Lualhati S. Angeles II

1|Page VIEWING COMMUNICATION ONFROM AN ASIAN PERSPECTIVE A discussion paper on Asian communication theories LUALHATI S. ANGELES II Formatted: Centered College of Development Communication University of the Philippines Los Baños March 27, 2016 Formatted: Centered 2|Page Dichotomy and Dualism. These are terms that describe the “common” viewpoint of the world. There is always an invisible yet recognizable line between good and evil, male and female, the night and the day, the East and the West. This inevitably divides the world in the ideological sense. From this writer’s own introduction, this could be interpreted in the nature of dialectics, upon which Kant introduced his philosophical doctrine of dualism. /1 Kant regards material and spiritual substances as equal principles in dualism. For instance, psycho-physical parallelism based its theory from Kant’s idea. It believes mental and bodily experiences occur in tandem with each other, not the interaction between the body and the mind. In other words, the mind and body are two independent phenomena but cannot be separated from one another – like two sides of a coin (underscoring mine). In contrast to “equality,” “parallelism”, and “independence” of dualism from the point-ofview of the West, as represented by Kant, “yin” and “yang” in Chinese philosophy describes how opposite or contrary forces are actually “complementary”, “interconnected”, and “interdependent” in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. /2 And so, tangible dualities, e.g. man and woman, fire and water, or day and night, are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. This writer, thus, within the aforementioned introduction, seeks to find out if there are variations in the definitions of dichotomy (by way of contrast and contradiction) and dualism from the viewpoints of the West and East in the art or science of communication as well. Commented [adm1]: 3|Page To facilitate this discussion, the two cultures involved will be called East and West, and consequently, the people as Orientals and Westerners. The dualism mentioned above was cradled in the beliefs and culture of the Westerners brought about by a combination of attitude (the way one thinks), perception (the way the world is defined), experience (feats during a lifetime), and human nature (the underlying behavior that defines us as human beings). Westerners have established the thought that all discoveries and development sprung from the West, and everything else were that of the concept of “others.” European and American explorers went out to discover a world with the mindset that their explorations underscore another dichotomy on the privilege of birth‒ to be civilized and uncivilized. Going back a century ago, despite unearthing many evidences of the richness and vastness of culture and traditions, the heritage from the Orient is not considered as “wealthy” by “ civilized world” standards. Things Orient were considered subordinate to that of the Westerners due to the latter’s colonial history of domination. This reflected how the Westernized mind works. Westerners are more apt to be organized and methodical, as with documentation, while on the other hand, Orientals are stereotyped to be more inclined to live the day, retrospective, and guided by their fate to determine the future. Moreover, Westerners are said 4|Page to be power-driven, proud, and individualistic, while Orientals strive for primeval communal harmony and humility among fellow men. As part of a community’s culture and tradition, communication is viewed differently from the two points of view as well. The most common definition of communication is that it is a process. This is what most communication students, and even non-communication students, have been taught in their general education classes,. This definition originated from the Western thoughts of Schramm, Dance, Berlo and their counterparts. However, Craig has reiterated that communication must not be seen as a process, nor it be a tool for the message to be passed from one point to another. Communication is a way of life, and it is a reflection of a society’s culture and tradition. Communication theories have mostly evolved worldwide on western thoughts and concepts. Recently, a number of scholars and professionals have opened the doors to viewing communication from a different perspective: the Asian point of view. This spawned a new set of communication theories that were contrasting from the norm. More than the elements of the communication theories, a much deeper exploration of the Asian culture has been interconnected and complemented to the structure of the communication process, likened to the manifests of yin and yang. . Communication through the Asian point of view does not necessarily debunk nor separate itself from Western theories. In fact, Asian studies on communication even underscore the importance of studying hand-in-hand with Western theories. In more ways than one, the Asian perspective on communication 5|Page reflects not only the culture of the region, but as well as the mindset of the people in it. Dissayanake (2009) laid stress on Asian theories of communication to be able to explain in an incisive and insightful manner on how, we, Asians think and communicate. Through our culture, we are able to reflect how our communication works and how communication is molded. More than that, our culture and traditions hold the key to show how communication becomes the heart of our society. Craig also emphasizes the need to look at communication not as a tool; it is an entity of its own. Communication exists, therefore, it is real. Eurocentric approaches to communication have always linked power knowledge as the nexus. Michael Foucault emphasized that power cannot be obtained without the necessary knowledge needed (Mason, 2016). In the western approach, communication is described as a process wherein a sender uses a channel to transfer a message towards a receiver. Here, the sender is usually represented as the actor who is in charge of the situation. In the Asian perspective, communication is born, reflected