The ritual view of science communication and the construction of its theoretical approaches

Abstract

Abstract: Building upon recent theoretical developments in science communication that extend beyond the transmission view, this study integrates the ritual view of communication into the theoretical framework of science communication, providing a detailed explanation of its conceptual foundation. Within the ritual view, science communication is framed as a process where diverse participants share experiences related to scientific topics and jointly construct meaning based on these shared experiences. Additionally, a comprehensive comparison between the ritual and transmission views of science communication is presented, highlighting key differences across multiple dimensions. Building on the above elaboration, systematic theoretical approaches for the ritual view of science communication are developed at three levels: the intrapersonal, interpersonal/intragroup, and intergroup levels. The ritual view of science communication complements the transmission view of science communication, offering a novel theoretical lens to bridge gaps among diverse participants in science communication and alleviate cultural conflicts between scientific and non-scientific domains. Additionally, the theoretical approaches for the ritual view of science communication can provide systematic and practical guidance for future research and practices in science communication.

摘要： 基于近年来科学传播领域在传递观取向之外的理论发展，将仪式观引入科学传播理论体系，明确了“科学传播的仪式观”这一概念内涵，即仪式观视角下的科学传播可被视作多元参与者围绕传播内容中的科学对象进行经验共享，并在此基础上进行意义共建的过程。同时，从多个维度对科学传播的仪式观和科学传播的传递观进行了全面比较。在此基础上，依次沿着个体内水平、个体间/群体内水平及群际水平，系统性地构建起科学传播仪式观的理论进路。科学传播的仪式观与科学传播的传递观互为补充，它能够为弥合科学传播参与者间的隔阂、缓解科学与非科学间的文化冲突等提供全新的理论视角。与此同时，科学传播仪式观的理论进路能够为未来的科学传播研究和实践提供系统且具体的路径指引。

朱励瑶金兼斌. 科学传播的仪式观及其理论进路的构建[J]. 科学学研究, 2026, 44(4): 731-738.

