Editor-in-Chief Lecture
Author
Professor, University of Imam Sadiq (pbuh), Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The intercultural communication is one of the important fields of communication, which requires more research and attention due to the expansion of intercultural philosophical studies. One of the reasons for the importance of this field is the formation of various communications that play an essential role in the image-building and branding of nations and cultures.
The more objective presence of this type of communication is caused by the mobility and movement of human beings in real and virtual spaces where intercultural communication should expand from the limited circle of face-to-face to everyone-to-everyone communication and do not stop in individual or interpersonal or even group domain.
By the way, one of the important discussions in this field is whether different cultures mean those of other nations, or whether a multicultural society with different people and cultures falls under the intercultural communication category.
The communication between people with different cultures in a society cannot be called intercultural based on the intercultural communication discipline. Probably, one of the reasons is that it is not possible to make a serious distinction between the people of a society dominated by common culture. What distinguish such a society are views, behaviors and rituals that can be affected by the history and geography as well as intergenerational education in particular regions.
Despite the fact that the aforementioned situation has not yet entered the serious discussions of intercultural communication, but it can be said that various topics have been raised in this field that can create a change in the existing perspectives although, some of the definitions in this field are indicative of the scope of examples of intercultural communication in different situations. For brevity, here, a definition is being mentioned and explained.
Fred E. Jandt believes that "intercultural communication emerges at the time when people with different cultures or sub-cultures communicate with each other" (Jandt, 1995: 408). According to him, one of the reasons for intercultural communication is the feeling of being different. He says that "a person strives to know the secrets of intercultural communication when he sees himself different from others in a cultural sense"(Ibid, 1885:7)
In other words, communication between individuals with different cultures or sub-cultures in a wider culture can be called intercultural. One of the reasons for this naming is the feeling of distinction of one person from another. Therefore, the domain of intercultural communication can be much wider than what is being currently discussed in this field of study.
Despite the fact that studies and researches related to intercultural communication has become an important academic discipline in many universities around the world, unfortunately in Iran, which is heavily involved in intercultural communication with different nations, both inside and outside, this field of study has not yet received serious attention either at academic level or social level. What is more regrettable and surprising is very limited authored and translated books in this field.
Taking into account this scenario, the author tried to translate and compile the most important book in the field of intercultural communication by William B. Gudykunst entitled "Theorizing about Intercultural Communication" (Gudykunst, 2016) in two volumes that published by Imam Sadiq University Publications in 2016.
This book contains the most important ideas in the intercultural communication field. In other words, this is an encyclopedia of intercultural communication that has presented theoretical aspects in a wide and comprehensive way.
One of the problems of theoretical topics, especially in their teaching at the university level, is the lack of researches or case studies about related theories. In fact, theoretical approaches are not accompanied by practical studies, and this itself creates a kind of abstract orientation in the mind, which is far from practical utility.
On the other side, their validity can be evaluated by combining theoretical approaches with practical examples, hence; there is possibility of theoretical and practical matching.
By this way, this special issue on Intercultural Communication, the journal has tried to publish a number of articles related to this field in a thematic form, which have been written to a large extent with a practical approach and using intercultural theories; with the hope that professors, researchers and students will make more efforts and enrich this important field of communication with wider research activities.
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