Class History and Theory of Communication

Communication processes and their technical conditions of possibility are determining factors in the constitution of human existence. From orality to writing, from Gutenberg's printing press to LLMs, communicative processes, their technical devices and the apparatuses in which they take form are central to the co-constitution of the relations that shape sensibility, perception, cognition and, more broadly, human culture. This course proposes a historical and theoretical trajectory organised into three parts. The first part develops an anthropological approach to communication as an intrinsic and formative element of the human. The second part undertakes a material archaeology of communication media, articulated with an analysis of their role in the co-constitution of historical experience. The third analyses the modern emergence of the idea of communication and a selection of key theoretical frameworks that shaped it.

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1. Communication as a historical and theoretical problem   1.1. The anthropological question: constitutive distance 1.2. The onto-epistemological status of communication 1.3. The modern emergence of the idea of communication   2. History, communication and media   2.1. Dialogue and dissemination: the historical constellations of communication 2.2. A material archaeology of media: storage, processing and transmission 2.3. Media transformation and the constitution of experience   3. Theoretical frameworks of communication   3.1. Communication, information and relation: The Palo Alto School 3.2. The Frankfurt School: from the culture industries to the public sphere 3.3. The Canadian School: an ecological approach to communication 3.4. Hyperreality: communication, simulation and reality 3.5. Actor-Network Theory: mediation and distributed agency

Weekly classes are structured around a combination of different teaching methods. Part of each class will be devoted to presenting the syllabus content, supported by a critical reading, undertaken with the students, of key passages from the texts included in the bibliography. The combination of content presentation, critical reading and open discussion with and among students is intended to support both learning of the course content and the development of analytical and reflective skills. It also aims to develop students' ability to formulate and publicly defend arguments on the topics covered. Each class incorporates case studies, which challenge students to apply the concepts and ideas developed throughout the course content. In addition, research-based learning will be promoted, enabling students to learn through independent research conducted under the guidance of the lecturer.

Baudrillard, J. (1991). Simulacros e Simulação. Relógio D'Água.   Gunning, T. (2012). Renovar antigas tecnologias: Espanto, segunda natureza e estranheza na tecnologia na viragem do século XX. Revista de Comunicação e Linguagens, 43/44, 15-32.   Habermas, J. (2012). A transformação estrutural da esfera pública. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.   Kittler, F. A. (2005). A história dos meios de comunicação. In L. Leão (Org.), O chip e o caleidoscópio: Reflexões sobre as novas mídias (pp. 73-100). Editora Senac. Latour, B. (2012). Reagregando o social: uma introdução à Teoria do Ator-Rede. EDUFBA/EDUSC. McLuhan, M. (2008). Compreender os Meios de Comunicação: Extensões do Homem. Relógio d'Água.  Peters, J. D. (1999). Speaking into the air: A history of the idea of communication. University of Chicago Press.    Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J. H., & Jackson, D. D. (1998). Pragmática da comunicação humana: Um estudo dos padrões, patologias e paradoxos da interação. Cultrix.