Communication Definition (Topic 1,2)

Communication has concerned scholars since ancient Greece. Savignon defines it as something
which takes place in an infinite variety of situations, which success depends on one's knowledge of
context and previous situations.

Along 20th Century, the growth of the influence of communication technology has attracted the
attention of many specialists who have attempted to isolate communicative as a facet of that
interest.

In the 60s McLuhan, joining the study of communication with fields such as Psychology, stated his
famous idea: “The medium is the message”. This attracted lots of different specialists who adopted
this idea as basis for their studies.

But by the end of the century, the focus of interest in communication seemed to change from
McLuhanism to study the mass media, persuasive communication, verbal and non-verbal
communication… In short, very different fields and disciplines that makes hard to draw a
conclusive roster of subject matter or specific methodologies of analysis, as well as a definition.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Encyclopaedia Britannica” Chicago. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. 2005