Little Box of Nuance (LBON): An Introduction to Communication Science

The Little Box of Nuance is made by dr. Rutger de Graaf and previous students in
this MOOC for those of you who would like to read more on certain topics discussed
in this course. The readings are not required for the course, but we recommend
having a look at it. A three minute video only gives a limited time to go in depth into
a subject, so if you want to know more about something discussed by the lecturer,
have a look at the suggested readings.

These readings are not required to pass the course and are listed here in case you
are interested in additional resources and want to learn more.
Further Readings
Articles

Jakobson, R. (1960). Closing statement: Linguistics and poetics. In: T. A. Sebeok

(ed.), Style in language. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, p. 350-377.
Description: Linguist Roman Jakobson adds important elements from semiotics to
the linear communication model, thereby contributing to the understanding of the
communication process. He focuses on the meaning of a message and the main
function of the message.
Lasswell, H. D. (1948/1971). The structure and function of communication in society
In: W. Schramm, & D. F. Roberts (eds.), The process and effects of mass
communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p. 84-99.
Description: Lasswell proposed communication as a linear process. His verbal model
is one of the first models ever used by communication scientists and describes the
act of communication by answering he following question: Who, says What, in which
Channel, to Whom, and with what Effect?
Newcomb, T.M. (1953) An approach to the study of communicative acts.
Psychological Review, 60, 393-404.
Description: Newcomb offers an alternative to the linear effect oriented approach.
Much attention is given to the social context in which communication takes place or
the so called social environment in which X can take many forms. Communicative
acts may be viewed as outcomes of changes in the relationship between an
organism and its environment.
Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. Bell system
technical journal, 27, p. 379423 and p. 623656.
Description: Shannon approaches communication from a mathematical perspective.
He identifies new factors which can disrupt the flow of communication, in particular
noise. He made a distinction between information and meaning construction but
later users of their model often did not made this distinction anymore. Therefore
Shannon is closely related to the linear effect oriented approach.
Books

Fiske, J. (1990) Introduction to communication studies (Amazon.com link) (2nd ed.).

London, England: Routledge.

Chapter 2: Different Models.

Chapter 3: Communication, meaning and signs.
MCQuail, D. (2010) Mass communication theory (Amazon.com link) (6th ed.).
London, England: Sage.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Book.
Chapter 14: Media Genres and Texts.
Chapter 17: Processes and Models of Media Effects.
Littlejohn, S.W. & Foss, K.A. (2009) Encyclopedia of communication theory.
(Amazon.com link) London, England: Sage.
pp. 203-204: Newcombs model
Weaver, W., & Shannon, C. E. (1949). The mathematical