center, origin: no entity can be fully ‘present’ outside of the system of representative differences of la langue (Jacques Derrida, 1978) ○ Deconstruction (Derrida, 1978) ○ Signification: never a fait accompli but a tentative agreement ○ The famous ‘death of the author’ (Barthes, 1978; Foucault, 1980) Social Construction ○ The famous ‘death of the author’: decentring the ‘author function’: from ‘work’ to ‘text’ (Barthes, 1978; Foucault, 1980) A text does not ‘release a single “theological” meaning (the “message” of the Author- God)’; rather, it is ‘a tissue of citations, resulting from the thousand sources of culture’ (Barthes, 1978, p. 146). ‘[T]he unity of a text is not in its origin, it is in its destination; but this destination can no longer be personal: the reader is a man without history, without biography, without psychology; he is only that someone who holds gathered into a single field all the paths of which the text is constituted. This is why it is absurd to hear the new writing condemned in the name of a humanism which hypocritically appoints itself the champion of the reader’s rights.’ (Barthes, 1978, p. 148)  Signified Signified Signifier Signified Signifier Signified Signified Hegemony true real common sense convincing evident logical objective Hegemony Social construction does not happen individually, it is an intersubjective process ○ Meaning is not given voluntaristically by one person, it is a structure produced through collective interaction, dialogue, consensus, and agreement ○ Poststructuralism and discourse are theories of structure The meanings that we have collectively accepted as true and real are said to have “hegemony”, they are “hegemonic” ○ Hegemony is the power mechanism by which social constructs reproduce themselves and constitute themselves as a dominant meaning in society Hegemony Post-structural discourse theory (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985) Cultural hegemony (A. Gramsci, 1929): ‘“[…] historical blocs” coalesce around ideas and values, which form a “collective will” that achieves “hegemony” on the “ideological terrain.”’ (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985, p. 66-67) No determinative essential principles: the ideological superstructure > economic base (Marxism) (Jacobs, 2019, p. 2) No deeper, essential, determinative principles in how society is organized (post- structuralism) (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985): “[…] All social structure is “dislocated”: internally incomplete, conditional, accidental, and transformable.” (Jacobs, 2019, P. 3) But how do stable social structures come into being? Discourses: patterns of meaning by repeated “articulations” (Jacobs, 2019, p. 3), but unfinished and always changing (unstable relation between signifier and signified) Discourses get articulated through “nodes:” elements that get meaning in interaction (fe. Man-power-strong-assertive-…) and “nodal points” or central signifiers (fe. Liberal democracy discourse, nodal points freedom, equality, elected representation,…) Hegemony What is accepted as true and real, what is hegemonic, depends on the context What I, as an individual, deem to be true, real, and convincing, depends on the extant hegemony Hegemony What is accepted as true and real, what is hegemonic, depends on the context What I, as an individual, deem to be true, real, and convincing, depends on the extant hegemony Since hegemonies are the product of agreement and interaction between humans, they can change if humans agree on something different or interact in a different fashion ○ People can collectively “socially construct” something different ○ E.g. the changing hegemony with regards to gay marriage, smoking inside,… Hegemony Hegemonic change is very often the product of concerted efforts and collective action ○ Ambitious and succesful politicians do not just try to seize institutional power, they try to shift the ‘Overton Window’ (the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time) Hegemony Different hegemonies can exist parallel to each-other, demarcating different ‘subcultures’ This can lead to misunderstanding, tension, and conflict This is why certain segments of the population are vulnerable to ‘disinformation’ and ‘fake news’: they are part of a sub-culture that is dominated by a hegemony that differs from the mainstream one Power Something being a social construct does not mean it isn’t real or that it doesn’t have tangible effects. Social construction is not a game, it is amongst the most powerful forces known to mankind Hegemony, discourse, language, and communication are not neutral, they have real-life consequences Researchers using poststructuralism and discourse analysis therefore tend to not be neutral either ○ They engage in critical, politically motivated research ○ Poststructuralism as a ‘cultural theory’, part of the critical paradigm  Workload (work is apparently heavy and displeasant) Refugee crisis (the arrival of people fleeing war is a problem) Employer/employee (employer is active, employee is passive) Eco-realism (the other options aren’t realistic?) News consumers (a capitalist relation between reader and media …