PDF(1565 KB)
“Functionalism” in Communication: the Origin and Evolution of a Historical Concept
ZHAN Ning, ZHOU Chenjing
Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (5) : 24-48.
PDF(1565 KB)
PDF(1565 KB)
“Functionalism” in Communication: the Origin and Evolution of a Historical Concept
Functionalism, as a key concept throughout the history of the communication research, not only lacks a unified and clear definition, but also implies ambiguous and imprecise interpretation in Communication. Tracing functionalism in the context of social theory and communication research, this paper first reviews how Harold Lasswell and Robert Merton clarified functionalism in response to the transition of the American social sciences in the 1940s. Then this paper explores how their functionalist approaches are revised and how communication research is labeled by “functionalism” by Charles Wright and Elihu Katz. Under the rigid label of “functionalism,” use and gratification research resonates with media effect research, although it was once regarded as the hope of settling the restriction of the short-term effect research. After the 1960s, the traditional functionalist paradigm stressing systematic equilibrium has been gradually reconstructed with the change of the society. Communication research absorbing the functionalist trend containing more theoretical approaches keeps developing on the basis of disrupting tradition.
functionalism / communication research / use and satisfaction research / media effect research / social theory
| [1] |
阿尔弗雷德·拉德克里夫-布朗(1952/2009). 《原始社会的结构与功能》(丁国勇译). 北京: 中国社会科学出版社.
|
| [2] |
埃弗雷特·M·罗杰斯(1994/2005). 《传播学史:一种传记式的方法》(殷晓蓉译). 上海: 上海译文出版社.
|
| [3] |
埃米尔·涂尔干(1893/2000). 《社会分工论》(渠东译). 北京: 生活·读书·新知三联书店.
|
| [4] |
安东尼·吉登斯(1984/1998). 《社会的构成——结构化理论大纲》(李康,李猛译). 上海: 三联书店.
|
| [5] |
彼得·西蒙森, 加布里埃尔·韦曼, (2003/2011). 哥伦比亚的批判研究:拉扎斯菲尔德与默顿的《大众传播、流行品位与组织化社会行为》.载伊莱休·卡茨,约翰·杜伦·彼得斯,泰玛·利比斯,艾薇儿·奥尔洛夫(主编),《媒介研究经典文本解读》(常江译)(第13-39页). 北京: 北京大学出版社.
|
| [6] |
波考克(1975/2013). 《马基雅维里时刻:佛罗伦萨政治思想和大西洋共和主义传统》(冯克利,傅乾译). 南京: 译林出版社.
|
| [7] |
查尔斯·赖特·米尔斯(1959/2005). 《社会学的想象力》(陈强,张永强译). 北京: 生活·读书·新知三联书店.
|
| [8] |
大卫·E·莫里森(1998/2004). 《寻找方法:焦点小组和大众传播研究的发展》(柯惠新,王宁译). 北京: 新华出版社.
|
| [9] |
丹尼斯·麦奎尔, 斯文·温德尔(1982/1987). 《大众传播模式论》(祝建华,武伟译). 上海: 上海译文出版社.
|
| [10] |
高海波(2010). 《拉斯韦尔战时传播理论研究》. 华中科技大学博士论文.武汉.
|
| [11] |
汉诺·哈特(1992/2008). 《传播学批判研究:美国的传播、历史和理论》(何道宽译). 北京: 北京大学出版社.
|
| [12] |
胡翼青(2012a). 范式的重塑:社会化媒体时代对功能主义路径的反思. 《新闻大学》,(2),5-9.
|
| [13] |
胡翼青(2012b). 超越功能主义意识形态:再论传播社会功能研究. 《现代传播(中国传媒大学学报)》,(7),8-12.
|
| [14] |
胡翼青(2016). 重塑传播研究范式:何以可能与何以可为. 《现代传播(中国传媒大学学报)》,(6),51-56.
|
| [15] |
黄旦(2005). 美国早期的传播思想及其流变——从芝加哥学派到大众传播研究的确立. 《新闻与传播研究》,(12),15-27.
|
| [16] |
黄旦(2008). 由功能主义向建构主义转化. 《新闻大学》,(2),46-48+39.
|
| [17] |
雷蒙·威廉斯(1985/2005). 《关键词:文化与社会的词汇》(刘建基译). 北京: 生活·读书·新知三联书店.
|
| [18] |
刘易斯·科塞(1956/1989). 《社会冲突的功能》(孙立平译). 北京: 华夏出版社.
|
| [19] |
刘易斯·科塞(1971/2007). 《社会思想名家》(石人译). 上海: 上海人民出版社.
|
| [20] |
刘海龙(2009). 一篇存在争议的传播学奠基文献. 《国际新闻界》,(2),9-14.
