Communication Studies

A s a member of the original World Soundscape Project (WSP)-an educational and research group established by R. Murray Schafer at Simon Fraser University (SFU) during the late 1960s and early 1970s-Barry Truax has been working in and around the interdiscipline of acoustic ecology for over thirty years. His two most significant contributions to the subject are the Handbook of Acoustic Ecology (1978) and Acoustic Communication (1984). These two volumes-and R. Murray Schafer's The Tuning of the World (1977) 5-constitute the entire library of published books relating directly to acoustic ecology. It is, therefore, welcome news that the most recent textbook relating to ecoacoustics is no longer seventeen years old, as this year sees the publication of an updated, second edition of Acoustic Communication, reviewed here. For Truax, the major changes occurring between editions are firstly a massive leap in technology and secondly, a large number of relevant publications many of which are mentioned in the updated text. Truax has also taken the opportunity to include a CD ROM with the second edition. This disc contains all the descriptions from the Handbook of Acoustic Ecology in html (web page) format-over 500 terms from the fields of acoustics, psychoacoustics, environmental acoustics, electroacoustics, music , linguistics, audiology, and soundscape studies. The CD represents an incredible resource with many entries containing detailed graphics. The CD also includes over 150 sound clips and relevant examples are listed at the end of each chapter. As with his 1984 original, Truax takes the philosophy-and the soundscape descriptions-introduced in Schafer's inspirational The Tuning of the World framing these within a coherent, communicational model in which to analyse soundscape phenomena. The relatively new academic discipline of Communication focuses upon information; ".. . how it is created, shared, distributed , consumed and used"-to quote SFU's School of Communication web site 6. The first chapter contrasts the energy exchange/ signal processing model used in acoustics with the communicational approach. The latter places the emphasis upon the information in sound, its meaning for the listener and the interlocking behaviour of sound as a system of relationships. The contrast between the "energy transfer" and the communication approaches highlights the major change of mindset required not only of educationalists like myself (whose knowledge of sound has been learned via a signal processing model), but also for environmental acousticians, legislators and even the general public. For all of these groups, sound tends to be treated as an isolated object in the environment and the individual-the listener-becomes a human sound level meter whose sole relationship to sound is a function of its intensity. In reaction to this statement, environmental acousticians will point to the various sound intensity/pressure scales that attempt to factor in location-or type-of sound, human physiology (our sensitivity to the certain parts of the frequency spectrum) and psychology (scales that take into account subjective reactions such as "annoyance"). 7 While these scales have their uses, there is more-much more-to our relationship with sound and the environment through sound, just as there is far more to our relationships with ourselves and with each other than could ever be described in a library full of novels, science and psychology text books. An example of the sophistication of our relationship with sound appears in Chapter 2 (entitled The Listener). Here Truax notes how an accurate recording of a sound event is often less successful in evoking a sound memory than a "skilful simulation that simplifies and idealises it" (p30). I can vouch for this; when working on a play that required the sound of a WW2 air raid siren, a BBC recording of the real thing was rejected by the author (who lived through the event) in favour of a synthesised version that had her trembling as soon as she heard it. Chapter 2 also examines modes of listening-background listening, listening "in search" and "in readiness"-and the soundscape terminology that first saw publication in The Tuning of the World (keynotes, sound signals, etc.). Chapter 3 concentrates on the human voice and on human soundmaking covering language, the acoustic structure of dialogue, the techniques of acoustic persuasion and the concept that the human voice reflects the whole person. In this chapter, as in all chapters, Truax makes extensive reference to the literature that informs his research. In Chapter 4 Truax develops a more theoretical survey of what he describes as the three major systems of acoustic communication speech , music and the soundscape. These, he suggests, form a continuum and he makes a case for the significance of ordering them as listed above before developing a model that relates sound and meaning via structure. "At the most basic level of each system [speech, music and the soundscape]" he notes, "we find that sound is in some way 'organised' and that through the structure of this organisation, meaning can be inferred." (p55). The organisational

