Toward a more interpretative communication research 'framework': television as a cultural system. An interpretation of Clifford Geertz.

Abstract

SUMMARY The world today is in a state of turmoil. Such an opening statement hardly surprises anyone any more. This 'crisis' also affects the discussion in the scientific field. Today's social sciences appear more interested in the impact and effects of aspects of the so-called 'superstructure' of society than in previous times. Though most social scientists reckon that the concepts of power, culture and ideology are essential for an understanding of the social reality, the concepts are often not defined and therefore interpreted in different ways. This is mainly because of the multidimensionality of these concepts. Thus this article focuses on these important concepts in view of new sociocultural and anthropological interpretations of their use in intercultural and cross-cultural communication research. In Servaes (1989b) we briefly discussed definitions of power, ideology, and culture that contribute to this new interpretation of the superstructure. We particularly focused on the German scholar Jurgen Ha...