Cover not available
Article published In:
Explored but not Assumed: Revisiting Commonalities in Asian Pacific Communication
Edited by Hui-Ching Chang and Ling Chen
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 25:1] 2015
► pp. 78–96

“Let the ‘like’ one in”

Five portals to invite similarity into conversations about “differences” in Asian Pacific communication

| Northern Illinois University

This article addresses an ongoing and persistent problem of imbalance between similarity and difference in cultural description by proposing a way to simultaneously explore both similarity and difference, relying on the principles of Russian literary and cultural critic Mikhail Bakhtin. Five principles, employed as sensitizing concepts, are described as portals to allow consideration of cultural similarity into linguistic descriptions of culture: specificity; ownership; tension; open and closed perception; and uncompletedness. These portals are applied to various forms of cultural description to be found in East Asia, including transnational political depictions; cyberactivist protest; and touristic literature. It is concluded that the Bakhtinian ideas offer a convenient and useful means to bring together similarity and difference, with the result that each quality enhances the other.

Keywords: Bakhtin, cultural similarity, cultural difference, individualism-collectivism, dialogism
Published online: 15 June 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.25.1.05hol
References
Bakhtin, M.M
(1981) Discourse in the novel. In M. Holquist (Ed.), The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M. M. Bakhtin (C. Emerson, & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Blumer, H
(1954) What is wrong with social theory? American Sociological Review, 181, 3–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chan, W.-t
(1963) The way of Lao Tzu (Tao-te ching). Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Chao, Y.C
(2014, April 15). How technology revolutionized Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement. The Diplomat. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Chang, H.-c
(2015) Performing Taiwanese identities in the new age: Lessons from the Sunflower Movement (unpublished book manuscript).Google Scholar
Chang, H.-c., & Holt, R
(2014) Language, identity and politics in Taiwan: Naming China. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chang, H.-c., Holt, R., & Luo, L
(2006) Representing East Asians in intercultural communication textbooks: A select review. Review of Communication, 61, 312–328. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cole, M
(2014a, March 31). Hundreds of thousands protest against trade pact in Taiwan. The Diplomat. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
(2014b, July 1). Was Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement successful? The Diplomat. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Errington, F., & Gewertz, D
(1989) Tourism and anthropology in a post-modern world. Oceania, 60(1), 37–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fiske, A.P
(2002) Using individualism and collectivism to compare cultures—a critique of the validity and measurement of the constructs: Comment on Oyserman et al. Psychological Bulletin, 1281, 78–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fodor, E., Fisher, R.C
(Eds.) (1962) Fodor’s guide to Japan and East Asia 1962. New York: David McKay Company Inc.Google Scholar
Fodor, E., Fisher, R.C., & Moore, R
(Eds.) (1976) Fodor’s Japan and Korea. New York: David McKay Comany, Inc.Google Scholar
Fuchs, C
(2014 March 28). This revolution is live. TeaLeafNation. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
The Hofstede Center, Taiwan
Retrieved February 12, 2015, from [URL]
Holquist, M
(1990) Introduction: The architectonics of answerability. In M. Holquist & V. Liapunov (Eds.), Art and answerability (pp. ix–xlix). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Holt, G.R
(1994) The touristic text and sociopolitical struggle: An application of the principles of Mikhail Bakhtin to the study of tour guidebooks of Japan, 1955 to 1991 (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.
Holt, R
(2004) Dialogue on the Internet: Language, civic identity, and computer-mediated communication. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Hsu, H.H
n.d.). China’s bad dream-From Taiwan’s sunflowers to Hong Kong’s umbrellas. The Vanguard. Retrieved February 12, 2015, from [URL]
Ifukor, P
(2010) “Elections” or “selections? Blogging and Twittering the Nigerian 2007 general elections. Bulletin of Technology and Society, 301, 398–414. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kleeberg, B., & Langenohl, A
(2014) “Cultural similarity does not mean that we wear the same shirts”: Similarity and difference in culture and cultural theory (interview with Anil Bhatti). (S. Reinhardt, Trans.) Word and text: A journal of literary studies and linguistics, IV(2), 13–23.Google Scholar
Kluckhohn, F.R., & Strodtbeck, F.L
(1961) Variations in value orientation. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.Google Scholar
Laskai, L.C
(2014, May 5). The transformation of Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement. The Diplomat. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from [URL]Google Scholar
Levy, D.M
(2000) Where’s Waldo? Reflections on copies and authenticity in a digital environment. In C. Cullen, P.B. Levy, C.A. Lynch, & J. Rothenberg (Eds.), Authenticity in a digital environment (pp. 24–31). Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources.Google Scholar
Lim, T.W
(2014) The aesthetics of Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Revolution” in the first ten days: A historical anatomy of the first phase (27 Oct 2014 to 6 October 2014) of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution. East Asia. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Liu, M.-t
(2014, May 5). Appendix split starts its recall drive, Tsai Zheng-yuan and others are the three targets. Taiwan People News. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Morson, G.S
(Ed) (1986) Bakhtin, essays on his dialogues and work. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Morson, G.S., & Emerson, C
(1989) Introduction: Rethinking Bakhtin. In G.S. Morson & C. Emerson (Eds.), Rethinking Bakhtin: Extensions and challenges. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Onsen and bathing
n.d.). Fodor’s Japan travel guide. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from [URL]
Oyserman, D., Coon, H.M., & Kemmelmeier, M
(2002) Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 1281, 3–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Said, E
(1979) Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Solow-Niederman, A.G
(2010) The power of 140 characters? #IranElection and social movements in Web 2.0. Intersect, 3(1), 30–38.Google Scholar
Taras, V., Sarala, R., Muchinsky, P., Kemmelmeier, M., Singelis, T.M., Avsec, A., Coon, H.M., Dinnel, D.L., Gardner, W., Grace, S., Hardin, E.E., Hsu, S., Johnson, J., Karakitapoğlu-Aygün, Z., Kashima, E.S., Kolstad, A., Milfont, T.L., Oetzel, J., Okazaki, S., Probst, T.M., Sato, T., Shafiro, M., Schwartz, S.J., & Sinclair, H.C
(2014) Opposite ends of the same stick? Multi-method test of the dimensionality of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 451, 213–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tufekci, Z., & Wilson, C
(2012) Social media and the decision to participate in political protest: Observations from Tahrir Square. Journal of Communication, 621, 363–379. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., & Jackson, D.D
(1967) Pragmatics of human communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New York: Norton.Google Scholar