Researchers linked to the Postgraduate Program in Media Studies (PPgEM) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte launched the book “Decentered Criticism of Common Sense – Sampling of reflection on contemporary communication carried out at UFRN (Vol. VI)”, a work organized by researcher and filmmaker Hélder Nóbrega (UFRN/UBI), together with professors Sebastião Guilherme Albano (UFRN), Marcelo Bolshaw (UFRN) and Dezwith Barros (SEEC/RN).
According to Hélder, who is in a doctoral internship in Portugal within the scope of the Sandwich Doctorate (PDSE) at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), the volume is part of a consolidated editorial series and brings together scientific articles produced within PPgEM/UFRN, consolidating itself as a relevant contribution to the fields of Communication, Media Studies and Social Practices.
The publication features texts by authors and postgraduate students from the aforementioned postgraduate program: Ana Kamila Silva Azevedo, Danilo Meireles, Davi José di Giacomo Koshiyama, Dezwith Barros, Emanoel Flôres, Hanry de Lima, Lara França, Lorenna Cabral, Luciano Vagno, Larissa Dennyfher, Pietra Queiroz, Priscila Krüger Kramer, Thalita Oliveira, Thâmara Roque, Tiago Eneas and Toni Carneiro.
In this sixth edition, the work presents a methodological novelty: the articles are organized based on central thinkers in sociology and contemporary communication, such as Anthony Giddens, Erving Goffman, John B. Thompson, Manuel Castells and Pierre Bourdieu, whose theoretical approaches support analyzes of current media phenomena, crossed by digitalization, globalization and transformations in social interactions.
The texts develop critical readings applied to diverse objects, such as social networks, cinema, advertising, journalism, podcasts and social movements. The collection articulates themes such as reflexivity, performance, symbolic power, network society, media visibility and spectacularization of information, offering a plural and decentered approach to contemporary communication.
In addition to the scientific articles, the book includes a review of Latin American and Portuguese cinema and an in-depth interview with João Moreira Salles, covering ethics, memory, time and method in Brazilian documentaries. Each section is introduced by paradidactic texts, reinforcing the formative nature of the work.
The work was published by the CCTA Publishing House at the Federal University of Paraíba and is available for online access. The link to the book is available here.
