Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

Chapter ThirteenRhetorical and Critical Analyses: Understanding Text And Image In Words.

Key Concepts•Rhetorical & dramatistic analyses -

▫the study of argumentation and persuasion.•Narrative, discourse & conversation

analyses - ▫ the study of stories and talking.

•Semiotics - ▫the study of signs, interpretation &

meaning.•Critical analyses -

▫the study of the power structures behind the content.

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Rhetorical & Critical Analyses: Strengths & Weaknesses

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

A variety of approaches and research perspectives.

One definitive answer unlikely.

Understanding and interpretation of content.

Subjective sampling of content.

In-depth readings of content. Difficulty making generalizations.

Large samples not required. Reliability.

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Rhetorical Analysis:

The study of argumentation and persuasion. For example –

•Aristotle Ethos - character Pathos - emotion Logos - fact & logic

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Rhetorical Analysis – cont.Human communication as drama. For example – •Kenneth Burke’s Dramatism.

▫Act▫Agent▫Agency▫Scene▫Purpose▫Ratio analysis

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Fantasy Theme Analysis•Seeks to uncover the -

▫collective vision▫group consciousness▫shared values that sustain a group of people.

•Fantasy themes: sagas, stories or ideas shared by members of a group.

•Master narrative: an explanatory story that has credence with group members.

•Symbolic convergence: a state of agreed understanding of what unites group members.

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Narrative Analysis

•Analysis of the formal properties of stories people tell and the social role stories play.

•Generally attempts to identify a plot, setting, characters and order of events in people’s accounts of their lives.

•Study material includes – ▫organizational documents such as

mission statements and histories▫interviews with organizational members.

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Metaphor Analysis •Metaphor: a simple term used to

categorize or summarize a more complex entity or concept.

•Metaphor analysis includes a search for the basic or root metaphors that shape the way organizational members think.

•Study material includes – ▫documents▫interviews – including specific questions that

probe for analogies and metaphors in use.

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Discourse Analysis

•Study of how language is used – the constructive, productive or pragmatic uses of language.

•Focuses on how labels or concepts are developed and made powerful by the use of language.

•Uses judgmental samples of news, videos, interview transcripts, social media etc.

•Coding and analysis, unlike content analysis, is qualitative.

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Conversation Analysis

•Documents and analyzes the rules that govern our daily interactions, for example –▫turn taking or who speaks next▫ the possible types of response to a question.

•Studies the fine detail of human interaction on a second-by-second basis.

•Works from transcripts of conversations, not with individuals involved in the conversation.

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Conversation Analysis:Units of Analysis

Utterances: units of speech preceded and followed by silence or another speaker.

Adjacency Pairs: speech units that occur together such as question & answer.

Preferred responses: coordinate participants.

Dispreferred responses: can be disruptive.Turn Taking: managing who speaks next.Repair Mechanisms: restore a conversation

after disruption.Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

Semiotic Analyses

•Focus on the relationship between language, especially signs, and meaning.

•Explores the possibilities for (mis)interpretation of, for example, dress, gesture, signs, designs, texts.

•Applied semiotic research centers on consumer products and the meanings that attach to them.

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Roman Jakobson’s Semiotic Functions

Communication Component

Semiotic Function

Sender Expressive Establishes speaker’s emotional state

Receiver Conative Establishes sender’s expectations of the receiver

Message Poetic Use of language for its own pleasure

Context Referential Establishes communication context or dominant message

Channel Phatic Keeps communication participants “on track”

Code Metalingual Establishes agreed meaning for words

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Critical Analyses•Question the notion of objectivity.

•Address social problems or inequalities.

•Analyze communication with a view to determining –

▫whose voices are dominant in communication

▫the power structures behind the communication

▫how communication maintains the status quo.

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Critical AnalysesExplore the way communication

establishes, reinforces and maintains power structures in society.

•Marxist criticism – examines communication content for messages that reinforce the ideology of those in power.

•Feminist criticism – critiques communication content and practices that perpetuate patriarchal hierarchies and ideologies.

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Chapter Summary

•Rhetorical & dramatistic analyses▫ studies of argumentation and persuasion.

•Narrative, discourse & conversation analyses ▫studies of stories and talking.

•Semiotic analyses▫ studies of meanings of texts and signs.

•Critical analyses ▫studies of how language promotes and

maintains power.

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Vocabulary Review

Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

Web Resources•Kenneth Burke Resources –

http://www.comm.umn.edu/burke. •Umberto Eco site –

http://www.umbertoeco.com. •Talkbank – http://www.talkbank.org

Downloadable conversation analysis transcripts

•University of Huddersfield –http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/

Qualitative data analysis resources

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