Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Antonio Fausto Neto 92 social fields that are coupled around interpenetrations, pro- ducing circuits that go beyond the systemic borders and enter unknown territories, causing bifurcations and discontinui- ties. The examined landscapes draw attention to mutations of circulation among discursive practices that go beyond the operations of their interface. Keywords: Mediatization. Transformations of circulation. Journalistic discourses. I – Introductory note The theme of circulation reappears in the first decades of the 21st century having as its landscape, the complexity of me- diatization processes. It is the object of teaching, dissertations and theses, national and international events, working groups from scientific societies, as is the case of COMPÓS 2 , in addition to being present in national and international academic databases. Somehow, questions about circulation are re-launched in this context; they were initially pointed out in the extensive work of Eliseo Verón, in the course of his pioneering empirical- conceptual studies, since the 70s of the last century, and then in research in which he launches new hypotheses about its mani- festations (VERÓN, 1978; 1989; 2004; 2013). We may say that, for some time, the Argentine semi- ologist was a solitary researcher on the concept, being accom- panied only by interlocutors who were central references in his work, such as Peirce, Marx, Lévi-Strauss, Bateson. From them, he extracted references that pointed to communication from a relational matrix, and that reflected on the work he does on the concept of circulation as a central reference in the production of empirical-analytical studies. We refer to many of these data in the bibliography below – especially to those on the working conditions of journalistic discourse. 2 Natio nal Association of Graduate Programs in Communication (COMPÓS) – Worki ng Group ‘Reception, circulation, and social uses of media’; www.compos. org.br .