The Asiacentric Idea in Communication:Understanding the Significance of a Paradigm

Abstract

The Asiacentric paradigm has been subjected to deconstructive and destructive criticisms in recent years. Critics of Asiacentricity have generated problematic and misleading discourse about the nature, content, and goal of the Asiacentric project. The Asiacentric idea is discredited on the grounds that the word Asia is not of Asian origin. Asiacentricity is mistakenly equated with Asian ethnocentrism, essentialism, and exceptionalism. It is also falsely projected as an Asian version of Eurocentrism even when the ideological ascendency of Westernness still prevails. Furthermore, Asiacentric studies of Asian cultures and communication are treated as culture-specific research endeavors that completely ignore the perspectives of cultural outsiders. The purpose of the present article is to correct these misconceptions and misunderstandings of the Asiacentric metatheory while clarifying what Asiacentricity is and what it is not.