Routledge Discourses of the Developing World: Researching properties, problems and potentials (Cultural Discourse Studies Series)

Against the backdrop of overwhelming discourse scholarship emanating from the Western cosmopolitan centres, this volume offers a development-centred approach to unfamiliar, marginalized or otherwise disadvantaged discourses of the Third World or the Global South. Written by leading researchers based in Asia, Africa and Latin America, respectively, this book reconstructs Eastern paradigms of communication studies on the one hand and explores the discursive problems, complexities, aspirations, and dynamics of the non-Western, subaltern, and developing societies on the other. As methodological principles, the authors i) adopt the cultural-political stance of supporting cultural diversity and harmony at both academic and everyday levels, ii) draw upon Asian, African and Latino scholarship in critical dialogue with the existing mainstream traditions, and iii) make sense of the discourses of Asia, Africa and Latin America from their own local as well as global, historical and intercultural, perspectives. This book will particularly appeal to scholars and students in the fields of discourse studies, communication and cultural studies, and development studies. Review 'It encouarges cultural equality and diversity in the academic field as well as being a useful resource for those working in the fields of discourse studies, cultural studies and developing country studies in general.' ―  Nan Wu and Jingyuan Zhang, Discourse and Communication 'Several elements make the volume rather attractive, such as a collective authorship, native scholars with wide research experience in the relevant discourses, case studies on socially broad issues and unique cultural perspectives, and tools toward development communication studies. As a whole, it is a well-organized and somewhat an innovative book with a range of merits. First, it provides rich content and selects multifarious local discourses pertinent to “development” from the continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, respectively, which enables both diversity and usefulness. Second, different from most existing researches of development, it adopts multifaceted historical and cultural perspectives to demonstrate the changes of the developing world in many respects, including economy, politics, science, technology, and culture. Third, it is vitally important and significant, though it seems ambitious, that against the mainstream communication studies and critical discourse analysis, the authors strive to construct plural, creative, critical, and non-Western paradigms of discourse studies, such as the nascent paradigm of cultural discourse studies (CDS). [...] I would highly recommend this book to scholars and students who are interested in cultural discourse/communication studies and develop-ment studies.' ― Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Volume 95, Issue 1 About the Author Shi-xu is Changjiang Distinguished Professor, founding Director of the Centre for Discourse and Cultural Studies, Hangzhou Normal University, China. He is founding and former Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Discourse Studies, Zhejiang University, China and has held teaching posts in the Netherlands, the UK and Singapore. Kwesi Kwaa Prah is Professor Emeritus in Sociology of the University of the Western Cape. He is founder and former Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) based in Cape Town, South Africa. María Laura Pardo is Researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Director of the Department of Linguistics at the Philosophical and Cultural Anthropology Research Centre (CIAFIC-CONICET), Professor of Analysis of the Languages of the Mass Media at the Faculty of Arts, University of Buenos Aires.