Death as a Condition for Life? Reply to Bernard Berelson’s “The State of Communication Research”

Authors

  • Juan Carlos Arias Author Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, University of Illinois

Keywords:

Bernard Berelson, communication research, object, method, communication theory

Abstract

In 1959 Bernard Berelson published his famous text “The State of Communication Research”, in which he radically states the death of this field. The reactions were swift, and authors like Schramm, Riesman and Bauer replied to Berelson’s text defending the vitality of the field of Communication and disqualifying his diagnosis. Today, however, it could be useful to reconsider Berelson’s sentence in order to understand what particular field was vanishing. The death sentence pronounced by Berelson, beyond expressing the state of the field of Communication in the 50s, reveals some fundamental questions about Communication research in general; Questions that many have assumed to be resolved but which may be more relevant today than ever.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Juan Carlos Arias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, University of Illinois

Assistant Professor, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. Candidate for a doctoral degree in art history at the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA.

Downloads

Published

2011-12-15

How to Cite

Arias, J. C. (2011). Death as a Condition for Life? Reply to Bernard Berelson’s “The State of Communication Research”. Palabra Clave, 14(2), 314–324. Retrieved from https://palabraclave.unisabana.edu.co/index.php/palabraclave/article/view/1986

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2011): Narrativas y representaciones

Section

Articles

License

1. Proposed Policy for Journals That Offer Open Access

 

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.