Communication as Culture, Revised Edition Essays on Media and Society [Hardcover]

In this classic text, James W. Carey maintains that communication is not merely the transmission of information; reminding the reader of the link between the words communication and community, he broadens his definition to include the drawing-together of a people that is culture. In this context, Carey questions the American tradition of focusing only on mass communication's function as a means of social and political control, and makes a case for examining the content of a communicationthe meaning of symbols, not only the motives that originate them or the purposes they serve. He seeks to recast the goal of communication studies, replacing the search for deterministic laws of behavior with a simpler, yet far more challenging mission: to enlarge the human conversation by comprehending what others are saying.

This new edition includes a new critical foreword by G. Stuart Adam that explains Carey's fundamental role in transforming the study of mass communication to include a cultural perspective and connects his classic essays with contemporary media issues and trends. This edition also adds a new, complete bibliography of all of Carey's writings.

Series Editor's Introduction

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART I: COMMUNICATION AS CULTURE

A Cultural Approach to Communication

Mass Communication and Cultural Studies

Reconceiving Mass and Media

Overcoming Resistance to Cultural Studies

PART II:TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE

The Mythos of the Electronic Revolution with John J Quirk

Space, Time and Communications: A Tribute to Harold Innis

The History of the Future with John J Quirk

Technology and Ideology: The Case of the Telegraph

Works Cited

Index

About the Author