Contemporary Communication Research Articles

Review: Material Noise: Reading Theory as Artist's Book, by Anne M. Royston

Book Review| June 01 2020 Review: Material Noise: Reading Theory as Artist's Book, by Anne M. Royston Material Noise: Reading Theory as Artist's Book by Anne M. Royston. MIT Press, 2019. 224 pp./$35.00 (hb). H. R. Buechler H. R. Buechler H. R. Buechler is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and founder of OXBLOOD Publishing. Her work is broadly concerned with historic and contemporary communication technology, classification, and the valorization of aesthetic objects. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Afterimage (2020) 47 (2): 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2020.472018 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation H. R. Buechler; Review: Material Noise: Reading Theory as Artist's Book, by Anne M. Royston. Afterimage 1 June 2020; 47 (2): 97–103. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2020.472018 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search It is fitting to begin the review of a book whose argument rests on the potential for an artistic object to not just expound on, but perform as theory with the object of the text's genesis: Anne M. Royston's 2015 artist's book, The Fibrous Text. Royston cites her artist's book and its manifestation as full-length essay in the Journal of Artists' Books 38 (2015), as “seed” for her recent publication and subject of this review: Material Noise: Reading Theory as Artist's Book (2019). By synthesizing material form and content, The Fibrous Text emphasizes “connection and relation” over “depth and hierarchy” (110) to become a critically grounding and contextualizing body for understanding Material Noise and its main tenet, the “artistic argument.” The Fibrous Text consists of five signatures, pamphlet-stitched to a long piece of natural, unfinished cotton canvas. Five red lines are machine-sewn lengthwise across the canvas, each terminating just... You do not currently have access to this content.

Embodied Cognition in Communication Science

Abstract Communication science is primarily based on traditional disembodied theories of cognition that inform much of the field's research endeavors. However, recent theories of embodied cognition that situate knowledge acquisition and attitude formation processes in our sensorimotor systems have challenged traditional amodal assumptions. While an embodied perspective is embraced in communication research related to virtual reality (VR), it has not been widely adopted in other areas of communication science. In this article, I (a) introduce and review relevant embodied cognition scholarship from various fields, (b) explicate embodiment in social interactions and language, (c) discuss embodied mental simulation, imagery, and visualization, (d) briefly present ways in which embodiment is currently being used to inform contemporary communication research related to VR, (e) explain how embodied mental simulation can be incorporated with traditional communication models, and (f) conclude with a call for nuanced theorizing and triangulated empirical support for communication theory with an embodied perspective.

Wesensform und Funktionswert

Abstract The essay begins with some historical considerations on design, philosophy and science. The subsequent reflections focus on the quasi-metaphysical prerequisites of the conditions under which design objects and design processes are produced and received. It is a question of the relationships that can be reconstructed – in the context of nature’s subjugation, work, and social interaction – between purposes of use and external and internal determination of form. Under the social conditions of the capitalist economy, design casts things, nature and people into commodity form. This makes it possible to communicate them and to communicate with them. And by doing this in an aesthetic way, design produces at the same time images or representations of things, nature and people beyond their commodity form. In the sphere of the aesthetic appearance of objects and processes, their functionalisation is exceeded. The aesthetic paradigm shift from the primacy of the form of the design object to the primacy of the social function of aesthetic practice – introduced by Walter Benjamin’s media aesthetics – is actualised in a contradictory fashion in contemporary high-tech communication.

Problems of Intercultural Communication and the Ways of Their Solution

This research work will examine concepts that do not exist in another language that represent the national identity and culture of other peoples, develop methods and tools to translate them into language, understand their sociolinguistic roots in contemporary intercultural communication, and enhance learning.At present, the influx of people of different nationalities and cultures from different countries is increasing year by year, which underlines the importance of intercultural communication and its problems, as well as the ability of the interpreter to overcome these problems. In fact, language will always remain an integral part of society.

