Theoretical Turbulence in Intercultural Communication Studies: (Post-intercultural Communication and Education)

A number of researchers, trainers and educators in intercultural communication acknowledge that the most popular models and theories of the field are insufficient – even unsuitable – to describe or explain our practical multicultural experiences today. This collection of articles offers new insights and critical evaluations of, intercultural communication theory and research. Authors from a variety of disciplines discuss, for example, methodological concerns; Chinese exceptionalism; micro and macro level interactions; ways to teach and study perceptions and self-awareness; and also provide new constructions for understanding communication and culture and their relationship.

About the Author :
Saila Poutiainen received her PhD in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, and is currently a University Lecturer and the Head of Speech Communication at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She also serves on the board for the Master's Programme on Intercultural Encounters at the University of Helsinki.

Review :
"To understand 'culturally complex people in culturally complex situations', multiple voices need to be listened to. This volume offers diverse contributions from the field of intercultural communication to respond to the challenges of the increasingly global and local multiculturalism and intercultural human encounters. Changing realities call for new and different questions, approaches, and methodologies. For example, the definitions of the very basic concepts of intercultural communication such as 'culture' or 'values' are being challenged here. Potential new paths are, however, also being offered for interculturalists in search of common ground both in theory and practice."—Liisa Salo-Lee, Professor (Emerita) of Intercultural Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Associate Professor, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), Copenhagen, Denmark; Past President, SIETAR Europa"This volume draws attention to several important and timely ideas animating the study of intercultural communication today. Chapters explore how places are socially constructed, the complexity of interactional dynamics, visual communication, issues of identity, all the while drawing attention to cultural as well as linguistic variability. Theorizing at the nexus of these concerns is a highly complex task and a reason for turbulence, as the volume entitles it, but also for developing greater facility in understanding local cultural dynamics, the macro-in-the-micro, and the value studies of communication have for todays complex multicultural societies."—Donal Carbaugh, Professor of Communication, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA; Bicentennial Chair and Distinguished Fulbright Professor, University of Helsinki, Finland"This text is a wonderful addition to the body of literature broadly defined as 'intercultural communication studies.' The chapters in Theoretical Turbulence in Intercultural Communication Studies represent the epitome of internationalization in intercultural communication research. The international diversity of the authors is something missing in many other 'intercultural' texts. This text avoids the Amero-Asian and the communication biases, found in most other texts, by incorporating theories, philosophies, and methods from numerous disciplines and from geographic regions."—Stephen M. Croucher, Professor of Intercultural Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland