Communication as a Field

“Communication is understood not by its disciplinary definition, but by its capacity and potential for convergence among various disciplines. In this same sense, communication is conceived not only as a dialogue between disciplines but as the very space of interlocution between them—that is, a space for the realization of a multidisciplinary dialogue. This perspective of communication as a field implies a position and, at the same time, a vocation to establish alliances in the search for answers to sociocultural problems, considering for this purpose different approaches, theories, methods, and techniques.”

The Doctorate in Communication at the Universidad de la Frontera (UFRO) and the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) conceives communication as a broad and open field rather than a discipline; thus, it “gathers the entire experience of communication research from a historical and situated perspective, including the different modes, levels, and forms that encompass a wide spectrum of objects and problems: as the study of both nature and culture (Martín Serrano, 2007); as the investigation of the articulations between communication practices and social movements, from different temporalities and cultural matrices (Martín-Barbero, 1991); the study of the organization, functioning, and interactions of the social media system and information as a commodity (Quirós, 1991); the study of news as frames and how informative work and the roles of informers are organized (Tuchman, 1983); the analysis of the interpretation of reality as a set of news items (Gomis, 1991); a discursive approach to the study of media, where “discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary discipline” (van Dijk, 1990: 14); the semiotic and sociosemiotic study of the construction of journalistic discourse, from its production, circulation, and consumption (Rodrigo-Alsina, 1993); research on how a new technology alters the daily life of society (Silverstone and Hirsch, 1996); quantitative research on the production, transmission, function, and effects of communication messages (Igartua, 2006); communication [and] politics studies (MacBride, 1980; McNair, 2011) and the studies of the political economy of communication (Smythe, 1981; Torres, 1985; Zallo, 1988; Mosco, 1996; Sierra, 1999; Bolaño, 2000); the studies of communication involved in the practices of individuals and collectives with diverse characteristics and purposes, linked to processes such as participation, social change, and development, according to two approaches: one focused on modernization theories (Rogers, 1962), and another centered on dependency theories, with an emphasis on social mobilization and social struggles (Mattelart, 1971; Kaplún, 1990; Alfaro, 2000; Rodríguez, 2001; Calvelo, 2003; Gumucio, 2011). In this sense, we understand that in the relationships between communication and culture, ‘the culture of our time is no longer conceivable without communication, nor communication without culture because communication is not a mere relational device but a communicated content’ (Zallo, 2007: 220)” (del Valle and Browne, 2020: 247).

From another perspective, we can observe different levels, such as (a) the level of public communication understood as any “information that is produced, distributed, and used in an institutionalized manner” (Martín-Serrano, 1989: 79); (b) the level of communication as a cultural industry in society (Martín-Barbero, 2014: 31); (c) the levels of propaganda and the influence of mass media and social networks (Lasswell, 1936; Lazarsfeld, Berelson & Gaudet, 1944; Hovland, 1950; Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955; Klapper, 1960; McCombs, 2012 and 2004); (d) the level of relationships between communication, economy, and politics at an Inter-American level (Schiller, 1969; Torres, 1985; Zallo, 1988; Mosco, 1996; Murdock and Mosco, 1997; Sierra, 1999; Bolaño, 2000; McNair, 2011); (e) the level of relationships between communication, participation, development, and social change (Rogers, 1962; Pasquali, 2007; Mattelart, 2002; Beltrán, 2006), etc.

Thus, the Doctorate is “oriented towards identifying new problems and developing research in the field of communication, from an interdisciplinary perspective, to contribute to the understanding of the issues associated with different contexts, both at a local and regional level as well as national and international […]; in such a way that different disciplines converge in this field, having culture as a referential framework.” (del Valle and Browne, 2020: 244).

In synthesis, “if we understand communication as a dialogic-dialectical field (Craig, 1999), focused on ‘the analysis of the modes of social construction of meaning’ (Saintout and Varela, 2014: 110) or a transdiscipline (Vidales, 2017), but not as a discipline —field is not synonymous with discipline—; we are interested in the intersection, the convergence, the multiplicity of views and approaches; in other words, where communication ‘is not everything, but must be spoken from everywhere’ (Schmucler, 1984: 4)” (del Valle and Browne, 2020: 247).