Assignment: An Afrocentic Communication Theory....

Molefi Asante - "An Afrocentric Communication Theory"

First words: “I am concerned with nothing less than human maturity.”
A crisis in the field of social sciences? Depends on your faith in the system. However, for those that don’t believe in it, difficulties emerge (of course).

“…we must demonstrate a more righteous way to explore human issues. It is therefore, the purpose of this present enterprise to present a clarifying portrayal of human beings, in the generic sense, as they exist in contemporary society” (552).

Social science is rooted in materialism. Material consciousness led to the compartmentalization of social sciences into various other fields (sociology, psychology, economics, political science….). These have had a stronghold over human studies.

18^th century: the discovery of “society.” Ironic, due to the fact that organized groups of people have existed for…well…as long as there have been people.

The emergence of the “free” (white European) societal “man.” Scholars attested to this freedom, though many of them held indentured servants or slaves. The term “society” held two meanings: Eurocentric (stick the word “high” in front of it) and The Others. This ambiguity informed academia a great deal.

“Social science cannot be separated from political science, but neither can it be separated from communication, either as art or science. Indeed the very gluon of society is communication” (553).

[page 554] COMMUNICATION CHARACTERISTICS: 1. A systematic understanding of human interaction across cultures is basic to an effective critique of societies. 2. The potential of human communication resides in the creative development of personality. 3. Communication is itself the new social environment. 4. A social situation that distorts human development is illegitimate. 5. The communication person is holistic.

Informed by Afrocentric scholarship (Appiah and Nhiwatiwa): The Okyeame, neither state nor people, functions as an integrator of both. Communication, the source and end of interaction, creativity and collective production, holds the society together (reiterates "holistic" and adds "personalism").

The social science model, characterized by fragmentation and particularization is incapable of this, in part because communication is not at its core. Studies are focused on a specific topic, or one part of a whole discipline, a specialty. "Unfortunately this means that you probably know very little about the nature of humankind" (555). The Afrocentric attempt must locate the proper place for integrative knowledge and then position ("enthrone") the communication person here.

NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS: What is lacking in Western communication studies is a concept of Humanity. "To maximize human recourse, a theory of communication needs to break away from the boundary of specific social or political systems and reach for universal assumptions..." (556). Eurocentric communication theory has stressed the value of psychology. "Historical pressures" coincided with this development, however theorists have ignored certain "revolutions in consciousness (occuring) in the classrooms and in the streets." Instead they invented various models in an attempt to define human existence. The end result: Frustration.

More on the communication person (557): "(A)n organizer of messages...responsive to images, sights and sounds...addicted to urban settings...comfortable with electronic media...untrapped by any one political doctrine but open to all human possibilities...checked by a creative belief in the human personality...you may even be one of them." This theory is in opposition to standards of normality.

(558) Media industries have had an impact on communication as a field of inquiry. "Students in universities want to learn..."

NEW PERSPECTIVE (559): "The methodological posture which the communication field must take is that all sectors of a society and all societies can be explored, analyzed, and questioned on the basis of their contribution to the human personality." This begins with self-examination, finding the source of one's own message contradictions.

It is important to know that other cultures/societies have different ways of expressing themselves (561).

Summations: "Put simply, the communication person, as reflected in the best thinking of the age, is now closer to the African than at any other time in history. This is because of the congruence of African society with the demands of a person's inner-self for harmony...we have emerged and will emerge more concretely as keepers of the society."

Crit. and Theory.......

Attending a party this weekend, i ran into a couple of philosophy students. Both grads, one is (or was) a teacher's assistant for a 'philosophy in film' course (which unfortunately was never offered when i needed credits for my minor). Upon questioning him on assigned viewings, the words "film theory" came out of his mouth. I inquired more, stating my personal investment in the subject. However, he never spoke beyond this term, as if film theory was a definable practice that could be imparted in fifty words or less, rather than an ongoing discourse. Merely alluding to it, in my mind, conveyed nothing. Now, keg parties are not the kind of venues where one should be confrontational, nor does one have the mental capacity to deliberate, let alone construct a coherent sentence, (groups of drunken studious types tend to speak in maxims whilst grinning at one another) so I let it drop. [I was annoyed anyway, hearing how they spoke about their undergrads.]

