Anthropology of Communication - published: 28/09/2025
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Communication anthropology, interpersonal communication, culture, non-verbal communication, media effects, NTIC New Information and Communication Technologies, Palo Alto School, Laswell, Shannon, Wiener
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Abstract
This document explores the concept of communication anthropology, discussing various theories and schools of thought on communication, culture, and interaction.
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[...] Anthropology of Communication - Communicating and Being Understood What is communication? Communication can be defined by brief ideas, it is first a sharing and an exchange of information but it is also a transmission.", " We distinguish mediated communication, which is the communication of the media, as well as interpersonal communication, or in other words, communication in interaction. More commonly referred to as exchanges. How do you get understood? Understanding the other comes with culture. Verbal and non-verbal communication play an important role in understanding the other. [...]
[...] In the same current, at Palo Alto School, they talk about interpersonal communication (or interaction). The concept of communication anthropology emerges and we explain it through behavior codes, culture? In parallel, at the Lazarsfeld School, they talk about the effects of the media and the fact that individuals are able to make distinctions. By around 1960, we established the question of the receiver and a question emerged: how do we use the media? Finally in 1980, new technologies arrived, notably the new information and communication technologies (=NTIC). [...]
[...] Between the 1940s and 1950s, the concept of communication emerges. Claude Shannon establishes the theory that there is an emitter of a message that sends it through a channel to a receiver. N. Wiener, on the other hand, questions the definition of communication by Shannon. According to him, there must be feedback. That is, the Shannon scheme will form a loop and this is what is called the 'Mathematical Theory of Communication'. However, in reality, it is not communication since in these two theories, there are no interactions, there is only information. [...]
[...] Since the 1900s, there has been urbanization of societies. A large number of societies have moved to cities. In 1892, the psychologist, Gustave LEBON described the functioning of crowds. He is one of the first to question crowds. When individuals are grouped together in a crowd, people become one, it is the spirit of the crowd that speaks. In the 1920s, at the University of Chicago, researchers, journalists, and sociologists questioned the integration and assimilation of individuals and cultures among themselves. [...]
