Blog One: Transactional and Phatic Communication

While reading Fiske's first chapter, I noticed that something he discussed seemed to contradict Duck/McMahan's idea of transactional communication.  Duck/McMahan say that this type of communication brings something "that has not been there before" (12) or creates something extra by exchanging new information.  Phatic communication disregards this idea in that it builds upon and confirms something that already exists.  It is redundant and not meant to have some additional meaning to be shared by the people involved (Fiske, 14)  Fiske uses the example of someone saying hello to friend.  The two people have already established a relationship, yet greet one another to secure what is already there, this being a friendship.  Therefore, this communication could be seen as a simple action and if the friend responds to the greeting, an interaction. Nowhere is anything "extra" (Duck/McMahan) created. I feel that transactional communication and phatic communication do not fit together in any regard.  Through these readings, my understanding is that phatic communication is not beneficial in terms of transactional communication as it does not exchange new information.  I think it does, however, support the relational perspective on communication that Duck/McMahan take in their book by maintaining a pre-existing relationship.  I feel that this demonstrates that communication and relationships "are intertwined processes" (Duck/McMahan, 5) and that our everyday communication is based on the relationships we have with others.