reseach paper for Pro moss
Wilson Li
iics515-oc-november-3-2014.pptxCommunication Theory from an Asian Perspective
MA-IIC oncampus – November 3, 2014
IICS515-Intercultural and International Communication Theory
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Important note regarding reduction in assignments
Originally, Juana and I proposed the following assignment structure
4 short papers of 3 pages each; each was worth 15%
1 research paper (10 pages) worth 40%
We’ve decided that you’d benefit by more time on your research paper, and less on 4 assignmnets
So, we are reducing the short assignments – which are largely exercises in organizing your reading and thinking through the material – from 4 to 3
The assignment structure is therefore now:
3 short assignments worth 20% each
1 research paper (10 pages) worth 40% each
That means you have a choice of writing the second international communication assignment due next Sunday November 9, or waiting and writing 2 assignments for Juana
Again, these assignments are meant to be simple and efficient in nature, and are also meant to support your research paper, which is due December 14
That is because you are expected to draw upon the IICS515 material in writing your research paper, as well as several independent sources relating to your topic
You may want to make a visit to the UVic McPherson Library when you write your research paper; you are welcome to use that library with your RRU card; the 39 bus goes directly to UVic (and in the opposite direction, from UVic to RRU)
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outline
1. Learning from Asian communication theory
2. Workshop in Asian and Western models of communication and culture
3. Research Idol presentation: preparation for research paper
4. Sign-up for appointments (for international communication papers only)
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keywords
ontology
axiology
epistemology
methodology
dualism
yin and yang
Tao
atomism
reductionism
Our plan for today
Today is our final formal class in the half of IICS515 devoted to theory in international communication
Today will assume more of a “workshop” format, as it will feature a brief lecture followed by a group exercise relating to the key reading today
That reading is “Asian Communication Studies: What and Where to Now?” by Guo-Ming Chen
The McPhail chapter on Asian media is useful in describing “who’s who?” in the Asian media, but will not be covered in today’s lecture
We are using the first half of the lecture today as a review of the IICS515 material
In the second half, after the break, we will discuss the research paper and establish appointments for those of you wishing to write a research paper on a topic relating to international communication
I’ll have appointments on Wednesday to discuss your research papers, and will do so in the first floor open area in the LIC building
If you are interested in a research paper on a topic relating to intercultural communication, Juana is very happy to speak to you about your ideas when her half of the course opens next week
Anime villain,
Lord Lucemon
Why are we reading this article by Chen?
All of the readings in IICS515 thus far, including those by Hall and Said, who are writers from non-Western backgrounds, draw heavily on Western views and ideas relating to communication
This puts us in a position of paradox, since we are using Western models to study phenomena and issues that are often not Western in nature
If we allow that we can’t really pretend to understand intercultural and international communication purely from a Western point of view, we’re obliged in the MA-IIC to attempt where possible to see communication, media and cultural phenomena from non-Western perspectives
We can do that by examining, for example, media from non-Western sources
But insofar as we want to really get outside an intellectual framework that is Western in nature, we benefit by exposing ourselves to communication scholars who are not Western and who also draw their views from those same non-Western sources
That is true of today’s reading by Chen, which offers us a summary of ideas about communication and culture as taken from a wide selection of Asian intellectual and spiritual traditions
In reading Chen, especially if our background is Western, we may be struck by how startlingly different is the list of Asian ideas and concepts from a Western world view
For that reason, we are going to feature an exercise today where we, in mixed groups of Chinese (and Bangladeshi) students with students from a Canadian background, and do some thinking together about Asian and Western models of communication, media and culture in comparative terms
This allows us to make an effective transition from the international to the intercultural communication half of IICS515, since in addressing the philosophical foundations of Western and non-Western forms of communication theory, we create a bridge between the two sides of the course
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Map of Asia
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1. Overview of the IICS515 reading, “Asian Communication Studies”
Cover of Time Magazine designed by Chinese artist, Wei Wei
This article is a review of a broad spectrum of Asian religious and philosophical traditions, and their contributions to what Chen identifies as an Asian perspective on communication
Those traditions, drawing from a large number of Asian countries, are as follows:
Shintoism
Buddhism
Hinduism
Taoism
Confucianism
What this lecture will do is to summarize the main points of the article, then turn to a classroom exercise where we review the previous lectures and material to elicit the Western premises of communication theory
We do this to provide ourselves a means to make retroactive sense of the IICS515 material here at the end of the international communication half
We are speaking of Asian and Western views of communication, culture and reality in general terms here, and thus we can forgive Chen for speaking in generalities or “essentialist” terms
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Chen’s introduction
Chen identifies a three-part structure or agenda for this article
What are the distinctive features of an Asian theory of communication and culture?
