ZURn6227 Dialogue Communication Theory

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. MgA. Jan Motal, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. MgA. Jan Motal, Ph.D.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Boris Rafailov, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(MN)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Since the 1960s, the study of communication has adopted a model that differs from both the transmission model, used primarily in the study of propaganda and media effects, and the cultural model, which views communication from the position of an economy of meanings. Dialogic theory represents an alternative approach that views the participants in communication as people in relationship rather than information or meaning. The dialogical principle is particularly well established in the context of the development of democracy, the inclusion of the socially excluded, marginalized, declassed and oppressed, and allows us to think about communication from a political position of social change. It manifests itself prominently in the helping professions, but social dialogue has been discussed in a critical rethinking of public sphere theory.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic theoretical underpinnings of the dialogic approach, to present the main personalities and variants, and to show the possibilities of its application. Lectures combined with seminar work will allow learners to adapt the selected approaches in order to apply them in their media practice.
Learning outcomes
- be able to explain the basic concepts of the dialogical paradigm
- distinguish the dialogical approach in communication theory from other models (transmission, cultural) - understand the historical conditions and development
- know the key figures and approaches
- apply selected theories of dialogue in interpersonal and media communication
- understand dialogic communication in its socio-economic context
Syllabus
  • The dialogical paradigm: an unfinished communication revolution (Matson-Montagu)? Historical and theoretical background (Stewart)
  • Descriptive and normative approaches to dialogue, dialogue as practice (Stewart - Zadiker)
  • Components of dialogic communication (Johannesen), the problem of the "other" (Poulakos)
  • Dialogue as a tension between polarities (Buber, Bakhtin)
  • Dialogue as empathic understanding (Rogers, Freire)
  • Dialogue as universal space (Gadamer, Bohm)
  • Feminist perspective (Gilligan)
  • Dialogue and the critique of propaganda (Ellul), dialogue and community building (Buber, Christians)
  • Dialogic paradigm in the context of new media, multivoicedness (Bakhtin)
Literature
  • Richard L. Johannesen, The emerging concept of communication as dialogue, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 57:4, 1971: 373-382.
  • Benjamin J. Broome, Dialogue Theories. In: Stephen W. Littlejohn – Karen A. Foss (eds.), Encyclopedia of Communication Theory. Thoasand Oaks: Sage, 2009: 301–306.
  • John Stewart, Foundations of Dialogical Communication, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 64:2, 1978: 183-201
  • BACHTIN, Michail Michajlovič. The dialogic imagination : four essays. Edited by Michael Holquist, Translated by Caryl Emerson - Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981, 443 s. ISBN 0-292-71534-X. info
  • VOLOŠINOV, Valentin Nikolajevič. Marxism and the philosophy of language. Translated by Ladislav Matějka - I. R. Titunik. New York: Seminar press, 1973, vii, 205. info
Teaching methods
Lecture, seminar, home reading
Assessment methods
Attendance, class work, reading tests
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/ZURn6227