Communication Theory based on

TRADITION
by Robert T. Craig (1)

Advanced Communication Theory

3rd Session

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 SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The session has specific learning
objectives are:
1. Understand the world of communication
theory.
2. Applied communication theory into the
real world and analysis of its usage.
3. Determine a basic theory of thesis/non
thesis research. 2
 RHETORICAL

SEMIOTICS

3rd Session,
PHENOMENOLOGY Today!

CYBERNETIC
7 Traditions in
SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL
communication
theory
SOCIOCULTURAL
4th Session

CRITICAL TRADITION
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 1. RHETORICAL TRADITION

• Rhetoric is the art of public

communication!
• It was associated with public
speaking but now political speech's,
advertisement, social media post,
television shows etc.

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Development of RHETORIC concept:
• Rhetoric has a different meaning according to
the period of time when rhetoric develops.
Period of development time Rhetoric:
1.Classical
2.Medieval
3.Renaissance
4.Enlightenment
5.Contemporary
6.Postmodern
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 I. CLASSICAL ERA
• The origins of rhetorical in the classical era was
dominated by the power to define and make
code about rhetorical art. This rhetorical art
originally flourished in Ancient Greece.
• In ancient Greece, starting from Socrates then
the famous figure with the problem of rhetoric
was Plato followed by his disciple, Aristotle -
famous for Ethos, Pathos & Logos.

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ARISTOTELES FOR RHETORIC:

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 II. MEDIEVAL ERA
• The medieval era saw rhetoric studies
focusing on issues relating to Settings
and Style. In medieval rhetoric is
associated with RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
(Christianity) .
• Agustine for example, is one of the
leading figures in the field of rhetoric.
The preachers must have knowledge of
the rhetoric.
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 III. RENAISSANCE ERA
• The Renaissance era (1400-1600) which
follows after Medeival sees rhetoric as a
PHILOSOPHY ARTS.
• The humanist scholar, interested in and
focusing on all areas of humanity,
rediscovered classical rhetoric texts to know
the human world.

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 IV. ENLIGHTMENT ERA
• Next, during the Enlightment Era
1600-1800. In that era, enlighteners
such as Rene Descartes, Francis
Bacon appeared. Ratioionalism is
characteristic of rhetoric in this
period.

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 V. CONTEMPORARY ERA
• In the 20th century and contemporary rhetoric,
showed a rapid development in the field of
rhetoric when the type and influence of the
symbols were increasing.
• In this century during the emphasis on public
speaking for people, mass media brought a new
approach to things that are visual and verbal.
Rhetoric evolved or SHIFTED FROM a focus on
ORATORY on the use of SYMBOL.
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 VI. POSTMODERN ERA
• The following trends take place in the late
20th century and the beginning of the 21st
century or postmodern era. Rhetoricians no
longer seek or discuss theories or explanations
of rhetoric, but rather on EXPLORING
OTHER FRAMES of rhetoric linked to
feminist, gender, pop culture, discrimination,
domination etc.

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Theories that can be developed in this
tradition a.l. : Dramatistic Pentad by
Kenneth Burke; Aristotle three
categories (forensic, deliberative,
epideictic); Cicero's categories (docere,
movere, delectare); Fisher's
(affirmation, reaffirmation,
purification, subversion).

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RETORIC TRADITION :
Communication as the Art of Public
Speaking
• The art of public speaking in Rome (speech) since
Demosthenes (4 BC), Cicero, to Martin Luther King, Jr. has
its own influence in communication activities.
• Speaking distinguishes man from animals.
• Public speaking through democratic forums is an effective
way to deal with political issues rather than with more
coercive commands.
• One situation where a single speaker tries to influence
audiences through an explicit discourse of persuasion
• Public speaking is a one-way communication
• Emphasis on the strength & beauty of language to move
people emotionally and direct them to action.

