Content area
Full Text
Symbolic Interactionism studies have their roots grounded in thought schools based on George Herbert Mead's, Behaviorism, Darwinism and Pragmatism. Sociologist Herbert Blumer linked Mead's social psychological approach to sociology and depicted Symbolic Interactionism as a pragmatic method to interpret social interactions. Symbolic interaction is a process shaped through individual behaviors and it is conveyed and interpreted symbolically with the help of daily actions. During the interpersonal interaction process, Symbolic Interactionism studies that concentrate on the origin and interpretation of the meaning, establish a foundation for communication science studies. While Symbolic Interactionism studies are guiding in explaining interpersonal communication processes, however their limited focus on interpersonal communication restrict the research perspective. In addition to this, the potential of Symbolic Interactionism to analyze and explain "individualized mass media" communication studies such as social media, which enable interaction, may be also discussed. Within this framework, this study aims to present the ground set by Symbolic Interactionism for communication science studies and to discuss its analysis potential for other current studies conducted.
Keywords: Symbolic interactionism, Cultural studies, Interpersonal communication, Individualized mass communication.
Introduction
Symbolic interactionism is based on the work of Herbert Mead (1980;1969), a philosopher and social psychologist. Mead's work supports behaviorism, Darwinism and pragmatism. In Mead's (1980;1969), social and philosophical approach, humans should be analyzed by looking at their actions. He considers communication as an important factor in the social development of humans and thinks that interaction is realized through symbols. Herbert Blumer (1973), a sociologist, establishes the relationship between sociology and social psychological approach, and considers symbolic interactionism as a pragmatic method to interpret social interactions.
According to symbolic interactionism human actions have three premises (Blumer, 1973: 80 ff). The meanings of objects determine human actions. The meanings of objects are formed in social interactions through social process. Humans do not only receive meanings, they also shape, change and create them. This depends on interpretation. Symbolic interpretation is shaped by individual behavior, transmitted symbolically by daily acts and interpreted accordingly. Meanings are not pre-given. They are formed in social interactions and interpreted accordingly. According to this framework, social interactionism implies a dynamic network formed through social interaction, and order is established and changed within this network.
This study discusses the fundamental role symbolic interactionism plays...