|
| [21] |
刘海龙(2012). 中国传播研究中的两种功能主义. 《新闻大学》,(2),10-14+4.
|
| [22] |
卡尔·曼海姆(1955/2009). 《意识形态与乌托邦》(姚仁权译). 北京: 中国社会科学出版社.
|
| [23] |
克洛德·列维-斯特劳斯(1973/2006). 《结构人类学》(张组建译). 北京: 中国人民大学出版社.
|
| [24] |
帕特里克·贝尔特(1998/2005). 《二十世纪的社会理论》(瞿铁鹏译). 上海: 上海译文出版社.
|
| [25] |
渠敬东(1999). 《涂尔干的遗产:现代社会及其可能性》. 《社会学研究》,(1),29-48.
|
| [26] |
渠敬东(2017). 《缺席与断裂:有关失范的社会学研究》. 北京: 商务印书馆.
|
| [27] |
沙垚, 李雪丽(2020). 重返实践功能:功能主义传播研究的再思考. 《郑州大学学报(哲学社会科学版)》,(5),116-119.
|
| [28] |
苏国勋(1990). 新功能主义:当代社会学理论中的一种新的综合视角. 《国外社会科学》,(8),1-7.
|
| [29] |
孙玮, 黄旦(2012). 超越结构功能主义:中国传播学的前世、今生与未来. 《新闻大学》,(2),1-4.
|
| [30] |
孙云龙(2012). 考泽莱克与德语世界的概念史. 《史学理论研究》,(1),11-14.
|
| [31] |
塔尔科特·帕森斯(1937/2003). 《社会行动的结构》(张明德等译). 南京: 译林出版社.
|
| [32] |
吴予敏(2012). 功能主义及其对传播研究的影响之审思. 《新闻大学》,(2),22-26.
|
| [33] |
伊曼纽尔·沃勒斯坦(2001/2008). 《否思社会科学——19世纪范式的局限》(刘琦岩,叶萌芽译). 北京: 生活·读书·新知三联书店.
|
| [34] |
詹姆斯·W·凯瑞(1989/2005). 《作为文化的传播:“媒介与社会”论文集》(丁未译). 北京: 华夏出版社.
|
| [35] |
展宁(2020). 伊莱休·卡茨与大众传播研究:半个多世纪的学术演变. 《新闻与传播研究》,(10),5-22.
|
| [36] |
张勇锋(2014). 经验功能主义:还原、反思与重构——对中国语境中传播学经验功能主义的再认识. 《新闻与传播研究》,(9),24-38+129.
|
| [37] |
|
| [38] |
|
| [39] |
|
| [40] |
|
| [41] |
|
| [42] |
|
| [43] |
|
| [44] |
|
| [45] |
|
| [46] |
|
| [47] |
Although the uses and gratifications approach lacks a single general theory, it is not inherently atheoretical, and the author suggests how progress can be made in dealing with four conceptual issues facing this tradition: the nature of the \"active\" audience; the role of gratification orientations in mediating effects; the social origins of media needs and uses; and the interest shared with students of popular culture in perceptions of and cognitions about mass media content formed by audience members.
|
| [48] |
|
| [49] |
|
| [50] |
|
| [51] |
|
| [52] |
|
| [53] |
|
| [54] |
|
| [55] |
|
| [56] |
|
| [57] |
|
| [58] |
|
| [59] |
|
| [60] |
|
| [61] |
|
| [62] |
|
| [63] |
|
| [64] |
|
| [65] |
|
| [66] |
|
| [67] |
|
| [68] |
|
| [69] |
|
| [70] |
|
| [71] |
|
| [72] |
Despite Wright's optimistic claim in 1974 that func tionalism was alive and well, it seems that both con ceptually and empirically, functionalism has been o f little value... Mass communication theory needs a comprehensive research approach which takes into consideration producers (including vested interests) and consumers, as well as other definable groups and intervening social processes and relations.... What is needed is a theory of society that embraces not only the control mechanisms serving to maintain the social order but which also deals with the conflict ual processes that resist or attempt to subvert the \"equilibrium\"....
