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Communication Theory for Humans COMMUNICATORS IN A MEDIATED WORLD NEIL O’BOYLE Communication Theory for Humans “Showcasing Neil O’Boyle’s real enthusiasm for teaching theory, Communication Theory for Humans offers an enjoyable, student-centred approach that doesn’t over- simplify the ideas it introduces. The book makes classic theory relevant through recent applications, makes difficult theory clear through relatable examples, and shines a spot- light on the humans without whom communication would have no purpose or mean- ing. If you’re not lucky enough to join O’Boyle in his classroom, this is the next best thing.” —Bethany Klein, Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, UK “In contrast to most academic work, which is a pain to read, Neil O’Boyle’s book is clear, engaging, lucid and quite often funny. It deals with complex topics in a thoughtful manner but, at the same time, doesn’t take itself or its subject matter too seriously. Perhaps most importantly of all, it may actually get undergraduates to read something!” —Dr Michael Skey, Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University, UK “This book provides students with an introduction to the foundational texts in communication theory and human interaction. While many textbooks exist on this subject, what distinguishes Neil O’Boyle’s book is its innovative structure with chapters organ- ised around six core concepts, including ‘authors’, ‘influencers’, and ‘produsers’. With an emphasis on real life examples, O’Boyle helps theory come alive, aided by his deeply engaging and personal writing style. This will be a valuable text for students and teach- ers alike.” —Dr Anamik Saha, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications, Goldsmiths University, UK Neil O’Boyle Communication Theory for Humans Communicators in a Mediated World Neil O’Boyle Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland ISBN 978-3-031-02449-8 ISBN 978-3-031-02450-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02450-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover image by Matthias Ripp under a CC BY 2.0 license This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For my mother and father P reface This is a book about communication theory that is aimed primarily at students taking media and communication studies programmes. As readers are aware, there are already many excellent textbooks on communication theory available, some of which have multiple editions. My own personal favourites include Littlejohn and Foss’s Theories of Human Communication, Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory, McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, Fiske’s Introduction to Communication Studies, Hodkinson’s Media, Culture and Society, and Sullivan’s Media Audiences. These books describe a wide range of theories, models, and approaches and have helped enormously in ‘mapping out’ the field for students as well as helping them to ‘locate’ (and differentiate) theories in terms of how each approaches the study of communication. The aforementioned books also do an excellent job of explaining what ‘communication’ is, what a ‘theory’ is, and how one might go about assessing the relative ‘merits’ and ‘shortcomings’ of theories. This book is somewhat different. In the course of writing it, I regularly imagined myself in conversation with an undergraduate student, posing questions and answering them, and engaging in a sort of open-ended, probing dialogue about communication. For years, students have complained to me that some theories are overloaded with conceptual baggage and tortuous jar- gon and would be considerably easier to understand if they were explained in everyday terms. Students have also repeatedly made the point that while there are many books on communication available, the majority prioritise discussions of media rather than human communicators per se. This book is my (decidedly partial) response to that critical feedback. It is not intended as a stand-alone text but rather as a companion reader—as a resource that can be read alongside the many excellent books already available. Hence, I do not attempt to ‘re- cover’ ground that is already well-covered elsewhere. Naturally, there will be points of overlap; however, my aims here are broader. This book aims to foster an appreciation of theory in readers, to cultivate theoretical sensitivity in them, and to provide them with lots of ‘real world’ examples to help them better vii viii PREFACE understand how theories apply to everyday life. My overarching aim is to broaden and deepen the reader’s thinking about communication in the fullest possible sense, in the knowledge that communicative practices (and communication theories) are always evolving—or ‘always “emerging”’, as John Liep (2001: 6) has said about culture. Liep’s words offer an important reminder that cultural production (which includes knowledge and ideas) is ongoing and unfinished. This applies equally to academic disciplines such as communication studies, which is currently undergoing a long overdue process of ‘de-Westernisation’. As welcome as it is that the contributions of non-Western scholars are finally beginning to receive the recognition they deserve, it needs to be stated at the outset that the core concepts and ideas described in this book derive chiefly from Western theoretical frameworks. (Indeed, my own particular orientation probably falls some- where between North American communication studies and British cultural studies, though I have also long appreciated James Carey’s