Showing papers in "Journal of Communication Inquiry in 1993"
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that students identify the social and political constructs of Africa and Africans as the undifferentiated &dQUo;Other&dquo; Other.
Abstract: Through my teaching of undergraduate international communication courses, I am constantly reminded what many scholars have asserted: Of all the world’s regions, Africa is the least understood by Americans (Herskovits 1962; Abdolfathi 1971; McCarthy 1983; Staniland 1991). Each semester when I ask my students, the majority of whom are white and middle class, to describe for me their images and ideas of &dquo;Africa,&dquo; &dquo;Africans,&dquo; or particular countries on the African continent, I get the usual litany of stereotypical, negative, and often condescending descriptions. To my students, &dquo;Africa&dquo; is: &dquo;a basketcase,&dquo; &dquo;jungle-covered&dquo; &dquo;big game, safari,&dquo; &dquo;impoverished,&dquo; &dquo;falling apart,&dquo; &dquo;famine-plagued,&dquo; &dquo;full of war,&dquo; &dquo;AIDS-ridden,&dquo; &dquo;torn by apartheid,’· &dquo;weird,&dquo; &dquo;brutal,&dquo; &dquo;savage,&dquo; &dquo;primitive,&dquo; &dquo;backward,&dquo; &dquo;tribal,&dquo; &dquo;undeveloped,&dquo; and &dquo;black.&dquo; Moreover, my students describe &dquo;Africans&dquo; as: &dquo;having AIDS,&dquo; &dquo;lazy,&dquo; &dquo;crazy,&dquo; &dquo;corrupt,&dquo; &dquo;troubled,&dquo; &dquo;underdeveloped,&dquo; &dquo;fight[ing] all the time,&dquo; &dquo;brutal,&dquo; &dquo;savage,&dquo; &dquo;exotic,&dquo; &dquo;sexually active,&dquo; &dquo;backward,&dquo; &dquo;tribal,&dquo; &dquo;primitive,&dquo; and again &dquo;black.&dquo;’ That my students identify the social and political constructs of &dquo;Africa&dquo; and &dquo;Africans&dquo; racially as &dquo;black,&dquo; along side a host of very unfavorable attributes, I find to be particularly revealing about the way in which &dquo;Africa&dquo; and &dquo;Africans&dquo; have been invented historically and reinvented contemporarily. &dquo;Fact&dquo; and &dquo;fiction&dquo; constantly reinforce each other in the construction of Africa and Africans as the undifferentiated &dquo;Other&dquo;
97 citations
TL;DR: The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (STP) as discussed by the authors is a seminal work in the study of the public sphere and its role in the emergence of a critical and independent public domain.
Abstract: The printing of the English translation of Habermas’ The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere has propelled critical social theorists examining the limits of democracy toward a search for signs of, and variations on, the particular public sphere theorized within its pages. This search, carried out in the determined manner of Freud’s grandson’s famous lost-and-found game, and nearing the urgency of King Lear’s desire that his daughter draw breath, has led toward a public sphere that is not as retrievable as a toy on a string thrown from a pram nor as illusory as Cordelia’s breath upon a feather. What it has led to is a public sphere as elusive as democracy itself. Habermas’ (1974; 1989) notion of the public sphere, based on an historically-determined social formation first realized in early modem Europe, refers to the emergence of a critical and independent public domain, a space formed between the economy and the state, in which public opinion could be formed and thus exert influence over the government.’ 1
24 citations
TL;DR: The reality of the African media situation is often far less dramatic and far more mundane though no less interesting if one’s leanings are of an anthropological bent as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: nent as an ongoing battle between &dquo;Africa’s slap happy juntas&dquo; or its Big Men on the one hand and its beleaguered but heroic press men and women on the other. Africa’s political rulers are said to muffle Africa’s news media with a &dquo;bag of tricks [ranging from] horsewhipping to stripping and head shaving&dquo; (Martin 1983, 229). Thus the image of the African politician as one who snuffs out the press is featured prominently in both the Index of Censorship and the Amnesty International Hit List. And the image of the African men of letters is Peter Ohronho fleeing to London or Ngugi Wa Thiongo languishing in a Kenyan jail. The reality of the African media situation is often far less dramatic and far more mundane though no less interesting if one’s leanings are of an anthropological bent. According to L. John Martin, most of the censorship in African news media is self-censorship. Self-censorship happens for the same reasons it happens everywhere else,-fear: fear of loss of livelihood, loss of liberty, and sometimes, loss of life.’ But self-censorship occurs in Africa all too easily for another good reason. There is no tradition of Press Freedom on the continent (Wilcox 1975, 6). There was no such tradition before colonialism ; there was no such tradition engendered during colonialism; and there has been no such tradition fostered since.
15 citations
TL;DR: In the last few years, a growing number of queer punk fanzines have been published as mentioned in this paper, which have themselves begun to establish possibilities and identities in their descriptions of the difficulties, pleasures, and empowerments involved in being a homosexual punk and in finding and communicating with others.
Abstract: the queer punk. However, the increasing number of queer punk fanzines in which these kinds of writings have been published have themselves begun to establish such possibilities and identities in their descriptions of the difficulties, pleasures, and empowerments involved in being a homosexual punk and in finding and communicating with others. As recently as four years ago, both the local scenes and national institutions of American hardcore mu-
13 citations
TL;DR: Visual grammars, or rules and conventions by which to communicate visually, may shape images of gender in this new visual century as discussed by the authors, and the trend toward visualization comes at a time when society, at all levels, is increasing the output of information.
Abstract: we are poised on the edge of a new visual century (Kahan 1992).’ While words remain our most important symbols, they are now giving way to more visual formats as we find and establish grammars of visual communication (Shaw 1992). Visual grammars, or rules and conventions by which to communicate visually, may shape images of gender in this new visual century. The trend toward visualization comes at a time when society, at all levels, is increasing the output of information. To lure time-conscious viewers-including a generation raised on television-media architects
12 citations
TL;DR: Jhally as discussed by the authors compared advertising to religion in that it helps us to understand the world and our place in it, and it accomplishes this through integrating people and things within a magical and supernatural sphere.
Abstract: Advertising, Jhally says, can be compared to religion in that it &dquo;helps us to understand the world and our place in it, and it accomplishes this through integrating people and things within a magical and supernatural sphere.&dquo; In advertisements, products miraculously change consumers through &dquo;feats of transformation and bewitchment&dquo; (1989, 225). Fantastic transformations are also found in evangelical television programs espousing some form of &dquo;health and wealth gospel&dquo; (e.g., Oral Roberts and You, Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power, Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, Richard Tilton’s Success ’N Life). Bodies are mended, marriages salvaged, financial failures surmounted by choosing Jesus, becoming a &dquo;prayer partner,&dquo; sowing &dquo;seed faith,&dquo; following the &dquo;Kingdom Principles&dquo; and employing &dquo;possibility thinking.&dquo; Both discourses can be seen as therapeutic rhetorics that are &dquo;addressed
10 citations
9 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the tabloid as the limit form of the aestheticization of the cultural media and found that it is the case of reality-based programs in television that are significant not simply because of their so-called denigration of news values, but rather in and through the way their bombardment signals the ultimate commodification of the television form.
Abstract: The current explosion of &dquo;reality-based&dquo; programs in television is a phenomenon with wide cultural implications. These shows are significant not simply because of their so-called denigration of news values, but rather in and through the way their bombardment signals the ultimate commodification of the television form. The purpose of this essay is to examine the tabloid as the limit form of the aestheticization of the cultural
6 citations
6 citations
TL;DR: The synthesis of theory and history is not an additive process, where a measure of theory is added to traditional historical evidence to create a more meaningful seamless narrative as mentioned in this paper, instead, it should be understood as the systematic explanations of culturally determined social practices within a continuous historical process.