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2. SEMIOTIC TRADITION

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 2. SEMIOTIC TRADITION

• See yourself, are there any objects that you

consider important? Why is it important?
• Because those important things are not the
things within themselves as things, but bring
you into the mind that connects between
time, travel, place, or any experience
associated with it! - have a SPECIAL meaning
for yourself...
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• In other words, the objects you choose are
Symbols of something important
to you!
• Semiotics or Study of Signs, forms an
important tradition of thought in
communication theory.

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• The semiotic tradition concerns a collection of
theories about how signs come to PRESENT the
object, ideas, situations, feelings and conditions
OUT OF IT.

• The study of signs, not only proposes a way to

look at communication, but also has a strong
influence on almost all traditions held by
communication theory.

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 Basic IdeaS in SEMIOTIC TRADITION:
• The main basic concept of this
tradition is the signs defined as a
stimulus that designs something
other than itself.
• This concept integrates a wide
range of theories related to
language, discourse, &
nonverbal action. 22
 Semiotic Mechanism
• Most thoughts about semiotics contains the basic idea
i.e triad of meaning which means meaning arises
from a relationship between three objects: the object
or referent (a sign), the person (interpretant),
and the sign.
• Charles Saunders Peirce is the figure of modern
semiosis, the first to propose this idea: semiosis is as a
relationship between a sign, an object and a meaning.
• A SIGN PRESERVES OBJECT OR REFERENT IN THE
INTERPRETER`S MIND.

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For example, the word
dog in the phrase "watch
out for a fierce dog" in
your mind is associated
with a certain kind of
animal.
The word is not the
animal itself, but is the
association or
interpretation you make,
which CONNECT WORD
WITH A CONCRETE
BEING. 24
Semiotic is divided into three study
fields which includes:
Semantic, Syntactic and
Pragmatic.

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 SEMANTIC
• Semantic is aimed at how the signs relate to its
referent or SIGNS TO SHOW WHAT TO DO.
Semiotic imagines two worlds - a world for things
and an object for sign and carrying the
connecting light between these two worlds.
• When we ask the question, what is
represented by a sign? We are in the
semantic world.
• Dictionary is a reference book for
semantic. That tells us the meaning of
the words.
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 SYNTATIC
• Study of the relationship between
signs. Signs virtually do not stand
alone. They are present as part of
a larger system or group of signs
that are organized in certain ways.
In a semiotic context, sign is
always understood in relation to
other sign. 27
Syntactic
Example: when the
clothes worn by
Ahmad Dhani was
paired with the Nazi
SS leader, Heinrich
Himmler, then the
CLOTHING was not
just A CLOTHES, but
SIGNS THAT BRINGS
TO THE PAST THAT
WANT TO BE
FORGOTTEN!

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 PRAGMATIC
• The third area in the field of study of
semiotics, here is how signs makes a
difference in the lives of people
personally or this shows the
practical usefulness of the signs for
the individual.

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• However, we learn from semiotics that
signs (outside ourselves) come to present
objects, ONLY THROUGH our internal
perceptions.

• While SEMIOTIC tends to focus on Signs

and Functions, PHENOMENOLOGY sees
more in the Individuals as an important
component in the Meaning Process.

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 SEMIOTIC TRADITION
Communication as the Process of Sharing
Meaning through Signs
 Words are arbitrary symbols that have no inherent meaning.
 The meaning of the word depends on the context.
 Meanings are not in other words or symbols, but in the minds of people.
A domestic pet;
Mind Playboy
(reference)

“RABBIT” Object / Thing

Word (symbol) (referent)
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3. PHENOMENOLOGY TRADITION

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 3. PHENOMENOLOGY
• The phenomenology tradition focuses on
PERSONAL CONSCIOUSNESS EXPERIENCES. The
theories in this tradition assume that people
actively interpret the experience and come to
understand the world through that PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE.

• Returning to the PHENOMEN ITSELF & NOT

on theoretical or metaphysical constructions is
the area studied in the tradition of
phenomenology.
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Why do they present themselves
like this?

