The aim of this essay is to recognise similarities between Cold War Hollywood movies and major sources of the US communication theory. By analysing works by Erving Goffman, David Riesman and Paul Lazarsfeld from the 1940s and 1950s and films by Don Siegel and John Frankenheimer it is argued that both science and fiction shared a concern about potential fragility of the human self. Although the sources of fragmentation that were identified in these works were different, ranging from an extra-terrestrial life form and parent–child relationship to fundamentals of human interaction and dependence on others’ opinions, it appears that they all addressed the same problem of the constitution of the self. The films and academic works are situated in the Cold War context of the United States. The claim is made that they can be understood as reactions to Cold War anxieties and the generalised fear of cultural deterioration by uncontrollable forces. Occasionally these works use the theme of fragmented self as a form of social criticism besides making it a central element in social analysis.

中文翻译：

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传播理论中的冷战，个人自主权和自我一致性：大众文化视角

本文的目的是认识冷战好莱坞电影与美国传播理论的主要来源之间的相似之处。通过分析1940年代和1950年代的Erving Goffman，David Riesman和Paul Lazarsfeld的作品以及Don Siegel和John Frankenheimer的电影，人们认为科学和小说都对人类自身的潜在脆弱性表示了担忧。尽管从这些作品中发现的碎片化来源是不同的，从地球外的生命形式和亲子关系到人类互动的基础和对他人观点的依赖，似乎它们都解决了相同的问题。自我的构成。这些电影和学术作品都位于美国冷战时期。声称可以将它们理解为对冷战焦虑的反应，以及对无法控制的力量对文化恶化的普遍恐惧。有时候，这些作品除了将支离破碎的自我作为社会分析的核心内容之外，还以零散的自我为主题，作为一种社会批评。