particular variant of American cultural studies.) That said, throughout the book I offer numerous examples of studies carried out across the world that demonstrate the broad (if not perhaps universal) relevance of the theories described. Furthermore, it is necessary to highlight that the source material used in this book is mainly social scientific. This is important to mention because any comprehensive analysis of human communication clearly requires input from neuroscientists, psycholo- gists, biologists, and other specialists. Indeed, this is a point of criticism that has been directed at communication studies as a discipline. For example, Kory Floyd (2014: 4) argues that ‘until recently, no communication theories have directly posited either biological or evolutionary causes for communication behaviour or physiological, health-related outcomes of communication behaviour’. Liep’s suggestion that culture is always ‘emerging’ also intimates that you, the reader, are part of this process. More directly, Berger (1991) argues that theory development should be part of the training of all communication researchers. In other words, he argues that students should not simply read and study theories but should be encouraged to critique them, unpack them, and imagine their own alternatives. I wholeheartedly agree with him—as readers will discover when they come to the ‘learning activities’ section at the end of each chapter. These activities have been designed to help students better understand concepts and tease out arguments but also to encourage them to think more critically about theory construction. Doing so will remind them that communication theory is itself unfinished and that they too can contribute to its development. More broadly, it will remind them that they too have a voice, that they too have power, that they too are civic agents capable of changing the world (Jenkins, Peters-Lazaro, and Shresthova 2020). In recent decades, cinema audiences have been subjected to a series of ‘not another’ movies, my favourite being the brilliantly named Not Another Not Another Movie (2011). It occurred to me in writing this book that something similar might be said of my own efforts here—that students might groan at the PREFACE ix appearance of yet another communication theory book. If that is indeed the case and you opened this book with a deep sigh, then one of my lesser tasks is to turn that readerly frown upside down. However, beyond that, my greater hope is that you will find the work informative and interesting in equal mea- sure, that it will stimulate your imagination and speak to your social realities, and that it will present enough ideas and raise enough questions to motivate the curious among you to seek out more. Who knows, perhaps it might even ignite wanderlust of a theoretical kind. As I write these words on a dark February morning in 2022 with the global COVID-19 pandemic raging on outside, it occurs to me that wanderlust ‘of a theoretical kind’ may be the only kind possible for some time to come. Dublin, Ireland Neil O’Boyle February 2022 references Berger, C. R. (1991) ‘Communication Theories and Other Curios’, Communication Monographs 58(1): 101–113. Floyd, K. (2014) ‘Humans Are People, Too: Nurturing an Appreciation for Nature in Communication Research’, Review of Communication Research 2(1): 1–29. Jenkins, H., Peters-Lazaro, G. and Shresthova, S. (eds) (2020) Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination. New York: New York University Press. Liep, J. (2001) Locating Cultural Creativity. London: Pluto Press. a cknowledgements Every book is a collective endeavour and this one is no different. First off, my sincere thanks to Lauriane Piette at Palgrave and Immy Higgins at Springer Nature for their incredible patience, guidance, and support throughout the entire process. I also wish to sincerely thank the reviewers of the book for their encouragement and invaluable suggestions, and for very generously providing endorsements. They are (in alphabetical order!): Anamik Saha, Bethany Klein, and Michael Skey. Special thanks also to Jeff Pooley for his very kind endorsement. I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues at the School of Communications, Dublin City University, for their friendship and intellectual hospitality over the past thirteen years. My sincere thanks also to my students for their passion, wisdom, and attendance. (Most pedagogical discussion nowa- days centres on ‘in-class engagement’ but such discussion is rather moot if nobody turns up in the first place). Finally, sincere thanks to my family. I am eternally grateful to my amazing wife Miriam and to my wonderful sons Ronan and Eoin for their love, support, and incredible patience. I also apologise profusely to them for my incessant tapping on the keyboard at all hours, for my mood swings and pacing, and for my irritatingly loud ‘self-talk’. Thanks also to my brothers Will, Frank, Rob, and Eamonn for their constant support. Lastly, my heartfelt thanks to my mother and father for always being there for me and for helping me in more ways than they will ever know. This book is dedicated with love to them. xi c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 Actors: An Introduction to Symbolic Interactionism 27 3 Narrators: A Narrative Approach to Human Communication 51 4 Members: Communication in Human Groups 77 5 Performers: Goffman’s Dramaturgical Perspective 103 6 Influencers: Person-to-Person Influence in the Networked Era 127 7 Produsers: New Media Audiences and the Paradoxes of Participatory Culture 153 8 Concluding Thoughts 183 Index 205 xiii