Contemporary China owns over 750 million Internet users, and a short-video-sharing app named Kwai has over 600 million users. From 2016 to 2017, when Kwai emerged as the largest short-video-sharing app and the fourth largest social media app in China, its major competitor Dou Yin was just released, and no other similar app could post a serious threat to Kwai. However, the emergence of Kwai to the mainstream public was tightly intertwined with a media discourse that established Kwai as a representation of rural China and low culture. Words like “vulgar,” “low,” “absurd,” and so forth were constantly used to describe Kwai and its users, and Kwai embodied a representativeness of rural and low culture that carries a taken-for-granted characteristic. This article unpacks Kwai’s controversial emergence and examines the power relations and cultural dynamics that were at play when Kwai was established by the mainstream media discourse a rural and culturally low. It interrogates the media discourse that constructs a regime of representation of Kwai, as well as how it contributes to the establishment of a regime of truth about Kwai, rural China, and rural Chinese. I unearth the seemingly natural condition of this representativeness and argue that Kwai’s controversial emergence from 2016 to 2017 signifies China’s rural–urban dichotomy, as well as a dominance of urban culture. I also indicate that we see a flow of this cultural dynamic from the physical world to the cyberspace, where the urban culture exercises the power to define and marginalize the rural.

In order to demystify the complexities of the social media and surveillance systems in China, this article offers a case study of Tencent. It also discusses the historical context, political agendas, and cultural productions of the technological sublime that obscure the political-economic realities of China’s rapidly evolving internet industry. Tencent’s conglomeration is situated within the context of China’s social surveillance infrastructure as well as the historical development of science and technology. Tencent’s effort in content generation, comprehensive multi-platform connection strategy and ecosystem building encapsulates the construction of a commercial surveillance infrastructure that embodies a surveillance capitalism logic. In addition, this article examines the mutually constitutive relationships between the state and Tencent in the process of the latter’s conglomeration. In general, the technological sublime fabricated by various political and economic forces have hidden Tencent’s conglomeration, its entanglement with the state sector and the establishment of a commercial surveillance infrastructure. By demystifying this process, it is possible to depict contemporary China as a commercial-state surveillance complex, wherein the state and tech-giants like Tencent work hand-in-hand to engineer user behavior and public discourse.

As an exercise in intellectual history, this essay unfolds the state and status of communication research in India at the turn of this century. In the first section, a thumbnail sketch has been provided to unearth the politics in and behind communication research in India. In the second section , extent debates and emerging trends are highlighted. Finally, it offers (then) preliminary thoughts on apprehending the subject-matter of 'communication' as a critical intellectual pursuit.

1 Presentación general México pertenece a los países de lengua española que disponen de una red de medios de comunicación masiva relativamente amplia y tecnológicamente avanzada. La comprensión de la función de los medios supone considerar paralelamente el sistema político económico. Ver los medios en ellos mismos, como mero producto del desarrollo tecnológico de un país no nos permite entender su lógica, y el conjunto de conexiones guardan con el poder. No resulta exagerado afirmar que el sistema político moderno, post-revolucionario no se hubiese sostenido sin el apoyo de los medios de información y la reproducción de los medios de información. Nuestro medios informativos son una manifestación más del pacto político que ha dominado al país y del sistema de intereses que corresponden a sus inversionistas y propietarios. El proceso de democratización de los medios ha supuesto su apertura a otros grupos, otras voces que no sea el gobierno, los empresarios ni las distintas cúpulas de nuestro país. El tema de la comunicación lentamente va tomando carta de ciudadanía en el conjunto de la población. Las denuncias públicas a determinados medios , las elecciones presidenciales de 88 y 94, el debate televisivo de mayo de 94, funcionan como elementos han sensibilizan a la opinión pública y han funcionado como elementos "pedagógicos" en la formación de un receptor de los medios más activo y crítico ante ellos. La básica necesidad de democracia ha llevado a una serie de grupos y sectores de la población al campo de la comunicación social a través de la denuncia directa, como la campaña en contra del noticiero 24 Horas que organizó el PAN durante la campaña presidencial en 1988; en enero Clouthier había declarado : "...les quiero pedir que envíen cartas, telegramas y llamen a la avenida Chapultepec 18, busquen a Jacobo Zabludowski o a quien se les pegue la gana, pero exijan que la televisión mexicana que ustedes quieren ver y escuchar lo que piensan los candidatos de la oposición. También escríbanles , par que abran los espacios televisivos a los partidos de la oposición, de lo contrario vamos dejando de tomar don Pedro y de comer esto y lo otro..." (La Jornada 18-1-88). En 1994 tenemos como ejemplo el mismo veto del subcomandante Marcos a esta empresa, ambas coinciden en exigir profesionalismo y verdad por parte de los medios masivos. Sin embargo este conjunto de acciones serían impensables sin la convergencia de dos factores : el desgaste del sistema político y la creciente demanda democrática por parte de grupos cada vez más diversos; justo la demanda democrática en materia de información es uno de los indicadores de las nuevas necesidades políticas de México y de su lento proceso de madurez. La comunicación, en este proceso, deja de ser vista únicamente como factor de entretenimiento, como algo que está ahí y poco o nada podemos hacer para transformarla. Ciertamente la actitud apática en materia de comunicación (y política) proviene de un régimen autoritario sin mucho habito de dialogar con otros grupos en igualdad de circunstancias.

