Uncertainty and Social Communication Theory

Abstract

This chapter argues that existing interaction accounts, heavily indebted to the semantic of dialogue, are unable to construct a theory which is both sufficiently sensitive to uncertainty in cognitive and communication terms and is also able to reconcile such uncertainty with theoretical accounts of the social. Taken at a weak, intuitive level of extension, the concept of interaction is unproblematic: people interact all the time. However, the term is more often than not accompanied by strong claims, taken as a synonym for generalized modes of interaction, and often modelled as dialogue, dialo-gism or exchange of meaning with strong assumptions being made about intentionality, inference and understanding. This chapter examines the point of transition, from intuitive notions of interaction to generalized models, at which problems relating to the theoretical conceptualization of interaction emerge, for it is at this point that intuitive beliefs are all too often reified. The central argument advanced here is that, however defined, the interaction concept has remained within the confines of transcendental theories. Furthermore, despite the more recent diversification of communication theories into theories of dialogism, constructivism and uncertainty, conservative interaction theories display a remarkable resilience and obscure some relevant questions such as how social communication emerges across the deep uncertainties of subject, media and language.