References

[1] Bowater Laura, Kay Yeoman.Science Communication: A Practical Guide for Scientists [M]. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012: 9-17. [2] Bucchi, M.Science in society: An introduction to social studies of science [M]. New York: Routledge Press, 2004: 107-125. [3]Weigold, M.F. Communicating science: A review of the literature[J].Science Communication, 2001, 23(2):164-193 [4]Van Dijck, J.After the “Two Cultures” toward a “(multi) cultural” practice of science communication[J].Science Communication, 2003, 25(2):177-190 [5] Bucchi, M.Of deficits, deviations and dialogues: Theories of public communication of science [M] // Massimiano Bucchi, Brian Trench. Handbook of public communication of science and technology. London: Routledge, 2008: 71-90. [6] Wynne, B.May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-lay Knowledge Divide [M] // Lash, S., Szerszynski, B., Wynne, B. Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology. London: Sage Press, 1996: 44-83. [7] Gregory, J., Miller, S. Science in public: Communication, culture, and credibility [M]. New york: Plenum Press., 1998: 247. [8]Irwin, A.The politics of talk: coming to terms with the “new” scientific governance[J].Social studies of science, 2006, 36(2):299-320 [9]Blue, G.Science communication is culture: foregrounding ritual in the public communication of science[J].Science Communication, 2019, 41(2):243-253 [10]James, V.Science communication efforts and identity at popular culture conventions[J].Science Communication, 2020, 42(3):395-418 [11]Finkler, W， Leon, B.The Power of Storytelling and Video: A Visual Rhetoric for Science Communication[J].Journal of Science Communication, 2019, 18(5):A02-A02 [12]Davies, S.R.,Halpern,M,Horst,M,Kirby,D. A.,Lewenstein,B. Science stories as culture: experience,identity,narrative and emotion in public communication of science[J].Journal of Science Communication, 2019, 18(5):A01-A01 [13]Halpern, M.K.,Elliott,KCScience as experience: A deweyan model of science communication[J].Perspectives on Science, 2022, 30(4):621-656 [14] Jantzen, B， C, Mayo, D. G., Patton, L..Ontology & methodolog[J].Synthesey, 2015, 192:3413-3423 [15]Horst, M.Michael,MOn the shoulders of idiots: Re-thinking science communication as “event”[J].Science as Culture, 2011, 20(3):283-306 [16] Davies, S.R., Horst, M. Science Communication: Culture, Identity and Citizenship [M]. London: Springer, 2016: 1-28. [17] 詹姆斯·W·凯瑞.作为文化的传播(修订版)：媒介与社会论文集 [M]. 丁未，译.北京：华夏出版社，2005. James W. Carey. Communication as Culture, Revised Edition: Essays on Media and Society [M]. Translated by Wei Ding. Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, 2005. [18] Jasanoff, S.States of Knowledge: the Co-production of Science and the Social Order [M]. New York: Routledge Press, 2004: 274-281. [19]Weingart P, Joubert M, Connoway K.Public engagement with science—Origins,motives and impact in academic literature and science policy[J].PloS one, 2021, 16(7):e0254201-e0254201 [20]Hildering, P.Consoli,L,Van Den Born,RDenying Darwin: Views on science in the rejection of evolution by Dutch Protestants[J].Public Understanding of Science, 2013, 22(8):988-998 [21] Moscovici, S.Why a Theory of Social Representation? [M]// K. Deaux, G. Philogène. Representations of the Social: Bridging Theoretical Traditions. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2001: 8-35. [22]Jovchelovitch, S.The rehabilitation of common sense: Social representations,science and cognitive polyphasia[J].Journal for the theory of social behavior, 2008, 38(4):431-448 [23] Hohr, H.The concept of experience by John Dewey revisited: Conceiving, feeling and “enliving”[J].Studies in Philosophy and Education, 2013, 32:25-38 [24] Doise, W.Levels of Explanation in Social Psychology [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986: 10-17. [25] 方文.文化自觉”的阶梯——《当代世界学术名著：社会心理学系列》总序[J].开放时代, 2010, (5):146-158 [26] Higgins, E.T. Activation: Accessibility, and Salience [M] // Higgins, E. T., Kruglanski, A. W. Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. New York: The Guilford Press, 1996: 133-168. [27] Gentner, D., Bowdle, B. Metaphor as Structure-mapping [M] // Raymond W. Gibbs Jr. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008: 109-128. [28] Lakoff, George.Conceptual Metaphor [M] // Dirk Geeraerts. Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006: 185-238. [29] Sperber, D., Deirdre Wilson. Relevance: Communication and Cognition [M]. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995: 163-171. [30]Gibbs Jr, R, W.Lima,PL. C.,Francozo,E. .Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience[J].Journal of pragmatics, 2004, 36(7):1189-1210 [31]Wagner, W.The social representation paradigm[J].The Japanese journal of experimental social psychology, 1996, 35(3):247-255 [32] 赵蜜.社会表征论：发展脉络及其启示[J].社会学研究, 2017, (4):218-241+246 [33]Bangerter, A.Heath,CThe Mozart effect: Tracking the evolution of a scientific legend[J].British Journal of Social Psychology, 2004, 43(4):605-623 [34]Courvoisier, N，Clémence, A.amp; Green,EG. . Man-made black holes and Big Bangs: Diffusion and integration of scientific information into everyday thinking[J].Public Understanding of Science, 2013, 22(3):287-303 [35] Rateau, P., Moliner, P., Guimelli, C., Abric, J. C. Social Representation Theory [M] // Paul A. M. van Lange, Arie W. Kruglanski, E. Tory Higgins. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology. London: Sage Press, 2011: 477-497. [36] Aminzade, R., & McAdam, D. Emotions and Contentious Politics [M] // Aminzade, R. Silence and Voice in the Study of Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001: 14-50. [37] Price, Derek J.De Solla., Little Science, Big Science [M]. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963: 92-116. [38] Turner, J.C., Reynolds, K. J. Self-categorization Theory [M] // Paul A. M. van Lange, Arie W. Kruglanski, E. Tory Higgins. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology. London: Sage Press, 2011: 399-417. [39] Abric, J.-C. A structural approach to social representations [M] // K. Deaux, G. Philogène. Representations of the social: Bridging theoretical traditions. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2001, 42-47. [40] Moliner, P., Abric, J. C. Central Core Theory [M] // Gordon Sammut, Eleni Andreouli, George Gaskell, Jaan Valsiner. The Cambridge Handbook of Social Representations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015: 83-95. [41]Tajfel, H.Social identity and intergroup behavior[J].Social Science Information, 1974, 13(2):65-93 [42]Turner, J.C.,Oakes,PJ,Haslam,S. A.,& McGarty,C. Self and collective: Cognition and social context[J].Personality and social psychology bulletin, 1994, 20(5):454-463 [43] Nielsen, K, H..Scientific communication and the nature of science[J].Science & Education, 2013, 22:2067-2086