Publication Type
Journal Article
Book Title/Conference/Journal
Asian Journal of Communication
Year
12-2009
Abstract
Communications scholars have been challenging the universality of Eurocentric scholarship, which they argue to be a form of intellectual imperialism imposing its provincial ideals and masquerading these as universal. As an answer to Eurocentricity, Asiacentricity proposes to place Asian values and ideals at the center of inquiry to see Asian phenomena from the standpoint of Asians as subjects and agents. This article critiques this Asiacentric agenda and critically examines the implications and premises of this paradigm. It suggests instead that a culture-centric paradigm be adopted to avoid an Asian version of the Eurocentricity crisis. The article advocates the adoption of a more harmonious perspective in light of the convergence of global cultures and calls for approaching research deficiencies as a global community of communication scholars rather than one divided along ethnic fault lines. The culture-centric approach is proposed as a meta-theory that is non-polarizing by nature through its placement of culture at the center of inquiry. To avoid the creation of polarity, culture-centricity seeks to encompass the contradictions and ambivalences as well as other diverse cultural representations. This article argues for a non-polarizing approach so that communication scholars can theorize without ideological bias or artificial boundaries created by arbitrary definitions of what constitutes East or West.
Keywords
Asian communication, Communication theory, Culture-centric approach, Ethnocentrism
Disciplines
Asian Studies | Communication | Critical and Cultural Studies
Subject(s)
Applied or Integration/Application Scholarship
ISSN/ISBN
0129-2986
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
DOI
10.1080/01292980903293361
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/01292980903293361
Version
publishedVersion
Language
eng
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Format
application/PDF
Citation
KUO, Eddie C. Y. and CHEW, Han Ei.
Beyond ethnocentrism in communication theory: Towards a culture-centric approach. (2009). Asian Journal of Communication. 19, (4), 422.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/oi_research/14