The Communicative Relationship Between Dialogue and Care By Mari ...

reviews the communication scholarship on dialogue and clarifies the reasons for the reliance of this work on Martin Buber's dialogic theory. Although there are distinct approaches to dialogue (Cissna & Anderson, 1994, p. 10), this argument focuses on scholarship directly related to the dialogic theory of Martin Buber as explored through communication scholars such as John Stewart, Rob Anderson, Ken Cissna, and John Poulakas. Our work privileges Buber's conception of dialogue because connecting this understanding of dialogue to caring foregrounds a philosophic anthropologic perspective of dialogue, which Buber understood to be ideas impacting the human. This effort concurs with and augments the insights of Nel Noddings, whose work relies on Martin Buber in its understanding of caring.

Chapter 1 outlines Buber's conception of dialogue and reviews how Buber has influenced the understanding of dialogue within the field of communication. Chapter 1 also divides the communication scholarship on Buberian dialogue into four areas: 1. the foundations of dialogue; 2. defining dialogic communication; 3. the application of dialogic theory, dialogue in action; and 4. dialogue as communication ethics in action. This exploration points to several guiding ideas that begin to make the connection between dialogue and caring explicit and concrete. Finally, chapter 1 examines the work of communication scholars such as Julia Wood, Ronald C. Arnett, and Richard Johannesen, all of whom have discussed the connection between dialogue and care but have not fully developed the potential inherent within this relationship.

The literature review of the studies on dialogue paints a picture of how dialogue is perceived generally within the communication discipline. This discussion also reveals that there have been few explored connections of dialogue to care in the communication field, excepting those noted above. The limited comment on care and its connections to dialogue within the communication discipline necessitates an interdisciplinary examination of the scholarly conversation regarding care.

Chapter 2, “Caring: Care as Communicatively Constituted” explores the current scholarship on caring. In moving from dialogue to care, similar questions are addressed: What is care? What is the scholarly