Mitigation Techniques for Impulsive Noise With Memory Modeled by a Two State Markov-Gaussian Process

Impulsive noise, a common impediment preventing the system from achieving error-free transmission, is significant in many wireless and power line communication environments. Although the performance of several mitigation techniques for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based multicarrier communication systems impaired by memoryless impulsive noise are widely acknowledged, we note that OFDM is outperformed by its single-carrier counterpart when the impulses are very strong and/or they occur frequently, which is likely to exist in contemporary communication systems including smart grid communications. On the other hand, many communication technologies used in the smart grid do not employ OFDM and likewise, the assumption of memoryless noise is not valid for such communication scenarios. Memoryless noise models cannot take into account one of the main features of the actual noise, i.e., the time-correlation among the noise samples. The aim of this article is to compare and analyze several mitigation techniques such as clipping, blanking, and combined clipping-blanking to mitigate the noxious effects of bursty impulsive noise for low-density parity-check coded single-carrier communication systems. Moreover, we propose a log-likelihood ratio (LLR)-based impulsive noise mitigation for the considered scenario. In this context, provided simulation results highlight the superiority of the LLR-based mitigation scheme over the clipping/blanking schemes.

Design and Analysis of a Modified TG Rectifier with Substrate Voltage Compensation Techniques at 45 nm Technology for High Frequency Low Power RF Energy Harvesting

- The development of latest generation of wireless communication standards in the recent years has created enormous possibility to deploy high speed wireless network throughout the globe. There is always demand for high speed, seamless data connectivity. But it is a well-known fact that the increase in speed always makes the power consumption higher. Also while attempting to cater to the need of connectivity to a remote location, the major bottleneck is the availability of power. Hence incorporating self-sustainability to a wireless network is becoming the need of the hour. Radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting (EH) is gaining much attention in contemporary communications in this context. In the design of an EH system, the high frequency rectifier plays a significant role. Apart from several design hurdles that exist in a high frequency rectifier, to attain a high percentage conversion efficiency (PCE) at lower input power is the primary design challenge. This paper presents a design of a modified transmission gate (TG) based high frequency rectifier with two substrate voltage compensation techniques, viz. capacitor and MOS based compensation for RF EH system.The proposed capacitor and MOS based techniques enable the rectifier to achieve a PCE upto 86% and 92% at -5dBm respectively in its single stage implementation. This can be claimed to be the highest in-class efficiency as compared to recently published works. The frequency responses with both the techniques depict a wide band performance covering all popular wireless bands. The dynamic power dissipations (DPD) observed are 12nW and 16nW at -5dB, whereas the leakage power (LP) is 20x10-51W and zero respectively. Further such an performance are obtained using minimal number of transistors, viz. 4 and 5 respectively.

Fascismo Olímpico. Sobre la relación entre espectáculo deportivo y propaganda de masas

Frente a la reducción del fascismo a una época y en muchas ocasiones a un país (Alemania), se plantea si sus dispositivos culturales y estrategias comunicativas siguen vigentes, ya no como parte de un fascismo clásico, sino de equivalentes funcionales que conservan rasgos pragmáticos y condiciones sociales. Para ello, se analiza la construcción del imaginario fascista en el documental Olympia (1938) de Leni Riefenstahl, film referente del relato deportivo además de la propaganda nazi. Se plantea un análisis crítico en torno a los conceptos de líder y público. Se busca así establecer proyecciones a otras películas oficiales de Juegos Olímpicos modernos con la intención de cuestionar si existe un punto de contacto entre la cultura de masas, el fascismo y la propaganda. Queda identificada la superación de la relación mecánica entre el ideario y la imagen, las posibilidades propagandísticas de los códigos estéticos o documentales y la coincidencia de políticas comunicativas fascistas y contemporáneas.

Spectrally efficient revised PAM-DMT for IM/DD Optical Wireless Communication systems

The incessant demand for higher data rates has made Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology to gain enormous prevalence in contemporary communication systems. These VLC systems are lagging in terms of spectral efficiency due to the inevitable Hermitian symmetry imposed to satisfy the unipolar constraint of those systems. Therefore, in this work, a new waveform named revised Pulse Amplitude Modulated Discrete Multitone (rPAM-DMT) that provides more spectral efficiency by utilizing all subcarriers without Hermitian symmetry is pioneered for VLC systems. The generation of rPAM-DMT at transmitter and detection at the receiver are analytically explained. Simulation results for Bit Error Rate (BER) show that as spectral efficiency increases rPAM-DMT outperform PAM-DMT and Asymmetrically Clipped Optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM) under Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel. Further, the proposed waveform is validated on a VLC testbed designed with Universal Software-defined Radio Peripheral (USRP) hardware, which is controlled by using Lab-view software.

