De-Westernizing Communication Research: Altering Questions and Changing Frameworks(Routledge Contemporary Asia Series)

The rise of postmodern theories and pluralist thinking has paved the way for multicultural approaches to communication studies and now is the time for decentralization, de-Westernization, and differentiation. This trend is reflected in the increasing number of communication journals with a national or regional focus. Alongside this proliferation of research output from outside of the mainstream West, there is a growing discontent with communication theories being “Westerncentric”. Compared with earlier works that questioned the need to distinguish between the Western and the non-Western, and to build “Asian” communication theories, there seems to be greater assertiveness and determination in searching for and developing theoretical frameworks and paradigms that take consideration of, and therefore are more relevant to, the cultural context in which research is accomplished. This path-breaking book moves beyond critiquing “Westerncentrism” in media and communication studies by examining where Eurocentrism has come from, how is it reflected in the study of media and communication, what the barriers and solutions to de-centralizing the production of theories are, and what is called for in order to establish Asian communication theories.

Table of Contents:
1. Beyond De-Westernizing Communication Research: An Introduction Georgette Wang Part Ⅰ: Eurocentrism in communication research: The problem and its contributing factors 2. De-Westernizing Communication: Strategies for Neutralizing Cultural Myths Molefi Kete Asante 3. Emerging Global Divides in Media and Communication Theory: European universalism versus non-Western reactions Shelton Gunaratne 4. Globalizing Media and Communication Studies: Thoughts on the Translocal and the Modern Marwan Kraidy 5. Orientalism, Occidentalism and Communication Research Georgette Wang Part Ⅱ: The promises of focusing on the particular 6.“De-Westernizing" communication studies in Chinese societies? Paul S.N. Lee 7. To Westernize or not: That’s NOT the question Wei-wen Chung 8. Pitfalls of Cross-cultural Analysis: Chinese Wenyi Film and Melodrama Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh PART Ⅲ: From cultural specificity to cultural generality: The possibility of universal universality 9. The geography of theory and the place of knowledge: Pivots, peripheries and waiting rooms David Morley 10. Journeys to the West: The Making of Asian Modernities Graham Murdock 11. Beyond the Dichotomy of Communication Studies Guo-Ming Chen 12. Beyond Ethnocentrism in Communication Theory: Towards a Culture-centric Approach Eddie C. Y. Kuo and Han Ei Chew 13. Reconceptualizing De-Westernization: Science of Meaning as an Alternative Yaly Chao Part Ⅳ: Opportunities, limitations, and implications for future research 14. Whither Eurocentrism? Media, Culture and Nativism in our time Gholam Khiabany 15. The Production of Asian theories of Communication: Contexts and Challenges Wimal Dissanayake 16. The Definition and Types of Alternative Discourses Syed Farid Alatas 17. After the Fall of the Tower of Babel: Culture-commensurability as a Point of Departure Georgette Wang

About the Author :
Georgette Wang is Chair Professor in the Department of Journalism, National Chengchi University, Taiwan.