Symbolic Convergence Research Articles

The First Lady/First Wife in Editorial Cartoons: Rhetorical Visions through Gendered Lenses

Although first ladies have come under increased attention as participants in the political sphere, we argue that the rhetorical visions expressed in editorial cartoons demonstrate that first ladies are constrained by Bern's lenses of gender, suggesting that symbolic convergence over political wives does not parallel that of other political women.

Explicating the saga component of symbolic convergence theory: The case of Serbia's radio B92 in cyberspace

This paper reports a case study of the saga component of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) by tracing the use of a founding saga and the genesis of a new, ensuing saga about Serbia's Radio B92 in cyberspace. The paper reports the rhetorical and historical medium spawning the genesis of the new saga. The case illustrates how founding sagas traditionally provide commitment for organizational members participating in diverse rhetorical visions by addressing such elements as origin or originator(s), the reason(s)‐for‐being, historical or cosmological significance, and mission or primary goals. The case also shows how a significant event may trigger the genesis of a new, ensuing saga for an organization. Implications for SCT are enumerated: 1) consciousness‐raising may occur over the Internet; 2) significant events, external to an organization, may spawn a new, ensuing saga; 3) the genesis of an ensuing saga may produce coalescence around a new rhetorical vision; and 4) the genesis of an ensuing saga may rival a founding saga for supremacy.

Communication as an Aid to Resocialization

This article is a case study of a men’s treatment group for batterers. The central question of the study asks how traditionally socialized men participate in a communicatively productive treatment group. In spite of circumstances that at first glance would appear to inhibit positive interaction among its members, the Men’s Anger Group exhibited the characteristics of an effective treatment group and provided the curative factors of a support group. In addition, through shared symbols, rituals, and stories, the members established a culture that resulted in a shared consciousness and, in turn, cohesiveness. Finally, implications of this study suggest that symbolic convergence theory be considered in future research that examines communication occurring in men’s treatment groups.

A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Peter Senge’s Learning Organization

When it was first articulated in The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge’s vision of the learning organization was one of a number of competing conceptions. This article examines what it was about Senge’s vision that enabled it to catch on and be assimilated so rapidly and pervasively into everyday business discourse. The method used in this study is fantasy theme analysis, a dramatistically based method of rhetorical criticism developed by Ernest Bormann that is rooted in symbolic convergence theory. The analysis reveals four interrelated fantasy themes that form the dramatic building blocks of the rhetorical vision of the learning organization. The article examines the organizational and rhetorical strategies that Senge has deployed to sustain widespread interest in his vision.

Why do people share fantasies? An empirical investigation of a basic tenet of the symbolic convergence communication theory

This study investigates the features of an individual's preference for certain kinds of narratives and the resulting shared fantasies. We studied the following features of narratives, whether the stories were happy or sad, set in the past or the present, implied moral or immoral values, and were bizarre or realistic. Fifty‐four original dramas were created using different combinations of the four characteristics and were presented to American subjects in an interview situation with a Q‐sort methodology. The Quanal factor analysis found five different subject types. Members within each subject type exhibited similar fantasy sharing and rejecting patterns. These findings help fill in an important gap in the symbolic convergence theory by addressing the question of why people share fantasies.

Archetypal evolution and “new birth” from codependency

The “new birth “ archetype has exerted tremendous influence upon public consciousness across time and culture. Examination of Melody Beattie's codependency recovery rhetoric may indicate the contemporary evolution of this significant rhetorical form. Beattie employs this unique “new birth” drama to raise codependents' consciousness about their condition and to inspire and sustain their commitment to recovery. Treated as a case study of archetypal evolution, her version of “new birth “ sheds farther light on the process of symbolic convergence.

An expansion of the rhetorical vision component of the symbolic convergence theory: The cold war paradigm case

This study focuses on the expansion of the rhetorical vision component of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT). The Cold War rhetorical vision serves as a paradigm case illustrating the emerging theory of group consciousness that is part of SCT. Through this extended example, we explain that, prior to their decline and terminus, three streams of communication (consciousness creating, consciousness raising and consciousness sustaining) characterize the life cycle of a rhetorical vision. We also demonstrate that rhetorical visions exist along at least four continua and that a number of distinct rhetorical principles operate in the creation, development, maturity and decline of a rhetorical vision.

Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke: Symbolic convergence and a nascent rhetorical vision

Critics have never conceptualized Wollstonecraft, Fuller and Grimke as a unified trio of feminist angst in the age of reform in which they lived. This essay invites rhetorical critics to re‐appraise the way we study discrete social movements and pay isolated tribute to woman's rights figures. It examines how each rhetor co‐opted the ideational and stylistic rhetorical characteristics of pre‐existing social movements (The Enlightenment, Transcendentalism, and Abolitionism) to create symbolic convergence and nascent rhetorical visions of woman's rights.