The specifics of manipulative influence in contemporary social interactions and communications

In the presented article socio-psychological mechanisms and basic principles of communicative intersubjective mutual influence in a context of contemporary social reality are regarded, and also possible ways of overcoming the arising manipulations are designated. The main goal of the work can be considered to identify the conceptual foundations for the implementation of intersubjective manipulative influence, study the basic principles and methods of applied socio-psychological impact on the interpersonal and personal-group levels of communications and interactions, and define possible methods of effectively countering unwanted and harmful manipulations. As a result of the undertaken analysis, it was found that the methodology of intersubjective influence in modern society consists of 7 key principles based on the paradigm of standardized and stereotypical behavioural responses of members of society, which include the principles (and the corresponding methods of applied manipulative influence) of contrasting perception, mutual exchange, consistent commitment, social affirmation, determinate emotional disposition, and authority reference. The author’s interpretation and generalization of relevant areas and examples of domestic and foreign everyday social practice allowed forming a holistic vision of the issues under consideration. As a result, the presented article not only contains analytical conclusions about the nature and mechanisms of modern social interactions and communications, but also offers specific practical recommendations to avoid unwanted and dangerous intersubjective manipulative influences through the development of internal self-control in a person and the formation of a rationalized and differentiated critical perception surrounding people, the proposals and claims put forward by them, and following resulting social events. Thanks to this approach, modern citizens, voters, and consumers have the opportunity to stop being “passive puppets” in the skilful alien hands and turn into full-fledged actors, making independent decisions and forming their own behaviour models.

Student Evaluations of U.S. Chemical Safety Board Case Study Videos using a ChE Process Safety Assignment

A ChE process safety assignment using case study videos produced by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is described. Study of student perceptions of video quality and effectiveness of 25 CSB videos identified a number of entries highly-regarded by students which would make good choices for in-class discussion / assignments. Student ratings of videos’ visuals and effectiveness had a highly statistically significant positive correlation, confirming visual ethos theory from contemporary communication rhetoric literature.

Multimodal Language of Attitude in Digital Composition

Communication using popular digital media involves understanding multimodal systems of appraisal for expressing attitude, which traditionally deals with emotions, ethics, and aesthetics in language. The formulation and teaching of multimodal grammars for attitudinal meanings in popular texts and culture is currently underresearched. This article reports findings from multisite qualitative research that developed students’ ability to use semiotic resources for communicating attitude multimodally. The research participants were 68 students (ages 9–11 years) from two elementary schools. Students learned how to use attitudinal language—affect, judgment, and appreciation—and applied this knowledge to multimodal design. The findings advance a leading system of appraisal for discourse by adapting the system to the multimodal communication of attitude in digital comic making in schooling. The research is significant because it demonstrates the potentials for augmenting students’ linguistic and visual semiotic resources to convey multimodal attitudinal meanings in contemporary communication.

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION OF CHILDREN AS A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF THE “POLITICS OF CHILDREN”

The article examines the importance of the political socialization of children to ensure generational continuity and stability of political communications. The author supposes that the dominance of the research attitude towards the process of politicization of children as the implementation of the institutional and ideological activity of older generations concerning the age minority limits the ability to understand qualitative changes in contemporary communications. The blurring of boundaries between the “world of childhood” and “adults” in the contemporary society leads to the fact that relations between generations become more complicated and acquire a high degree of variability and arbitrariness. The diversification of symbolic production, the multiplication of actors in contemporary political communications, the growing variability of political ideologies and ways of representing politics, actualizes the study of the political socialization of children as a specific political communication depending on the features of the spatio-temporal design of political events in certain national communities. According to the author, this allows us to take into account the differences in the perception of the significance of certain political events by generations and the peculiarities of the children’s and youth’s positioning concerning the older generation. In this case, the meaning and content of political socialization is not reduced to the process of adaptation of children to the institutions and ideological regimes of “adult society”, but appears as a process of choosing and challenging the collectively significant symbols of the older generation by the younger generation. A decisive role in the study of the political socialization of children is played by the research of the influence of the dynamics of the profiles of the legitimation of national memory, including various competing symbolic representations of images of the past and the future, the typology of the heroic, ideas of guilt and responsibility. The author emphasizes the importance of description and applied analysis of the effectiveness of the symbolic structures of national memory and the role of iconic power in the implementation of politics of children on the example of the US and contemporary Russian cinema. Using the theoretical and practical explications of contemporary cultural sociology as a methodological basis, the author proposes a new approach to the study of the political socialization of children and the politics of children in contemporary society.