and as one in the society based on how similar it is to the way of living, culture and tradition found in many studies of ancient texts, and indigenous communities. The need to focus on the Asian approach to communication arises as there is also a need to define the Asian culture. It is not merely what is “not Western” as what we are accustomed or trained to think. Going back to a few decades, the educational system in the Philippines was dominated by the “American dream,” where students were oriented and shown that the best 6|Page life can only be found in the United States. The effect of this system resonated in the mindset of millions of Asian immigrants in the US. It was, back then, a social status to be able to work and live in the United States. Pioneer Filipino immigrants dutifully accepted their fate as the White Man’s burden, on the belief that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds, until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. Besides this, culture and traditions in the Asian region have been “westernized” or underwent a process of acculturation rousing from reticence a burgeoning protest among the small indigenous groups against this strong influence and dominion occurring especially in what were considered the “developed” areas. This comes hand in hand with the idea that developing societies and former colonies can be categorized as such based on how “they ought to be” by comparing them to the western sphere as paradigm. The term “developed” is not based on being able to fulfill the independent criteria created by an indigenous or specific society. This is the same on the way we think of who we ought to be as colonial subjects. “Orientalism” is a lowly term that was designated by the subalterns of Western colonialism. Even the mindset that Western culture is superior to the Oriental culture was only fed by those who conquered Asia to justify expansion and annexation. Going back to the Asian approach to communication, it should be studied in the context of Asia. As communication is interdependent, “a lifeblood of societies” (Dissayanake, 2009), it should be 7|Page interwoven with its culture and tradition. Communication can be seen through the different artifacts, religion, rituals, literature, symbols and structures of the society. In Buddhism, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication are expressed and shown as medium of an object or event arising in “functional dependence” (Dissayanake). Another Asiacentric philosophy that reflects the “being” of communication is that of India, where everything is believed to be related to each other. More than that, words are never simple in the Asian perspective. Words are not merely symbols of the objects they represent, but it is beyond the objects, being defined as an idea or a thought as well. Anandavardhana describes the three potencies of language: to signify primary meanings, to express secondary meanings, and to suggest meanings. All these are taken into consideration in the essence of a word from the Asian perspective of communication theories. Asian communication studies also take into consideration the politico-socio-economic diversity of Asia, as complement to US-Eurocentric communication studies. Accordingly, the Asian studies of communication are centered on three themes: reciprocity, other-directedness and harmony. Instead of the power-driven Eurocentric point of view of communication, Asian perspectives are focused on interrelationships in the society. Asians are known for being hospitable, enthusiastic, and peace-loving societies. Thus, communication is also focused on being able to bring about the best from each other instead of outclassing each other. A challenge in the development of Asian perspectives is to continuously invent or reinvent communication theories based on the people’s territorial integrity. Culture and 8|Page language are even in danger of transcription. The significant and historical languages of the Asian region are syntactically distinct from the dominant languages of the West. The foreign researcher could only express his difficulty of understanding ambiguous, flowery and metaphoric semantics. . Rules of transcription and/or translation cannot just be used and applied to different outlooks and thoughts. More than that, a figure of speech in the language of local communities must not be translated literally in the context of a foreign language. Its meaning may deviate from its true essence or even suggest a totally different signified. It may face various complications such as the availability of authentic evidences and recordings of indigenous discourse, whether in day-to-day or folkloric communication. Material heritage may have been destroyed or still unearthed. Security of raw and processed data on indigenous communication and culture continuous to be in peril. Recently, the repository of research on Philippine culture, literature, linguistics, history, and anthropology was burned and reduced to ashes in the Faculty Center of U.P. Diliman. Be that as it may, the ,underlying mission of the pro-active and grounded communicator is to relentlessly delve into the indigenous concepts and ideas of one’s country in relation to its Asian neighbors to be able to explain how communication works in the region. 9|Page END NOTES: 1/ Kant on dualism, A Dictionary of Philosophy (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1967), 130. 2/ Definition of Yin and Yang by Mark Cartwright, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 26 November 2012, http://www.ancient.eu/Yin_and_Yang/ may face various problems such as the availability of authentic evidences from the past. Many of the works may have been destroyed or still unearthed. Another challenge in the aim to create communication theories based on the Asian perspective is the danger of translation. The languages of the Asian region are ambiguous, flowery and metaphoric. Rules of translation cannot just be used and applied to the different thoughts. More than that, a figure 10 | P a g e of speech may not be translated with another. The meaning may be deviated from its true