The interpretation of abolitionist rhetoric: Historiography, rhetorical method, and history

Ernest Bormann's response to “Symbolic Convergence and Abolitionism” fails to address the central point of our essay—he wrongly dichotomizes abolitionist rhetoric. We contend that: (1) Bormann's interpretation was deeply influenced by Barnes; (2) convergence theory did not generate Bormann's interpretation of abolition; (3) our use of terministic analysis is appropriate; and (4) Bormann's views on abolition are imprecise and overgeneralized. Beneath our disagreement on abolition rhetoric lie deeper differences of purpose and impulse.

Forum: Some random thoughts on the unity or diversity of the rhetoric of abolition

The Ralph R. Smith and Russel S. Windes article “Symbolic Convergence and Abolitionism: A Terministic Reinterpretation.” suggests that my analysis of abolition rhetoric in The Force of Fantasy merits correction because of my reliance on outdated historians and the Symbolic Convergence theory. They use a terministic method which they argue will correct the errors. I argue that my reliance on historians is overstated and that the Symbolic Convergence Theory provides better evidence for my original conclusions than the terministic analysis provides for the reinterpretation.

In Defense of Symbolic Convergence Theory: A Look at The Theory and Its Criticisms After Two Decades

This paper argues that not only is theory-building often unfashionable, but the spurious assumption that the presence of scholarly disputes signifies the need to abandon theory-building efforts adds to the difficulties of those willing to develop and expand general theories of human communication. We argue that the time is at hand to provide a new response to the published criticism of the symbolic convergence theory (SCT) and its attendant method of fantasy theme analysis (FTA). Since 1977, critics have made a number of charges about the usefulness of the symbolic convergence theory. We have collapsed the more frequently mentioned and argued points into four indictments of SCT: (1) SCT's proponents have not clarified the basic presuppositions that undergird the theory; (2) SCT is Freudian-based and therefore applies only to small group communication; (3) SCT's insights are researcher-dependent not dependent on the theory; (4) SCT is a relabeling of old concepts with ttivial jargon that lacks precision and clarity. This paper explains and refutes each indictment. The paper concludes with a discussion of constructive criticism and the harms resulting from indiscriminate and unjustified criticism on theory building in general.

Co‐existing master analogues in symbolic convergence theory: The knights of Columbus quincentennial campaign

Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) has undergone both revision and refutation in its two decade‐plus history. To promote theory‐building, this essay applies the most recent SCT concepts to the Knights of Columbus quincentennial campaign, as their patron was disparaged by contemporary reinterpretations of history. The Knights’ public relations response is analyzed using Bormann's fantasy theme analysis. The dramatis personae, plotlines, scenes, and sanctioning agents of the rhetoric are interpreted, and three distinct rhetorical visions—each with its own master analogue—are identified: the pragmatic Columbus vision, the socially based McGivney (the K of C founder) vision, and the righteous Evangelization vision. Contrary to SCT's assumption that master analogues must war with each other, this essay argues that they coexist, at different stages of a rhetorical vision's life‐cycle, within the same rhetorical community.

A Homo Narrans Paradigm for Public Relations: Combining Bormann's Symbolic Convergence Theory and Grunig's Situational Theory of Publics

This article conceptualizes a Homo Narrans paradigm for public relations by combining symbolic convergence theory (SCT) and situational theory. SCT results in theory-based data for designing message content but not the relevant publics to target messages. Situational theory identifies relevant publics and when messages should be directed to the publics but not the message content. Combined, SCT and situational theory develop a Homo Narrans paradigm that views the exchange of messages between an organization and public as forms of stories. A Homo Narrans paradigm allows researchers and practitioners to advance public relations as an applied social science.

The use of symbolic convergence theory in corporate strategic planning: A case study

Abstract This case study reports on the employment of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) to intervene in a corporate environment in a strategic planning situation. The study concerns the use of SCT to guide corporate positioning, market segmentation, and advertising and sales message testing. The report sets out SCT's assumptions and technical terms, summarizes the relevant research undergirding the SCT theory‐method‐message complex, describes the strategic planning intervention, illustrates the research findings, and draws out both the applied and theoretical implications of the case.

The role of rituals and fantasy themes in teachers' bargaining

This study treats collective bargaining as a social construction of reality. Adopting the framework of symbolic convergence theory, this investigation examines the rituals and fantasy themes of bargainers and team members collected through observations of teachers’ negotiations and interviews with participants. Fantasy theme analysis reveals that both school districts develop symbolic convergence on common enemies and past negotiations. This convergence instills similar values and motives for the negotiation process. However, the two districts and the labor‐management teams differ in the meanings that they hold for the bargaining rite.

The symbolic convergence theory of communication: Applications and implications for teachers and consultants

(1982). The symbolic convergence theory of communication: Applications and implications for teachers and consultants. Journal of Applied Communication Research: Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 50-61.