The methodological value of the history of social communication

Abstract

Historical studies have suffered a long crisis due to, among many other reasons, an excess of thematic specialization, a decomposition of methodological orders and a progressive loss of comparative references in the research process. The history of social communication, in all its derivations, does not escape this crisis situation. Currently, as a multidisciplinary slogan, the majority of communication theorists, historians and public opinion researchers point to the cooperation between fields and the accumulation of approaches as two keys to overcome this phase of methodological lethargy. Although there arestill supporters of disciplinary specialization and limited research, the high productivity and the opening of new thematic borders are evidencing the effectiveness of experimentation between disciplines and the contrast of results. Therefore, this research project will try to highlight the history of social communication as an independent historiographical genre fully established for decades among the information sciences. This research project will defend the idea that the history of social communicationcan not be treated as an "auxiliary force" or a "minor discipline" in the set of historical fields, but always bear in mind all the methodological collections and historiographical traditions since not long ago, the investigation of the evolution of the media, the ways of doing journalism and of the professionals of the information, has been considered a minor branch in the scientific construction of the historical narration.