Learning objectives
Raise awareness and introduce to 'relational' analysis of communication processes.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
TITLE: Communication as an “interactive dance” and the myth of Media Power.
The course revolves around the idea of “relation” enucleated by the Anglo-American social scientist Gregory Bateson (1904-1980), an anthropologist, biologist and pioneer of modern communication theories developed in the past 1950s by the Palo Alto School. The image of human communicative processes associated with this idea of “relationship” differs from the prevailing ones, variously inspired by the standard theory of information as the transmission of “data” between issuers and recipients, in that: (a) it configures human communicative processes as incessant “interactive dances,” where the individual “dancing parties” do not precede the “dancing” interaction (more or less sovereign of themselves, as issuers, recipients, witnesses), but go on to co-define themselves ceaselessly within it; (c) treats information as the result of incessant transformative processes to which all “dancing parts” contribute, and not as a storehouse of “content” pre-existing the communicative act (as is taken for granted in current common sense, hypnotized by the fetishism of the commodity “given”); (c) posits human communication is entirely in continuity, albeit in specific forms of its own, with the broader and longer-lasting relational, ecological-interactive processes of which it is and remains a part; (d) considers human communication as the very foundation of the human condition, and not as a mere human activity among others; (e) denies that any one of the “parties” that give life to the communicative process is given to have “Unilateral Power” over the others: it is given, yes, to firmly believe that this is possible, and there are undoubtedly many humans who believe it, but this does not detract from the fact that it is a fetishistic belief, and a seriously harmful belief, ecologically, socially and interpersonally.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Mandatory texts:
1. G. Bateson, brani scelti da Verso un’ecologia della mente (2000): http://sergiomanghi.altervista.org/Brani-Bateson-Verso_un_ecologia_della_mente.pdf (pp. 357-387; il resto è facoltativo).
2. S. Manghi, La conoscenza ecologica. Attualità di Gregory Bateson, Raffaello Cortina, 2004, 2010, Milano (prologo ed epilogo sono facoltativi).
3. S. Manghi, Presente relazionale continuo (a partire da Bateson), in “Riflessioni sistemiche”, n. 30, 2024, pp. 93-107: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11FX88S5Z22bro9U3lkXLHAwkmBGV2_g4/view,
Oppure: S. Manghi, “La trama che connette. Il potere, la cura”, in S. Cortopassi, C. Rovelli, a cura di, Sinfonia della natura, Tarka, Mulazzo (MS), 2023, pp. 99-116:
http://sergiomanghi.altervista.org/2023._La_trama_che_connette.pdf
Suggested texts
M. Arcidiacono, Gregory Bateson, tra rigore e immaginazione, Armando Siciliano Editore, Messina, 2022.
G. Bateson, Verso un’ecologia della mente, Adelphi, Milano, 2000.
G. Bateson, Mente e natura. Un’unità necessaria, Adelphi, Milano, 1986.
E. Coccia, Metamorfosi. Siamo un’unica sola vita, Einaudi, Torino, 2022.
M. Deriu, a cura di, Gregory Bateson, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2000.
Materiali didattici integrativi: in www.sergiomanghi.altervista.org.
Teaching methods
Lectures, interactive exercises, discussion of a film
Assessment methods and criteria
Essay of at least 15,000 characters, based on a personal idea, to be confirmed by the lecturer, drawn from a narrative text (novel, film, TV series, or other), identifying in it an interactive episode (story, story, etc.) that can be analyzed from the notions covered in class and in the exam texts.
Suggested essay form-types:
0. Abstract of about 3-400 characters, 1. Description of the chosen interactive episode, 2. Exposition of the conceptual notions from the compulsory texts, 3. Discussion of the “extra” text in the light of the notions in point 2. A different form may be agreed with the lecturer. Provisional versions of the text may be submitted to the lecturer for suggestions. The final text must be received by email to the lecturer at least 4 days before the roll call. The student(s) will receive the grade via email at least one day before the examination day.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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