Approaches to Communication: Trends in Global Communication Studies
edited by Susan Petrilli
The framework developed by
Thomas A. Sebeok in his “global semiotics” is currently the most useful
for investigating the nature and function of representation in human
systems.
The capacity to represent
immediate reality is not unique to human animals, but the capacity to
frame an indefinite number of possible worlds is unique to humans. This
unique aspect of representational capacity in humans has led to "true
culture," requiring a way to represent all the subtleties of language,
in contrast to "nonhuman culture." It is on this level that nonverbal-
and verbal-form assemblages blend together functionally and
systematically.
– from the Preface by Marcel Danesi
This book proposes
approaches to communication from different viewpoints. Their common
objective is to contribute to what can be designated as Global
Communication Studies. In our world, communication is all-pervasive.
This calls for the broadest possible vision of the global sign network
and an understanding of the sense of the role each of us must play in
it. Consequently, the problem of communication is closely connected to
the problem of responsibility.
The book is dedicated to the late Thomas A.
Sebeok. |
