EIRP Proceedings, Vol 9 (2014)

Abstract

The concept of culture has become one of strategic importance for all disciplines studying human and social universe, being invested today with multiple explanatory connotations. Meanwhile, conjunction and theoretical approaches we witness interference, under the imperative of interdisciplinary vision lead us, often up to a damaging confusion between communication and culture.

Distinction between symbolic and instrumental, of culture and civilization are necessary to not confuse the contents of symbolic culture media of communication technology. An inventory of issues and social transformations that have acquired an indisputable relevance in contemporary development equation surgery is necessary but difficult. It should be mentioned two of them, given their global significance: the rediscovery of culture as a defining factor of the social and importance that have acquired communication processes in living societies.

In fact, between the two aspects there is a relationship of inherent and consubstantiality, validated by actual historical experience. Culture and Communication is now a binomial with terms interchangeably, the two processes intertwined in a single block. Welding of the two dimensions was otherwise devoted to the vocabulary of social sciences and humanities through the concepts of culture media and intercultural communication.

If we examine the paradigm shift in the theoretical space of the last century, the most surprising phenomena that we observe is that theories concerning communication space literally invaded the area that was traditionally reserved for theories about culture. For theorists today, communication is a structural constituent and all definitions, descriptions and characterizations that build on contemporary culture.


Keywords: interdisciplinary, communication, culture, civilization