The Communication Dilemma of Guqin Art Within the Context of New Media

It is difficult to avoid the impact that digital technology has had on the media. Maintaining the original form of traditional art and music within the changing media environment is vital for Chinese traditional art and music communication, especially there is a lack of Chinese traditional art and music inheritors at the same time. This paper takes the Guqin instrument as an example, adopting the space perspective of cultural geography to study its contemporary communication. The article applies media ecology theories to illustrate how modern media techniques change the Guqin stem, dispel the tradition of this art, and bring the new development opportunity to Guqin. The paper also references the point made by György Márkus about modernity and tries to explore the cultural reason for the existence of traditional art in modern times. Finally, the author points out that the key to communicating traditional art is to understand multiple dimensions of modernity and find the communication logic and cultural background behind these media phenomena. It is essential to clarify Guqin art changes during the modern period and, based on these, to adopt different communication and inheritance strategy and techniques. That’s how to inherit better and develop this old but precious art treasure.

Utekstowiona przestrzeń miejska w świetle badań mediolingwistycznych

Discussions concerning contemporary communication usually centre around communication that is mediallyintermediated. However, it appears that also urban space may constitute an interesting source of research inspiration since it is full of urban texts which assume diversified functions in it. Research into the so-called linguistic landscape focuses on the verbal layer of the text. In the meantime, the majority of urban texts pertain to multimodal texts, making use not only of words, but also images. In the article an attempt was made at describing the multimodal linguistic landscape of Cracow. The collected research material was subject to analysis taking into consideration the composition of particular texts as well as tasks performed by them, which became the basis for the creation of a profile of urban texts in structural and functional terms.

Research on Application of Electricity Emergency Communication Based on Multi-situation Awareness

In order to meet the demand of contemporary emergency communications, the investigations on communication methods, basic network survivability, coverage ability and transmission rate are proposed. The digital microwave, mesh networks, small base stations and portable integrated base station technologies are studied, then multi-situation awareness networking architecture is presented, and the key modules which involved in the solution is discussed. According to the architecture, concept of typical power emergency scene based on natural disasters and transmission line repairs are designed. This paper discusses the practical application of an emergency communication network that can be quickly set up, integrated earth observation system with multi-level command, which meets the higher requirements of future electricity emergency communication guarantee. It is foreseeable that in the future, power emergency communications will present a trend of polymorphism. The networking scheme proposed in this paper has greatly improved the efficiency of establishing the on-site emergency system. In extreme disaster situations, various sensing technologies will take advantage of the unique advantages of their respective technologies, so that multi-level command can be achieved at the company's provincial, city, and even county levels. At the same time, while ensuring the key target area, it can achieve a wide coverage which has certain promotion value.

The Impact of Contemporary Communication Technology on Undergraduate Students’ Dating Violence Episodes: An Exploration of Routine Activity Theory

The study was an empirical exploration of the kinds of communication technologies used in perpetrating different forms of Cyber Dating Abuse. The study was guided by Routine activities theory which states that the daily activities that individuals engage in make them susceptible to Cyber Dating Abuse. The study utilized data collected from 315 dating undergraduate students from selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The research design used in the study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The results showed that respondents mainly used smartphones to constantly exchange calls, text messages and instant messages on social media. Instant messaging on WhatsApp was most frequently used to perpetrate Cyber Dating Abuse. The findings indicate that the social interaction afforded by the use of various digital media made it possible for motivated offenders to encounter suitable victims (in this case their partners). An extended use of digital media by the victims increased their visibility and accessibility to the offender. A Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient r (313) = 0.20, p ≤ 0.001 established that the amount of time spent online was statistically and significantly positively associated with higher Cyber Dating Abuse victimization. Since digital media keeps evolving with chances that the youth will keep using it, this implies that Cyber Dating Abuse victimization is likely to persist. This calls for a need for universities to have critical discussions on how Cyber Dating Abuse, can be prevented to avoid its escalation which may lead to worse consequences on students’ psychological health and academic outcomes.

