大眾傳播研究之敘事取向――另一後設理論思路之提議

The Narrative Approach to Mass Communication Research: Alternative Metatheoretical Suggestions

大眾傳播領域自二十世紀五○年代發跡迄今已逾半個世紀，疲態漸生，急需引進不同研究視角。本文建議以九○年代起即已廣受重視之敘事取向為例，改視大眾傳播為「在某些特定時空情境、透過中介人造物件並常藉由大眾媒介管道述說故事的歷程」，其內容涉及講述者之自述／他述生命故事，旨在抒發情感、激發想像、促進彼此傾聽以建立社區感，進而體驗人生、瞭解生命意義、創造美好生活，與傳統實證主義效果論之思維顯有不同。

More than half a century has passed since the birth of the study of mass communication in the late 1940s. The area has recently been criticized for being boring and lacking in creative ideas. Its future development urgently needs new perspectives. In this paper, we propose to introduce the narrative approach, which many social sciences disciplines have welcomed since the 1990s, and suggest viewing mass communication as a narration of personal experiences, mutual relations, and storytelling through intermediate channels, such as the mass media, rather than as process fulfilling the goals of the message sender. Therefore, one should view the purposes of mass communication to express emotion, arouse the imagination, help listen to one another, and build a sense of community, to experience the meaning of life and to beautify the poetic life.