ABSTRACT
Meaning, some have suggested, is the common concern that unifies the diverse and fragmented discipline of communication. 1 As communication scholars, we are all concerned with the matter of meaning, whether it is the meaning of speeches, of small group discussion and dynamics, of interpersonal and intercultural interactions, of organizational roles, rituals, and relations, of everyday cultural practices and performances, or of media events, flows, and assemblages. Our common concern with meaning should not be confused with a common conception of meaning, however. While communication scholars routinely speak of conveying meaning, sharing meaning, expressing meaning, making meaning, decoding meaning, and uncovering “hidden” meaning, there are nearly as many conceptions of meaning today as there are scholars concerned with it. Indeed, after surveying the literature on meaning in the field, we are tempted simply to agree with Dennis Stampe that:
The concept of meaning is as dismayingly complex as any concept which suffers the attentions of philosophy. So diverse and apparently miscellaneous are the senses, uses, and meanings of the words mean and meaning that the very integrity of “the concept of meaning” is subject to doubt. 2