Harmonization of Communication in Professional Setting

The 21st century has introduced many changes in modern workplaces which have become multilingual and multicultural. The present paper sheds light on selected aspects of workplace discourse, revealing that backstage communication in a professional setting plays a very significant role in establishing and maintaining effective subject-bound transaction and/or interaction between the partners involved in communication. The theoretical framework of the paper is designed to consider recent contributions in professional communication research supported by some seminal theoretical writings on linguistic ecology that explore the role of language in natural interactions that occur among people working for multinational companies. T he linguistic politeness theories are taken into account when cases of communication harmonization in a professional setting are examined. T he empirical part of the paper deals with a qualitative discourse analysis of authentic electronic data collected in a multilingual company in Riga, Latvia. T he study concludes that a present-time multilingual workplace exhibits a direct relationship between the use of language and power equilibrium, which vividly characterises contemporary communication in a professional setting. Pragmatic strategies employed can enhance the harmonization of communication in order to avoid the risk of miscommunication.

Social Media as a Contemporary Communication Tool Between a City and its Users – a Theoretical Approach

Social media have become a standard in contemporary communication. That is especially true for business which jumped at the opportunity to con­nect with current and prospective customers allowing them to integrate with their favourite brands and products even further. This trend, however, seems to be absent in the public domain. Local authorities notice social media but attempt to use it in a one-to-many format, which is incompatible with the interactive nature of the new medium. Cities can strongly benefit from an active presence in the social sphere as it opens new paths to co-governance and better communication.

Book Studies Communication in Selected Communication Systems and Their Influence on the Location of the Discipline in the Current Obligatory Classification of Fields and Scientific Disciplines – an Outline of the Research Problem

Objective - The aim of the article is to discuss the individual components of book studies communication and show its place in contemporary communication systems and changes occurring in this area of research. Research methods – A method of analysis and criticism of the literature was used. Results and conclusions – The subject of book studies communication is not often the subject of theoretical considerations. The directions of the development of book studies communication from the mid-twentieth century, when it was based on print, to the changes brought about by the digital revolution were followed. Existing models of book science communication are discussed, links to the literary communication system and its place in the social and media communication system are shown. The communication role of book studies was highlighted through the prism of subdisciplines related to book production (editing, digital publishing), its individual and collective circulation (bookselling, librarianship), and to its use and reading behaviour (reading). Originality and cognitive value – The article organizes knowledge about the current development of book science communication and defines its place within various communication models. It shows the duality of the book studies field, situating this science both in the humanities and social sciences, and resulting from its historical connections with various scientific disciplines and various communication models.

Konstruování obrazu minulosti zaměřené na dětské adresáty: míšení stylů a žánrů*

The monthly magazine Časostroj (Time Machine), published in the Czech Republic since 2011, is meant to enable “a fun journey into history” for readers aged 7–15. Several years ago, this magazine took 2nd place in a competition organised by the Czech Academy of Sciences for the popularisation of science. The paper considers how this specifically-profiled popularisation of history oscillates between academic (pedagogical, didactic), everyday communicative and “entertainment” styles, as well as how the entertainment function of language and texts is promoted in contemporary communication. Attention is devoted to the fact that in this popularising discourse – probably much more than in scholarly historiography – narration merges with commentary, and historical fiction has a specific use. The selection of topics and historical events is determined witha consideration of young readers, who are transported into history and directly integrated into past events. The magazine’s authors and editors engage their intended readers in continuous dialogue and maintain live contact with them. The paper also presents the various genres which appear in the magazine (from myths, legends and fables to comics, including, e.g. “historical detective stories”). It further recalls and accents everyday life in history in this popularising discourse and its connections to the gender perspective (female perspective), among others. Emphasis is also placed on the educational function of the texts – on how young readers are encouraged to be actively interested in history and to be independent thinkers (e.g. through alternative history).