斯迈思的意识工业理论及其局限
Dallas Smythe’s Theory of the Consciousness Industry and Its Limitations

传播政治经济学的奠基人达拉斯·斯迈思在其唯一的专著《依附之路：传播、资本主义、意识和加拿大》中，提出了具有一定原创性的意识工业理论。意识工业理论是马克思主义传播政治经济学的理论基础之一，其提出的时代背景是冷战时期，作为意识形态理论的新形式，一方面延续了传统意识形态的合法性辩护或批判功能，另一面它深入到传统意识形态没触及的传播政治经济运行机制，由此提出了独创性的“受众力”这一范畴。与文化工业理论不同，意识工业理论深入分析文化意识背后的传播机制，进而揭示意识工业具有物质性、单向性和隐蔽性三个主要特征。它的物质性体现为受众力的商品性，它的单向性体现为大众媒体的传播途径通常是由中心国家指向边缘国家；它的隐蔽性体现为传播内化为受众的需求。但该理论未论及社会主义国家的意识工业，也难以解释新的世界进程，在数字媒介时代意识工业的受众与媒介呈现新特征，这既是挑战也是机遇。
As a founding figure of the political economy of communication, Dallas Smythe introduced the original theory of the consciousness industry in his sole monograph, “Dependency Road: Communications, Capitalism, Consciousness, and Canada”. This theory serves as one of the theoretical foundations of Marxist political economy of communication. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the theory of the consciousness industry, as a new form of ideological theory, not only continues the traditional functions of legitimizing or criticizing ideology but also delves into the mechanisms of the political economy of communication that traditional ideology did not touch, thereby proposing the innovative category of “audience power”. Unlike the cultural industry theory, the theory of the consciousness industry deeply analyzes the communication mechanisms behind cultural consciousness, revealing three main characteristics of the consciousness industry: materiality, unidirectionalism, and concealment. Its materiality is reflected in the commodity nature of audience power. Its unidirectionalism is reflected in the fact that mass media communication typically flows from core countries to peripheral countries. Its concealment is demonstrated as communication is internalized as audience demand. However, the theory does not discuss the consciousness industry in socialist countries and struggles to explain new global processes. In the digital media era, the audience and media of the consciousness industry exhibit new characteristics, presenting both challenges and opportunities.