CULTURAL ANALYSIS

RITUAL RATHER THAN TRANSMISSIONAL PERSPECTIVES

COMMUNICATION
“There are broadly two types of definition of communication. The first sees it as a process by
which A sends the messages to B upon whom it has an effect. The second sees it as a
negotiation and exchange of meaning, in which messages, people-in-cultures, and 'reality'
interact so as to enable meaning to be produced.”
— John Fiske, Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies

ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

 Intrapersonal Communication
 Public Communication
 Mass Communication
 Interpersonal Communication

CULTURAL ANALYSIS AS A DISCIPLINE

As a discipline, cultural analysis is based on using qualitative research methods of the arts,
humanities, social sciences, in particular ethnography and anthropology, to collect data on
cultural phenomena and to interpret cultural representations and practices; in an effort to gain
new knowledge or understanding through analysis of that data and cultural processes.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Deals with communication and communication processes among people with diverse cultural
backgrounds and people in different social groups.
“The interaction of culture and communication is so pervasive that separating the two is
virtually impossible. The way you communicate is deeply influenced by the culture in which you
were raised.”
- (Bovee and Thill, 2016)

VIEWS OF COMMUNICATION

 Transmission View
Communication links the ways messages are transmitted and received via technology with the
composition of these messages (or more broadly, as communicative relationships), and with
the analysis of the effects of these communicative acts.

 Ritual Views
Communication is a central daily ritual that helps form and sustains communities.
TRANSMISSION VS. RITUAL
COMPARE TRANSMISSION RITUAL
METAPHOR Transportation Production
MESSAGES Meaning as Meaning as constructed
'thing' pre-existing
ALTERS Behavior Meaning
FOCUS Effects on individuals Influences on society
PURPOSE Control/persuasion Sense of Community

JAMES CAREY
He proposed the ritual view of communication, wherein communication–the construction of a
symbolic reality–represents, maintains, adapts, and shares the beliefs of society in time.

RITUAL VIEW OF COMMUNICATION

Carey defines the ritual view, particularly in terms of sharing, participation, association, and
fellowship. Similarly, the term "ritual" holds religious connotations. For Carey, this connection
to religion helps to emphasize the concept of shared beliefs and ceremonies that are
fundamental to the ritual view.

RITUAL VIEW OF COMMUNICATION (SCOPE)

Carey continues, that, "though news changes little…it is habitually consumed." In this way, the
ritual view of communication is concerned with the presentation of reality at a particular
moment in time, and how individuals interact and share in it.

RITUAL VIEW OF COMMUNICATION (IMPORTANCE)

Thinking of communication as a ritual is a useful theoretical strategy because it draws our
attention toward the social consequences of communication. Thinking of communication as a
ritual reminds us, finally, of the importance of communication in the moral life, and of our roles
in life as moral agents.
RITUAL VIEW OF COMMUNICATION (UTILIZATION)
Due to the qualitative means of the ritual view of communication, it is more utilized in fields
such as anthropology, sociology, and politics wherein directly stated answers that are not
numerical are exactly needed.