|
| [73] |
|
| [74] |
|
| [75] |
|
| [76] |
|
| [77] |
|
| [78] |
|
| [79] |
|
| [80] |
|
| [81] |
|
| [82] |
|
| [83] |
|
| [84] |
|
| [85] |
|
| [86] |
|
| [87] |
|
| [88] |
|
| [89] |
|
| [90] |
|
| [91] |
|
| [92] |
|
| [93] |
|
| [94] |
|
| [95] |
|
| [96] |
|
| [97] |
|
| [98] |
|
| [99] |
|
| [100] |
|
| [101] |
|
| [102] |
|
| [103] |
|
| [104] |
|
| [105] |
|
| [106] |
|
| [107] |
|
| [108] |
|
| [109] |
|
| [110] |
|
| [111] |
|
| [112] |
|
| [113] |
|
| [114] |
This article urges sociologists interested in popular culture to adopt a phenomenological perspective focused upon the problem of the meaning of popular culture as world of symbolic forms. It is argued that this problem requires a conceptual apparatus that focuses directly upon culture, now seen as not wholly derivative of social structure, and a view of society as a socially constructed meaningful world rather than an external container that determines action. The proposed approach, which looks at popular culture as a documentary record of the meaningful realities built by social groups, is illustrated by application to recent American developments.
|
| [115] |
|
| [116] |
|
| [117] |
|
| [118] |
|
| [119] |
|
| [120] |
|
| [121] |
|
| [122] |
|
| [123] |
|
| [124] |
|
| [125] |
|
| [126] |
|
| [127] |
|
| [128] |
|
| [129] |
|
| [130] |
|
| [131] |
|
| [132] |
|
| [133] |
|
| [134] |
|
| [135] |
|
| [136] |
|
| [137] |
|
| [138] |
|
| [139] |
|
| [140] |
|
| [141] |
|
| [142] |
|
| [143] |
|
| [144] |
|
| [145] |
|
| [146] |
|
| [147] |
|
| [148] |
|
| [149] |
|
| [150] |
|
| [151] |
|
| [152] |
Many writers hold that research method is necessarily determined by theory, and it is common to suggest the relationship between functionalism and survey method in post-war US sociology as an example of this. This paper questions the extent to which that method and that theory were in reality meaningfully associated, and argues against the position that theory and method are in general invariably connected in the way suggested.
|
| [153] |
|
| [154] |
|
| [155] |
|
| [156] |
|
| [157] |
|
| [158] |
|
| [159] |
|
| [160] |
|
| [161] |
|
| [162] |
|
| [163] |
|
| [164] |
|
| [165] |
Serious conceptual problems undermine the usefulness of the uses and gratifications approach. These problems, in turn, grow out of the approach's commitment to the variable analytic method. So long as that commitment is retained, the value of research based on the uses and gratifications approach will continue to be limited.
|
| [166] |
|
| [167] |
|
| [168] |
|
| [169] |
|
| [170] |
|
| [171] |
|
| [172] |
|
1. 埃米尔·涂尔干(Émile Durkheim)受孔德(Auguste Comte)与斯宾塞(Herbert Spencer)社会有机体思想的影响,将社会看作是其中各个部分发挥作用的有机体,“第一位系统化形成了社会学中的功能主义路径”(Coser & Rosenberg,
2. 传播学界也偶有对功能主义的辩护与修补,如Rothenbuhler(
3. 在社会学与人类学功能主义的代表人物中,涂尔干将“功能”界定为“运动(或制度)与有机体的某种需要之间相应的关系”,需要“协同其他功能共同维持普遍生活”(涂尔干,
4. “功能主义”在中国新闻传播学语境中的模糊涵义也被注意到,如黄旦(
5. 罗伯特·林德被称作哥伦比亚大学应用社会研究所除保罗·拉扎斯菲尔德(Paul Lazarsfeld)和默顿外“三驾马车”中“隐藏的人物”(Coleman,
6. 洛克菲勒讲习班成立的战时背景可参考Gary (
7. 拉斯韦尔五W模式的更详细梳理可参考高海波(
8. 这一说法迅速风靡,也是因为它是同时期传播学者的共识,如拉扎斯菲尔德在1938年给洛克菲勒基金会阐述广播研究任务的文件中就使用了“谁听什么,为什么,产生什么效果”的相似术语(Buxton,
9. 类似的“功能”与“目的”的混同也发生在社会理论层面,详见Munch (
10. 战时传播研究主要包括直接服务于军事行动的个体心理学研究、战时动员研究和以意识形态说服为核心的宣传研究,后来又延续到了战后美国主导的国际传播研究。详见Gary (
11. 默顿对失范过程的解释详见Merton (
12. 详见Merton (
13. 在提到本书经验研究对理论的修订作用时,默顿说:“当通常应用于某个论题的现有概念图式不能充分说明这些事实时,研究就不断推动其重新修订”(Merton,
14. “默顿几乎是拉扎斯菲尔德所有成果的匿名合作者”(Sills,
15. 涂尔干的“集体意识”观念不但得到了帕森斯的重视(帕森斯,
16. 赖特对于大众传播的定义也呼应了“失范”理论,详见Wright (
17. 有关早期使用研究的总结详见展宁(
18. 对帕森斯功能主义的批评参见Rothenbuhler (
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |