Communication Theory
Communication theory dates back to the early 1950s and has evolved over time with contributions from a variety of disciplines and fields of study, including social sciences, humanities, technology, and history. Many researchers, like Robert T Craig, have also made significant contributions.
According to Craig (123), communication theory as a discipline demonstrates incoherence, which has made it difficult for communication theory to emerge as a field. Craig defines communication theory as an area of coherent metadiscursive activity, or discourse about discourse that has implications for communication practices. In his article, Communication Theory as a Field, Craig explores the reconstruction of communication theory such that the different types of theory can constitute a coherent field; this will help to eliminate the different viewpoints that exist which create separate fragments within the communication field. The reconstruction is based on two principles; the constitutive model of communication as a metamodel and communication theory as a metadiscourse. Craig (124-131).
The Constitutive Model
The constitutive model allows different models of communication theory to interact and provides a common role and cultural mission. This principle is conclusive of other models which constitute the communication process in a symbolic manner.
The Principle of Metadiscourse
The principle of metadiscourse proposes making communication a practical field in a way that the different communication theories can interact productively and become more insightful as a whole. Seven traditions of communication theory are reconstructed and presented in a matrix showing the similarities and differences between them, Craig (132). These traditions are arrived upon on the basis of concepts underlying the practice of communication and they include; Rhetorical, Semiotic, Phenormenological, Cybernetic, Sociopsychological, Sociocultural and Critical Traditions. Each of these traditions has its own view of communication.
Works Cited
Craig, R. T. Communication Theory. Journal for the Theory of Social
Behaviour, 119-161
