In this multicultural world, it is important for us to realize there are diversified cultures, including those of neglected and marginalized groups. As Shi-xu points out in the introduction, we should steer a thoroughly culturalist direction in discourse research, drawing upon culturally different ways of knowing and grounding our theory in particular cultural and historical context. Otherwise, academic tension and existing antagonisms between human cultures can be caused and even worsened.
The first part of this book is concerned with cultural issues in theory and methodology. The two chapters maintain that at present the dominant discourse is the Western paradigm, which reflects unequal power constellations among different cultures. However, the constellations of power in the present world can be influenced to some extent by discourse because discourse is an ingredient of almost all forms of power. We can try to influence the conflicts surrounding the inequalities by stimulating negotiation and dialogue. That is why a new, multidisciplinary, and multidiscursive understanding of human discourses and differences is needed.
The second part investigates empirical cases of cultural processes of struggle and cooperation in Western and non-Western discourses. The first four chapters deal with discourses in public with the cases of Central/Eastern Europe and China. In these case studies, a Romanian government policy text is examined with Critical Discourse Analysis, the presence of Western values and traditional Chinese ones in Web advertisements in Mainland China is explored, the celebration of Christmas by Chinese people in Kunming (a multicultural city) and in the Ha’ni (the relatively underdeveloped countryside) is compared, and the representation of China in Western media is analyzed on the basis of historical and political contexts.
The next three chapters look at cultural power struggle at the theoretical and professional level. The first chapter reexamines the conventional theory of linguistic politeness with Korean discourse and argues that sociocultural factors should be integrated in the theoretical framework. Another chapter discusses the representations of Black people and languages in discourse and maintains that the terms referring to them are prejudiced because of the politically and culturally dominated role of Black people in the United States. The other chapter presents the cultural struggle within Chinese medical discourse. As traditional Chinese medicine employs a language of allusive hints which prevents it from being globally accepted, today’s Chinese medicine has been mixed with many others’ discourses. However, this poses a threat to the cultural integrity of the Chinese medicine heritage.
The final two chapters discuss the issue of conflict resolution and harmony between cultures in discourse and communication. One chapter argues that cultural prejudice and feelings of superiority toward people of the host country may damage the possibility of solving conflict and achieving desirable technical cooperation. The author supports this claim with the case of the failure of U.S. technical assistance to Iran, which resulted from the fact that nearly all the advisors arrived in Iran with no knowledge of the language of Iranian culture. The last chapter deals with educational discourse on intercultural communication. It provides pedagogical suggestions for teachers to help enhance students’ communicative competence in intercultural interaction.