En un momento en el que las "falsas noticias", la renovada hostilidad hacia grupos históricamente marginados y la polarización política amenazan la calidad de la democracia alrededor del mundo, Leonarda García-Jiménez ha escrito una apasionada defensa de la comunicación y su teoría. Su perspicaz libro, bellamente escrito, promueve la idea de que no necesitamos más sino mejor comunicación si queremos crear culturas plurales e inclusivas que den un mayor peso a los compromisos éticos que sostienen a la democracia como una forma de vida en co-munidad. Para desarrollar esta cuestión, la autora nos muestra el valor de la teoría de la comu-nicación como una manera de comprensión y acción que atraviesa a la investigación académica y a la vida cotidiana (…) García-Jiménez argumenta que los estudios de la comunicación deben estar comprometidos ética y democráticamente y deben promover activamente el pluralismo como hecho social y valor cultural (…) Como la autora apunta, la comunicación no es de ninguna manera una poción mágica que pueda resolver todos nuestros problemas y su libro no está escrito con ese espíritu. Por el contrario, está escrito para aquellos que creen-o al menos perciben-que una mejor comunicación es esencial para encontrar nuestro camino a través de los retos éticos y democráticos de nuestra era. Su consistente atención a las interrelaciones entre la teoría de la comunicación y la vida cotidiana signifi ca que este libro está dirigido por igual a investigadores, estudiantes y ciuda-danos ordinarios (…) Leonarda García-Jiménez escribe este libro con una voz intelectual auténtica y moralmente comprometida, una obra que concluye con un ambicioso y valioso set de metas normativas y objetos de investigación para los estudios de la comunicación en el siglo XXI. El resultado global es una sólida y elocuente defensa de la comunicación y su investigación (Peter Simonson, extraído del prólogo)

This paper examines how appeals to history augment authority and pre-empt refutation in public address. Noting how history has been employed as an uncontested term, caveats are offered regarding invocations of history per se to support claims.

This inaugural Communication course encourages yet another upcoming gathering of learners to wonder how we might approach our habits of communication in the classroom learning environment and everyday life as a daily and habitual initiation to foster a justice-driven social imaginary. How might we experience, discern, and act on cultivating habits of body-mind grounded in daily and long-lasting gestures of generosity toward our peers, families, co-workers, and relevant others (plants, animals, technology, in/animate matter) in our communities? How might we believe that with such communicative habits, we can adopt creative modes of civic engagement, critique the social inequities we face day in and day out, and transform oppressive mindsets (ours included), one breath at a time? How might we imagine what it is like to persist and thrive in our sometimes disparately connected and other times politically tumultuous communicative milieus within which we breathe, do language, welcome and alienate one another, and experience rhetoric as the measure* of our civic lives?
:
Mais oui. "Each time one tone higher."--(Hélène Cixous, Rootprints, p. 174)
:
*--à la the polymath extraordinaire, Toni Morrison

This course examines the relationship between the rise of new media and discourses used to write about popular culture. The course looks at changing rhetorics of taste, from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, as new media made art and culture more accessible to the public. The course also examines how new processes of mediated distribution of art changed the discursive strategies for writing about popular culture. Course topics include: the rise of photography and the technological reproducibility of images; mass media and the culture industry; technology and globalization; and augmented reality and video games. This course takes a broadly historical approach to looking at how the emergence of new media technology changed the way that we think about popular culture. We will look at how changing practices of mediated communication have impacted the way we experience, understand, and talk about popular culture and entertainment. We will also look at how changes to the political economy of capitalism and the culture of mediated communication-from the modernism of the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, to the postmodernism of the postwar period and the information age-have changed the way that we understand and write about our immersive culture of mediated communication. REQUIRED TEXTS: • Susie O'Brien and Imre Szeman, Popular Culture: A User's Guide 4 th Ed. (Toronto: Pearson, 2017).