There is no shortage of discourse studies on the developed world but not so much on the developing one. Due to their concern over development issues in the Global South, this volume's authors from China, South Africa, and Argentina, respectively, look into the discursive problems faced by their nations, and by the developing world more generally. Each author contributes a unit of regional discourse study. In general, they approach the research questions from the perspective of cultural discourse studies, where discourse is not only central to social problems, but also to cultural and historical regional traditions and characteristics, justifying a cultural-discursive turn towards development issue studies.

In chapter 1, Shi-xu, a leading researcher in cultural discourse studies, works towards a paradigm of Asian discourse studies against the backdrop of east-west confrontation. He proposes that the paradigm is rooted in Asian intellectual heritages and traditional cultural values. In the next chapter, he takes a cultural psychological perspective to (re)examine contemporary Chinese communication, or Chinese discourse. Chapter 3 is an urban development discourse study in the case of city branding of east China's Hangzhou. In both the studies, the author adopts a holistic view based on traditional Chinese culture, paying attention to a comprehensive set of elements, including speakers, media, the effect, and so on.

In the second part, Kwesi Kwaa Prah discusses the use of African languages against the backdrop of the centralization of African languages. Referring to the emancipation principle, chapter 4 argues that African society and cultures will not be advanced until the languages of African masses are center-staged. Accordingly, chapter 5 notices that the lack of African languages for instruction has led to ‘the stagnation and lack of progress in the expansion of scientific and technological knowledge in Africa’ (94). Chapter 6 describes a gloomy picture, where African mother tongues are mainly limited to primary education. The author notes that ‘an African renaissance is not possible without a renaissance of African languages’ (122).

In Part 3, María Laura Pardo describes a developing Latin America where globalization and regionalization meet—modernity and postmodernity put face to face—underlining the value of cultural-critical studies. Chapter 8 examines the discursive representations of the Malvinas War in commemorative television coverage from Argentina thirty years later, reflecting different cultural positions in a gradual process. The last chapter studies the discourse surrounding homeless inhabitants, drawing upon life-story interviews from Buenos Aires. It shows cultural differences are involved in their views of work.

These examinations evidence the authors’ belief that discourse studies deserve a holistic, historical, dynamic and dialectic approach, just as is the case in cultural discourse studies. Meanwhile, the three regional discourse studies showcase some peculiarities and historical-cultural features of their native land, providing a paradigm for development discourse studies. They unfold the properties, problems, and potentials of such development discourses, as well as their strengths and shortcomings. In a broader sense, the volume is especially illustrative to those who seek a comprehensive and objective understanding of discourse studies in general and cultural discourse studies in particular. It also demonstrates an effective discursive approach to understanding development issues in the developing world.