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 The main idea in the
phenomenology tradition
• Terminology phenomenon refers to the
appearance of an object, event or condition IN
YOUR PERCEPTION.
• The next phenomenology, describing direct
experience as the way in which human
existence comes to understand the world. You
come to understand experiences or events by
consciously testing them and testing your
feelings and perceptions about them.

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• MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY, a theorist in
this tradition writes that "All knowledge
from the world and even knowledge of
the world is derived from its own
Viewpoint or from Individual
Experiences about the world.“
• Phenomenology ultimately makes life
experience into data concerning reality.
All you know is what you experience.

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 Three Basic Principle of
Phenomenology by Stanley Deetz
• First, knowledge is consciousness. Knowledge
gained directly from experience.
• Second, the meaning of an object contains
potential that an object is important in life. In
other words, how you relate to an object
determines the meaning of the object. For
example, you will take the communication
theory course seriously because you realize that
the lecture is bringing positive benefits to you.

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• Third, language is the carrier of meaning.
We know the world through the
language used to define and express the
world.
• We know the KEY because it is associated
with the label: close, open, metal, heavy
and others.

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• The process of interpretation is central to almost all
Phenomenological thought. Sometimes known as
the German terminology known as verstehen
(understanding), interpretation is an active
process in giving meaning to an experience.
• In the semiotic tradition, interpretation is
considered as something separate from reality,
but in phenomenology, interpretation is formed
from what is real to a person. YOU CAN NOT
SEPARATE REALITY FROM INTERPRETATION.
Interpretation is an active process in the mind, a
creative action to clarify individual experiences.
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 PHENOMENOLOGY TRADITION (1)
Communication as Self Experience &
Liyan (others) through Dialogue

•Intensive analysis of daily life

from the point of view of the
person experiencing the life.
•Emphasize the importance of
people's interpretations on
their subjective experiences.

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4.CYBERNETIC TRADITION

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 4. Cybernetic Tradition
• Cybernetic is a tradition concerning complex systems in
which EVERY ELEMENT MAY BE INFLUENCE TO ONE
ANOTHER.
• Theories in the cybernetic tradition offer a broad
perspective on how wide variations: from physical,
biological, sociological and work behavioral.
• Communication is understood as part of a system or
variable that affects one another to form and control
the whole system and as an organism, the goal is to
ACHIEVE BALANCE.

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 KEY CONCEPTS OF CYBERNETIC TRADITIONS

• The idea of a SYSTEM forms the core of

cybernetic thinking.
• system is a set of interacting components and
together form something more than the parts
that exist. FAMILY is the right example for a
system. Family members are not isolated from
each other and their relationships form a unified
system.

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• Since the system is present in a
dynamic environment, it must always
be ADAPTED and CHANGED.
• A system is also a member of a larger
system - UNIVERSAL SYSTEM
• Take a good look at the video slide
on how COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
works!
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• The key idea of system theory is the existence of
Coherence (all the part of something fit together
well) and Consistency (happening in the same
way).
• Although we think that the system is
associated with computers or machines,
the human mind as well as HUMAN SOCIAL
LIFE can be understood in useful terms in
the context of system terminology.
• As a result, the cybernetic tradition not only has
an impact on information technology and
engineering but also on social science and
communication.
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 SYBERNETIC TRADITION
Communication as Information Processing
• Cybernetics (artificial intelligence) introduced by Norbert Wiener to illustrate
how feedback makes information processing happen
• Feedback is linked in this tradition by viewing communications as a bridge
between parts of any separate system
• The idea of communication as information processing was raised by Claude
Shannon who invented the mathematical theory for the sending of signs
• Shannon's goal to improve channel capacity has been minimally distorted
• Information is the reduction of uncertainty
• Channel Capacity = Information + Distractions

Received
Information Signal
Transmitter Receiver Destination
Source Message Signal Message

Noise
Source 47
 THE END…
Be continue to 3 traditions!

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