ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to probe a bit deeper into the representational underpinnings of models of communication in the more usual sense. It explores certain problematic features of the received notion of model in the field, and also take stock of some critiques of it. The chapter presents a take on model-representation that draws on pragmatic perspectives on modelling as well as on the pragmatist sign theory of C. S. Peirce. In communication research, sensory models tend to be “diagrams that represent physical, causal, or meaningful relations pictorially”, as either static structures or temporal processes. Overviews of modelling in communication studies typically start off by delineating a general notion of model in representational terms. The articulation of the iconic grounding of representation constitutes only the first step toward a fuller pragmatist reconsideration of models of communication. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the prospects of a pragmatist approach to general models of communication.
