A systematic examination of Chinese communication scholarship and comprehensive critique of its theories and methodologies are long overdue, and in this new collection of essays by a multicultural group of scholars, both aims are achieved. Focusing on such relatively new fields as Chinese health communication and Chinese communication on the internet, the volume addresses key questions about the state and the future of its field. Both challenging and complementing the Western views of communication, it advances theories of cultural and intercultural communication while at the same time broadening our understanding of the relevance of Chinese communication studies to communication studies overall, and the ways in which this subdiscipline points the way toward a new and more complicated future. The essayists, whose origins include the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, bring their many perspectives to bear on what is the most comprehensive and inclusive review of Chinese communication research literature published in English. Of great benefit to Western and Eastern communication theorists, philosophers of social science, and Asian studies scholars, Chinese Communication Theory and Research is an invaluable guide to an increasingly complex and significant field of study.

Communication Theory: Eastern and Western Perspectives focuses on the processes, methodologies, principles, and approaches involved in communication theory. The selection first elaborates on Asian perspectives on communication theory; Chinese philosophy and contemporary human communication theory; communication in Chinese narrative; and contemporary Chinese philosophy and political communication. Discussions focus on the structure and function of China's political communication system; philosophical principles of Chinese communism; embodiment of reason in experience; and dialectic completion of relative polarities. The text then examines Korean philosophy and communication, practice of Uye-Ri in interpersonal relationships, and the teachings of Yi Yulgok. The publication examines the double-swing model of intercultural communication between the East and the West; interpersonal cognition, message goals, and organization of communication; and the convergence theory of communication, self-organization, and cultural evolution. The book also ponders on the practice of Antyodaya in agricultural extension communication in India and communication within Japanese business organizations. The selection is a valuable reference for researchers interested in the Eastern and Western perspectives of communication theory.

As the Internet has reshaped the way we communicate, people’s reading has become more fragmented and attention has been directed to a more concise and general form of language that outlines the most important information. This language of the internet, a language system that concentrates on the content of events and public emotions, has emerged and received wide currency. This monograph is one of the first books to examine the language of the internet in the Chinese context. By analysing content and discourse, the author examines Chinese website buzzwords since 2010. She reveals the mechanisms of generation, the cultural nature and political characteristics of the network language, analyzes the causes of its emergence and popularity, and highlights its social and academic significance. Meanwhile, she argues that research in the area is essentially interdisciplinary, involving not only perspectives from Journalism and Communication Studies, but also Philosophy, Culture, Linguistics and Sociology. Students and scholars of Communication Studies and Journalism, as well as Culture Studies should be greatly interested in this title.

What kinds of human individuals, events, things and commodities can best represent China? How have those representative symbols evolved in Chinese history? How have they been highlighted, disseminated and accepted? In this book, a full range of symbols and seemingly discrete social phenomena, hidden in diverse fields of Chinese society, are given lucid explanations based on the interdisciplinary theories of semiotics and communication. It studies the evolution of classic Chinese symbols through history and investigates the root causes for the communication of negative Chinese images in modern times. Besides, this book explicates the pattern of interaction between groups communication and mass communication in the Chinese society by exploring the different paths of transmutation and communication for the symbol of the "APEC Blue." How the image of China is constructed via non-government symbols is also addressed. By pointing out that classic semiotics has been reduced to an embarrassing dilemma of "a severe lack of historical sense," this book seeks to make Western semiotic findings bear closely on Chinese social reality and accomplish an updated contribution to this academic discipline. This book will appeal to scholars and students of semiotics and communication. Readers who are interested in modern Chinese society will also benefit from it.

This book discusses the effect of communication strategies in the course of China’s national image building from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. The research data are collected via researcher’s in-depth observation as well as focus group analysis and case study of selected Chinese radio and TV networks. On the basis of the empirical study and drawing on theories of international communication and political communication, this book also introduces an analytical framework that can be used to evaluate the effect of communication strategies in practice. Especially, the framework is applied to systematically analyze the formation and application of Chinese Communist Party’s communication strategy with an aim at improving the national image and increasing its global influence. This book is of interest to graduate students and researchers who are interested in the broadcast communication in China.

The rise of postmodern theories and pluralist thinking has paved the way for multicultural approaches to communication studies and now is the time for decentralization, de-Westernization, and differentiation. This trend is reflected in the increasing number of communication journals with a national or regional focus. Alongside this proliferation of research output from outside of the mainstream West, there is a growing discontent with communication theories being “Westerncentric”. Compared with earlier works that questioned the need to distinguish between the Western and the non-Western, and to build “Asian” communication theories, there seems to be greater assertiveness and determination in searching for and developing theoretical frameworks and paradigms that take consideration of, and therefore are more relevant to, the cultural context in which research is accomplished. This path-breaking book moves beyond critiquing “Westerncentrism” in media and communication studies by examining where Eurocentrism has come from, how is it reflected in the study of media and communication, what the barriers and solutions to de-centralizing the production of theories are, and what is called for in order to establish Asian communication theories.

Many varying factors contribute to the dynamics of Chinese communication, which both resembles and differs from its Western counterparts. In this provocative new collection of essays, an international group of scholars challenges the conventional notion of Chinese culture as static, recognizing the causes of cultural change and strategies of resistance. Examining communication contexts in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Chinese Communication Studies: Context and Comparisons considers the relationship between culture and communication in Chinese political, gender, family, and media contexts, providing the reader with insight both into how enduring Chinese cultural values are, and how they are being appropriated to meet political and economic goals. Moreover, comparisons and distinctions are made between Chinese and Western communication concepts and practices on the issues of human rights, world opinions, pedagogical approaches, and instruction of rhetoric. In a work sure to be of value to many disciplines, the authors trace the historical development of ideas and value systems of both cultures, rendering an understanding of similarities and differences in both communication and cultural mindsets.