De-Westernization and the governance of global cultural connectivity: a dialogic approach to East Asian media cultures

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

In the last two decades, we have witnessed dramatic developments in the production of media cultures and their transnational circulation in non-Western regions. East Asia is one of the key regions in which these alternative cultural expressions flourish, in which cultural mixing and corporate collaboration intensify, and in which intra-regional consumption is set in motion. These developments have posed serious questions about the continuing plausibility of Euro-American cultural domination, and they necessitate the de-Westernization of the study of media and cultural globalization. Yet the degree to which the rise of East Asian media culture challenges West-centred power configurations remains a matter of debate—especially as new configurations of global governance in media culture have emerged which are subtly superseding the East–West binary, and permeating both Western and non-Western regions. This article analyses the rise of East Asian media cultures in terms of the governance of global media culture connectivity, with a particular focus on how the growing regional circulation of media products has promoted dialogic cross-border linkages. The article begins by sketching how the production, circulation, and connectivity of media cultures in East Asia have highlighted new perspectives and experiences in globalization. Homing in on the Japanese context, it then explores how the interplay of three modes of governance in global media culture puts critical limits on the way in which these interlinked media cultures can enhance cross-border dialogue. Specifically, the article examines the collaboration of media and cultural industries, the institutionalization of cultural internationalism, and the growing interest of states in branding the nation via media cultures. While the increasing circulation and consumption of East Asian media cultures have considerably facilitated dialogic connections among people in the region, it is still a matter of debate whether these developments can fundamentally challenge uneven processes of globalization in media cultures and build cross-border dialogue.