Abstract: an integral part of the historical process. However, the synthesis of theory and history is not an additive process, where a measure of theory is added to traditional historical evidence to create a more meaningful seamless narrative. Theory, instead, should be understood as the systematic explanations of culturally determined social practices within a continuous historical process (Williams 1983a, 317). Traditional media historians, no matter what their area of specialization
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the U.S.foreign policy on Africa can be seen as a context for examining the rhetoric of impression management, which is similar to Mumby's and Stohl's concept of the &dquo;dialectic of control.
Abstract: This research illuminates myth-creation by President de Klerk of South Africa, during his U.S.visit in September 1990. Myth-creation is treated as &dquo;impression management,&dquo; through use of metaphors. The &dquo;filter effect&dquo; of metaphor (Black 1977) is key in impression management because, as a tool for discursive practices, metaphor filters-in and simultaneously filters-out competing modes of understanding. This is akin to Mumby’s and Stohl’s (1991) concept of the &dquo;dialectic of control,&dquo; in which, between competing perspectives, power is exercised through simultaneous &dquo;inclusion&dquo; and &dquo;exclusion&dquo; of issues. The essay provides an interdisciplinary background to the U.S.foreign policy on Africa as a context for examining the rhetoric of impression management. It argues that the white South Af-
TL;DR: It is for Ethiopia to make her choice as discussed by the authors, and it is to her own interest as well as to Eritrea's that she should ensure that the Federation survives in the form its author intended.
Abstract: It is for Ethiopia to make her choice. The temptation to subject Eritrea firmly under her own control will always be great. Should she try to do so, she will risk Eritrean discontent and eventual revolt, which... might well disrupt both Eritrea and Ethiopia herself. Though an autonomous Eritrea has admittedly unwelcome implicationsfor Ethiopia, her need for a loyal and stable Eritrea far transcends any inconvenience a federal relationship may impose upon her. It is to her own interest as well as to Eritrea’s that she should ensure that the Federation survives in the form its author intended..
TL;DR: In this case, however, the void is not attributable merely to academic reasons, but rather because mass communication analysis does not satisfy marketing criteria of most Italian publishers as mentioned in this paper, which might explain why, in contrast with other countries, especially the United States, few studies have been published in Italy.
Abstract: When considering mass communication research in Italy, one of the most evident features is the lack of well-founded schools of thought. Presumably this is due, in part, to the marginal institutionalization of the subject matter, in contrast to the American and European experience. Spurred by the impending unity of Europe, and consequently eager to keep up the pace with the other European countries in all fields, Italian universities have only in recent years introduced mass communication studies as regular academic programs. This might explain why, in contrast with other countries, especially the United States, few studies have been published in Italy. For example, McLuhan’s The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man was translated into Italian only in 1984. In this case, however, the void is not attributable merely to academic reasons, but rather because mass communication analysis does not satisfy marketing criteria of most Italian publishers. Nevertheless, even though Italian mass communication studies do not languish in some kind of limbo, there is a scientific lag. This is exemplified by the fact that theory does not appear to unduly interest Italian investigators. What emerges in particular, however, is the flat refusal of
TL;DR: This paper examined Russian political contact, literary interest, media analysis, and communication across frontiers, from Moscow to Africa south of the Sa6ara-over time, with the hope that the past may be a guide to the future of Russo-African communication patterns.
Abstract: Studies of communication between Russia and sub-Saharan Africa are abysmally few for several reasons, including the distraction caused by the cold war, the limited interest in Russo-African communication research, and the language barrier. This essay attempts to fill a void in Russo-African communication scholarship and to encourage furthei research on the subject. Thus, examination of Russian political contact, literary interest, media analysis, and communication across frontiers--from Moscow to Africa south of the Sa6ara-over time are treated with the hope that the past may be a guide to the future of Russo-African communication patterns.