Chen organizes this section into the following parts:
Ontology: the theory of being or selfhood
That is, what does it mean to be a self?
b. Axiology: the theory of values, notably as it relates to ethics, aesthetics and religion
That is, what do we value, what is good and bad?
c. Epistemology: the theory of knowledge
That is, how do we know things? What is knowledge? What is truth?
Methodology: the theory of determining the best ways to do research
What are the best means to collect data? What means of research lead to what forms of data?
(ii) What part do yin and yang have in an Asian theory of communication and culture?
Yin and yang here represent the interplay of opposing and dynamic forces in the world, be it of people, ideas, material forces, etc.
(iii) What part does the Tao have in the Asian theory of communication and culture?
The Tao is represented in Chen’s article as the goal or purpose of communication
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(i) What are the distinctive features of an Asian theory of communication and culture?
North Korean anti-American propaganda
a. Ontology: the theory of being or selfhood
Chen writes:
“Ontologically, Asian cultures dictate the wholeness of the spokes is the ultimate reality that drives the wheel of the universe, and that the universe is like a running river without a beginning or an end.” (Chen, p. 297)
Asian thought and culture emphasize the following features:
Wholeness
Timelessness
Non-duality (i.e., the non-separation of self from other, self from world)
The unity of opposites
For Chen, this leads to a few observations about the nature of communication from an Asian point of view
Human communication is a changing and transformative process
Human communication is changing according to the endless but orderly cycle of the universe
Human communication is something that can never be finished, but rather is open and fluid
b. axiology: the theory of values, notably as it relates to ethics, aesthetics and religion
Harmony is valued, as it helps to reduce conflict and friction among people
Harmony aligns people with the supernatural and with nature
Harmony is the means and the goal of communication
The central place of harmony in Asian culture is upheld and supported by a set of personal and societal values that are very influential in shaping Asian people’s behaviour and character
These values are as follows:
hard work
respect for learning
honesty
self-reliance
self-discipline
order
respect for authority
consensus
accountability
c. epistemology: the theory of knowledge
“Relationship” is the key feature of the Asian view of epistemology
“all things only become meaningful and perceivable in relation to others.” (p. 298)
Knowledge develops as the knower and the known interact (the known could be a person or the world)
As knower and known interact, their differences disappear, and they become unified and experience identity with each other
Asian thought tends not to be invested in cause-effect relationships, but rather argues that things in reality are interdependent
This interpenetration or relationship of knower and known is identified here (as a Taoist principle) as the “great empathy”
“In communication, the great empathy acquires sensitivity and creativity as its two main elements to hold together humans and all things.” (p. 299)
This “great empathy” shows in a number of communication skills valued in Asian cultures:
Concern for the feelings of others
A display of reciprocity (doing things for others, and them doing things for you)
Active listening
Intuition is a way in which the knower closes the gap with the known, and erases duality
“intuitive knowledge is the basis of great empathy, or the way to reveal the secrets of the non-dualistic reality” (p. 299)
Intuition is greatly assisted by the control of one’s own ego, of aspiring to egolessness
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d. methodology: the theory of determining the best ways to do research
Chen makes several points relating to methodology:
Asian culture values subjectivity over objectivity
Asian culture values making use of personal experience as a source of research data and a means to evaluate theory
Asian culture values the metaphysical (the abstract, that which cannot be proved with data) as it does the empirical (that which can be demonstrated through data available to the senses)
Asian culture believes that there are many ways to approach a problem or a topic
Asian culture prefers non-linear ways of studying something, and Chen defines this non-linear method as the “Middle Way”
“The Middle Way is non-attachment to either being or non-being, assertion or non-assertion…. Thus, the Middle Way represents the spirit of appropriateness, a state of equilibrium and harmony that forms the foundation of the world and provides the universal path for human conduct.” (p. 300)
Negation (to state an opposite), paradox (to state a riddle, e.g., Buddhist koans like “what is the sound of one hand clapping?) and analogy and metaphor are used to break up dualisms, seek harmony, and avoid being excessively linear
Summary of the “essence of Asian communication”
Andy Warhol’s painting of Mao
“The above paradigmatic aspects, which form the essence of Asian communication, enable us to understand better why such elements as mutuality, openmindedness, honesty and respect are the principles of Asian ethical communication, and why Asian communication behaviours are dictated by such characteristics as intuition, emphasis on silence, emphatic emotional control, and avoidance of aggression.”
Chen, p. 301
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2. What part do yin and yang have in an Asian theory of communication and culture?
Yin and yang represent the dynamic and yet stable character of both nature and culture
Yin and yang are founded on a refusal of dualism and dichotomy, and argue instead that everything in the world is connected and derives from the same underlying essence
This is notably defined by the belief that everything in reality has its opposite with which it is in eternal tension
“Chinese philosophy prescribes that everything has its opposite. It is the interaction of the two opposite forces – i.e., yin and yang – that keeps the universe in motion or forever changing, and brings continuity into human existence. As the two sides of a coin, yin and yang are interdependent and complementary. Both not only consume and support each other, but also transform into one another.” (Chen, p. 302)
Chen identifies four points of dynamic tension in reality, notably here in contrasting the Asian versus the Western perspective on communication
Holism versus atomism
Harmony versus confrontation
Interconnectedness versus reductionism
Logic versus intuition
We will address each of these briefly now in turn
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Four key forms of dynamic tension in reality
i. Holism versus atomism
Asians see the world as connected and integral
People in the West see the world in atomistic terms, i.e., in terms of its separate components
“Ontologically, Asians treat the universe as a great whole, in which all components are like a river running endlessly in a cyclic and transformational pattern.” (p. 302)
Harmony versus confrontation
Asians prefer harmony and avoid conflict
Asians communicate indirectly and are emotionally constrained in public
Those in the West are more given to direct expression, and at times to confrontation
iii. Interconnectedness versus reductionism
While Asian cultures have a concept of self, that self is significantly defined in reference to the collective or group
In Asian cultures, “the achievement of the group as a whole must start from the cultivation of the self.” (p. 303)
In the West, the focal point is the free individual, and one with a much weaker connection to the collective than in Asian culture
iv. Logic versus intuition
Asian cultures are oriented toward an intuitive and non-linear approach to reality
The West favours a logical and linear approach to reality
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(iii) What part does the Tao have in the Asian theory of communication and culture?
The Tao (roughly translated in English as “The Way”) is a concept, drawn from the spiritual tradition known as Taoism, that argues that all dualities and opposites are ultimately resolved
It argues for unity in multiplicity, and the wholeness that lives even amid the many parts we encounter in the world
The Tao is for Chen “the ultimate goal” of Asian communication
As Chen takes the long view and looks at both Asian and Western communication theory, he sees in the Tao a way to reconcile both Asian and Western views on communication and culture
“… the transcendence of differences into the state of the Tao must be based on the pursuit of a multicultural co-existence, in which an ethnocentric monopoly on truths should cease to exist, and humanness can thrives amid a congeries of cultures.” (p. 305)
The best communication theory is thus one that can draw on different cultural traditions, such as Asian and Western, and that avoids merely drawing on the Western theories that dominate communication studies as a discipline