I was considering, in agreement with Eagleton's essay, if film theory, like literature, is merely (to quote Barthes) "what gets taught." Thinking about it further, I can't get the assumption out of head that what this philosophy student was really talking about was "film criticism" (in his case, critics citing continental philosophy and applying it to particular filmic texts) and not film theory at all, of which there is also, like literary theory, no "pure" form. That is, any argument on how the medium functions nor how it is interpreted gets sidestepped by theories circulating outside of the medium, in part because there are so many strategies that can be applied. [sociology, anthropology, physics, optics, historical, socio-historical, psychoanalytic, feminist, gender, race and post-colonial theories, semiotics...............................]

Reflecting on current readings (Bill Nichols' Blurred Boundaries, in particular) there are times when i have to discern between theoretical and outright polemical statements, or rather, distinguishing between expert knowledge and educated opinion. This leads me to certain questions: Understanding that there is hardly a sharp difference, what are the key distinctions between "doing theory" and "doing criticism"? Is it simply a question of magnitude?

Let's discuss.

R: Serious Man vs. rhetorical man....

In this argument between homo seriosus and homo rhetoricus, i tend to veer towards the latter. (As a forewarning, this is where sore feelings surface.) However, I'm also beginning to see the correlation between two statements: "Of all things the measure is man, of things that are that they are, and of things that are not that they are not," written by Protagoras and re-interpreted by Plato; and Alain Badiou's comment - "Ontology is mathematics." From Protagoras' maxim, so it has been explained to me, is derived the fundamental principles of epistemology and ontology. What Plato, as a(n) (elitist) revisionist, attempted to do was separate rhetoric from truth procedure, and transpose it upon an ideal "State" of being. However, by limiting "humanity's" subjective nature, Plato incited a division between the retrieval of knowledge and heightened awareness (of being), intended by the Sophists to be wholly foundational. Hence, we have an epistemological infrastructure that feigns to be objective, able to hide quite securely behind the facade of scientific method. [According to Badiou, mathematics, which extends from human beings much like language, can only prove the predominance of "infinite" possibilities rather than concrete solutions, an unending chain of whole numbers. Analogous with the philosopher's attention to awareness and being.]

Assignment: Stanley Fish on "Rhetoric"....

The struggle between rhetoric and the anti-rhetorical stance falls under three basic binary oppositions: 1. Truth that exists independently of perspective OR Truth that emerges, precisely, from an established point of view. 2. True knowledge that exists apart from a system of belief OR True knowledge which is “incomplete or impartial” because it is derived from another system of belief. 3. Self or self consciousness turned outward, attaching itself to an ideal truth or true knowledge OR Self or self consciousness turned inward, towards the prejudices which inform every thought, word, or action.

The history of Western thought, stemming from these binary oppositions, and which continues today, is the result of a particular disagreement. “The quarrel between rhetorical and foundational (an anti-rhetorical stance) is itself foundational,” in that it is a debate over the “nature of human nature itself.” What are the integral constituents of all human activity? The debate boils down to this (terms and definitions borrowed from Richard Lanham): Serious Man vs. rhetorical man (note that in the second, neither word has been capitalized in this instance).

Serious Man:
The “self” is irreducible.
Society, for humans, is a referent reality.
Physical nature, which contains society, is also referential, and (“out there”) independent of humans.
Language was invented to communicate facts about both nature and society. However, there is a third category of response: emotion.
The success of communication can be measured and monitored (key words: clarity, sincerity, faithfulness to self).

rhetorical man:
An actor, whose identity depends on the reassurance of daily reenactments.
The lowest common denominator: the social situation.
Dwells in various value structures, which change constantly, and is uncommitted to any single construction of reality, of which she/he is prone to manipulate.
An explorer of resources.
“Reality is what is accepted as reality, what is useful.”

Fish offers many instances of this "same argument": Donald McCloskey’s analysis of the economic method, which exposes the personal conviction behind that which is normally deemed scientific (fiercely objected); Thomas Kuhn’s insistence that science is motivated by persuasion rather than verification (to be truly objective would require a “neutral observational language”); J.L. Austin exposes the performative function of language; Derrida and deconstruction (inspires the quote below).

“…Rhetorical Man (now capitalized), teeming with roles, situations, strategies, interventions, but containing no master role, no situation of situations, no strategy for outflanking all strategies, no intervention in the arena of dispute that does not expand the arena of dispute, no neutral point of rationality from the vantage point of which the “merely rhetorical” can be identified and held in check.”

The ways that other critics and theorists (Terry Eagleton, Robert Gordon, Jürgen Habermas) have sought to resolve the “dangers” of rhetoric have only sufficed in manifesting the same old argument. The discovery that all knowledge is rhetorical leads them to adopt a method in order to counter, and hence liberate us from, the distinct power of rhetoric, to “use the insight of partiality,” Fish criticizes, “to build something that is less partial.”

[link to other articles by Stanley Fish: http://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/kniemela/fish.htm]

Chapter 4 (posted on writ/cult page)

(pp. 131-134) Fan culture is nothing new, however, its visibility has become more prominent. Fan films, like fan fiction, have become a way for avid purveyors of Star Wars, for instance, to creatively participate in the world of their dreams. Themed websites and online contests guarantee immediate exposure for these hopeful directors. [Atom films is the official Star Wars fan film site: http://www.atomfilms.com/2008/starwars/challenge/index.jsp] Modern mass media is said to been the nail-in-the-coffin for traditional (19^th Century) folk culture. However, Jenkins argues that media change has begun to resemble folk traditions, encouraging broad active participation between audiences and their culture. [He also uses the term “gift economy.” See Lethem’s article for definition.] [Another aside: “Fan digital film is to cinema what the punk DIY culture was to music.” Not quite.] To clarify, Jenkins draws the distinction between “interactivity” and “participation.” Interactivity, marked by technological constraints, can be pre-structured by the designer to promote consumer feedback. “Participation, on the other hand” says Jenkins, “is shaped by the cultural and social protocols.” Consumers have a degree of control in how they invest in their media. Media industries have responded in two ways: (1) the “prohibitionist stance” - regulating participation and thus criminalizing certain forms of activity, and (2) the collaborationist stance – seeing fans as collaborators in the franchise incites experimentation with consumer interests in mind. Star Wars fans have been constantly pulled between these two strategies.

R: Chapter 5 blogposts....

I'd like to respond to a little of each:

1. [Lexi] "Is fanfic overreaching or is it the best motivator for student involvement that incorporates media literacy?"
Popular culture may be the best motivator, but is it the best method? I don't necessarily agree that fan-fiction, with its focus on reading/writing, promotes media literacy, though it's a great supportive workshop for burgeoning authors. What's missing from this equation is visual literacy. [See "digital storytelling" blogpost below.] Digital storytelling, I believe, resolves this missing factor. When someone starts creating through a particular medium, they also gain insights on how others create. What's more, they begin to see media in a whole new way.

2. [Catherine] I loved going through this website and looking at some of these kids' comments: http://kidspeakonline.org/kidssaying.html. This, for me, is the most interesting section of this chapter. "Countering such claims, the books' defenders were forced to argue that fantasies do not really matter, when in fact, what we have said so far suggests that the immersive quality of the books is what makes them such a powerful catalyst for creative expression" (197). Yet, creative expression is precisely what I am seeing in the comments of these young fans, who have acquired more than just a tinge of political awareness. Let me say, for a ten year old that's quite an accomplishment. What's more is that this "accidental" feature of the Potter Wars also compels children to reread the novels in a different way, to consider what material may be deemed as controversial and why.

3. [Mandy] "As we grow more diverse in media, digital databases, etc. I wonder...will possibly one day we be at the same disadvantages as our elders?"
Well, first clarify what one counts as a "disadvantage." Is it more likely that subsequent generations, those born into it, will have an easier time participating in what we now call digital culture? Both Apple and Microsoft have tried to meet this concern early on. For instance, the Windows operating system (following Apple's lead, in fact) was designed with new users in mind. Its "user-friendliness" aided in establishing Microsoft as the global superpower we know today. However, this only takes into account the practical applications of this technology. When we consider how digital culture affects the ways in which subsequent generations will learn...well, we've hit upon a controversial topic that hasn't even begun to be explored. The educational system will surely need to change along with it, right? (In this sense, I think, children are the ones who may find "disadvantages".)

digital storytelling....

made by kids. (sponsored by the national film board of canada)

tales from Bridgeview:
http://www.onf.ca/webextension/bridgeview/

our world: animated by children from the Nuxalk Nation (stresses the preservation of the Nuxalk language and folklore) and the Teslin Tlingit Council.
http://www.nfb.ca/webextension/ourworld/

happy viewing.