About This Encyclopedia

This encyclopedia is a two-volume set that, in more than 300 entries, offers current descriptions of the theories that explain numerous aspects of communication and present the background issues and concepts that comprise these theories. These entries have been written by nearly 200 contributors from 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Entries range in length—from 1,000 to 3,000 words, depending upon the scope and detail required. To ensure adequate coverage, an editorial board of 10 members—also of diverse cultures and countries of origin—was formed to review the entries. All are recognized experts in several areas within communication theory and have contributed significantly to its development. All reviewers are also contributors.

The entries are written for the introductory reader—students who have little or no background in the topic. For the most part, contributors have avoided unnecessary jargon and defined terms as needed. Although many of the entries require attentive reading, serious readers will find them accessible and informative, and those who want more advanced treatment can pursue further readings or entries in the bibliography. Readers who may have trouble understanding an entry can move to related topics identified in the “See also” sections and then return to the more difficult one.

We made the decision to feature elements, concepts, dimensions, and traditions of theory, as well as to feature individual theories, as entries. Individual theorists are listed separately with reference to the entries in which their work is discussed. Entries do not include citations, but each lists a few key sources as Further Readings. Cross-references are provided in the “See also” section at the end of each entry. A single classified bibliography of major theoretical works is also included. Readers can access the information in a number of ways:

• The alphabetical list of entries at the beginning of each volume provides the easiest way for a reader to identify topics of interest. Readers may want to start here by scanning the list of topics to identify those most relevant to their research.
• The Reader's Guide at the beginning of the set provides a classified list of topics organized around 17 themes. With this guide readers can begin with a broad theme and see which entries relate to it. This guide is also of value for showing connections among theories and for developing a sense of the field as a whole.
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• The alphabetical list of theorists adjacent to the Reader's Guide will be an important index for readers who wish to learn more about individual scholars and their work. This list identifies the entries that cover each theorist's work.
• The Selected Bibliography of Major Works by Topic, located at the back of Volume 2, will be a vital resource for readers seeking original works. Readers can scan the alphabetical listing of topics to find major works of interest. This tool comes with instructions on how best to use it.
• The Chronology, located immediately after this introduction, lists major events in the history of communication theory. This tool facilitates an understanding of the various developments in the field of communication as a whole.
• The index is an obvious method of accessing information. It is a detailed list of topics with page references.

A Brief History

Communication as a concept always has been with us, but the origins of the discipline are more recent. In the United States, the humanistic roots of the discipline can be found in the study of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome, while the social scientific side typically dates its origins to the rise of studies of mass media, public opinion, propaganda, and persuasion early in the 20th century and especially during World War II. Both strands had a decidedly pragmatic bent: The five canons of rhetoric—invention, organization, style, delivery, and memory—were designed to help a speaker better prepare for and argue a position in the court, the assembly, or at a ceremonial event. Social scientists had a similarly pragmatic concern in understanding the functions and possibilities for communication in advertising, media, and technology as well as in face-to-face contexts.

Communication theory, then, followed from the pragmatic concerns about the study of communication. At first, communication scholars turned to existing disciplines for theories—not surprising since virtually every discipline concerned with the human being must study communication to some degree. The recognition of social sciences as legitimate disciplines after World War II gave even more credence to the contributions of psychology and sociology for understanding human communicative behavior. European scholars began to influence communication theory in the United States after World War II as well; heavily influenced by Marxist theories, European scholars from a variety of disciplines have been responsible for the introduction of critical-cultural theories and methods into the study of communication.

Gradually, however, separate communication departments began to form. At first often referred to as departments of speech communication to reflect both the rhetorical and social scientific roots, most departments today are simply called departments of communication or communication studies. In contrast to scholars in related disciplines who tend to consider communication a secondary process for transmitting information about the world, communication scholars see communication as the organizing principle of human social life: Communication constructs the social world rather than simply providing the means for describing that world.

Of course, theories of communication are not distinctive to the Western tradition and the United States. Virtually every culture has been concerned with the nature and functions of communication, and communication scholars are beginning to integrate theories from a variety of countries and cultures. Feminist scholars have sought to describe ways feminine worldviews might foster different modes of communication since the 1970s. Afrocentric and Asiacentric communication are perhaps the best articulated bodies of work to date that describe the communication assumptions and practices of African Americans and Asians, respectively. Increasingly, then, communication scholars are seeking to understand similarities and differences across cultures and to articulate more nuanced theories to reflect these more comprehensive understandings of how communication works.

Although the communication field now has the legitimacy and coherence that comes from disciplinary status, it remains a continually evolving and changing discipline. This encyclopedia will offer the student of communication a sense of the history, development, and current status of the discipline with an emphasis on the theories that [Page liii]comprise it. We hope readers in communication will engage these theories in a spirit of ongoing inquiry that is crucial to the continued development of the field. And we hope those in related fields will gain a better understanding of what the communication discipline is all about.

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to our editorial board and to all of our contributors, listed by name at the beginning of the encyclopedia. Their expertise, effort, and commitment contributed to the excellence of this project. We are especially indebted to our colleagues in the Communication and Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico who provided guidance and wrote contributions to this work. This work is the product not only of authors and managing editors, but also of a team of professionals at Sage Publications who made the successful completion of the project possible by their many hours of work from its inception to final publication. We want to express particular appreciation to these individuals: Jim Brace-Thompson, Yvette Pollastrini, Laura Notton, Bonnie Freeman, Renee Willers, Kevin Gleason, Sandy Zilka Livingston, Joan Shapiro, and Kate Schroeder. Because of the efforts of all involved, we are confident that this encyclopedia will be an important resource about and reference for communication theories.