Identity and culture in theorising African perspectives of communication: The case of an African cinematic model

Abstract

Since communication refers to the sharing of information by any effective means, there is no doubt it entails the ability to make meaning of realities. In this sense, communication is cultural as much as it is human. Since that is the case, its theories cannot be fabricated in the abstract, but must be anchored in people's everyday lifestyles and cultures. Hence, like every other discipline, Africanising communication science is as much a possibility as theorising its perspectives from African contexts and experiences. Focusing on the negative challenges confronting the continent might make scholars see only the difficulties that problematise the application of theories to Africa's reality, which only betrays the Anglo-American stereotypical views of the continent. The argument is made here that the starting point of any theory of communication has to lie with the identity and culture of those involved in the communication process. Specifically by using selected films from Africa, this author considers the exploration of African identity and culture (from a bottom-up paradigm) as the primary starting point to tease out relevant theories of communication for and from an African cultural context.     

论国家的承认安全

维护安全构成国家行为的基础和重要动机。国家安全至少涵盖现实维度的物质安全和理念维度的身份安全。国家身份安全的核心内涵是国家身份的外在肯定性与内在稳定性共同铸造出的身份确定性。只有同时获得本体安全与承认安全,国家才能确保其身份安全。承认安全是指,行为体持有的有关其本质属性的自我理解因为得到他者承认而产生的一种满足感,这种满足感具有双重来源：一是行为体的基本承认需求得以实现,二是行为体的身份生成顺利开展。承认安全得以建立的基础是行为体自我理解与他者理解之间的一致性带来的自我肯定,这种自我肯定是行为体既满足承认需求、又实现身份生成所产生的共同的积极结果,因此构成行为体满足感的直接来源,从而确保了其承认安全感;反之,承认不安全的来源就是自我理解与他者理解之间的非一致性带来的自我怀疑,这种自我怀疑是行为体无法满足承认需求和身份生成受阻所产生的共同的消极结果,阻断了行为体满足感的形成,从而导致其产生承认不安全感。承认不安全将使国家滋生以不确定性为特征的焦虑情绪和以报复冲动为主导的怨恨情感,在二者的复合作用下,国家将作出具有高度不确定性的破坏性行为。俄罗斯与土耳其国家身份建构历程中的承认安全问题及其国际后果,可以对有关承认安全的理论发现提供初步经验验证。     

俄罗斯民族认同中的政治文化指向

俄罗斯民族和国家形成的过程也是俄罗斯民族认同形成的过程，东正教和专制制度分别为民族认同提供了文化和政治方面的基础。在这个过程中，俄罗斯民族的思想也逐渐成熟，以东正教和专制制度思想为特征的政治文化是其中的重要内容。俄罗斯民族正是依靠这种独特的政治文化基础，形成内部自我认同，确立外部自我形象，在众多认同标准中以此为主要指向。     

文化认同:促进中蒙合作与发展的关键

目前中国与蒙古国的双边合作总体发展顺利,但仍面临着来自多方面的挑战,尤其是要应对文化多样性的挑战。要进一步提升中国与蒙古国的双边合作水平,必须充分认识并发挥文化认同的作用,通过文化认同的成功运用消除双方合作的各种障碍,解决好跨境民族之间的共享文化建设,构建和谐的中蒙合作环境。     

中菲民间组织的交流与合作：对现状与前景的初步探讨

本文对中菲民间组织合作交流的现状、存在的主要问题以及合作前景进行了初步探讨,指出中菲民间组织应在加强组织建设、能力建设、发展战略以及关系到双方切身利益的问题与领域进行紧密合作,促进双方社会的和谐发展。     

宁夏利通区乳牛育成期钙 磷盈亏状况调查

对宁夏吴忠市利通区 14个养牛场 (户 )进行了乳牛育成期钙、磷营养状况调查 ,测定了饲料钙、磷含量及育成期乳牛血中钙、磷、羟脯氨酸、碱性磷酸酶、甲状旁腺素、降钙素含量。结果表明 ,养牛小户的乳牛钙、磷代谢基本正常 ;散户、大户和中户的乳牛血钙不足 ;散户的乳牛血磷偏高 ,钙、磷比例失调。相关分析表明 ,钙与磷、甲状旁腺素呈中度正相关 ,相关系数分别为 0 .4 80、0 .4 5 0 ,钙与碱性磷酸酶呈中度负相关 ,相关系数为 - 0 .6 76 ;磷与羟脯氨酸呈中度正相关 ,相关系数为 0 .4 44。碱性磷酸酶与降钙素呈中度正相关 ,相关系数为 0 .4 85。降钙素处于正常范围 ,平均数为 4 .5 0 pmol/L± 6 .4 7pmol/L ,95 %的置信区间为 1.77～ 7.2 3pmol/L。     

Relationship Management with Managers of Countrywide Offices of SEESA: A Case Study

Employees are a crucial stakeholder group for organisations since they determine the degree to which they achieve their goals. It is therefore necessary to build strong relationships with the workforce to encourage employee engagement, which implies that employees’ individual goals are aligned to those of the organisation. To build strong relationships, internal communication should be managed strategically. However, when an organisation has offices around the country, internal relationship management can be impeded, which adversely affects the entity attaining its goals. In this qualitative study, the case of SEESA, a national labour law organisation specialising in providing legal services to employers, was investigated to determine the way in which it manages relationships with its nationwide managers. A mixed-method approach was followed, using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to gather data. The findings indicated that, despite studies elsewhere indicating a communication and relationship building strategy as a prerequisite for building strong organisation-employee relationships, the outcomes of such relationships can be present without a formal internal communication strategy. This can occur provided the organisation is inclined towards a symmetrical world view, has an open culture and encourages two-way communication with top management. Suggestions for managing relationships with employees in nationwide offices are made.     

A Dialogic Analysis of Audiences’ Interactions on Online Media Sites in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Zimbabwean mainstream media has been profoundly polarised by two significant camps, namely the pro-government and anti-government media. Public opinion has primarily split between the binary ideological alignments of these two camps. The heavily censored political environment in Zimbabwe since the imposition of the Public Order and Security Act 11:17 (and regulated in a multiplicity of overt and covert ways) resulted in political expressive space being constrained. Online media, however, has created alternative media spaces and contexts that are far more enabling to audiences when it comes in dialogic co-production of meaning and new or alternative value positions to those advanced by traditional media. This article explores the negotiation of meaning by online readers of the state-owned daily, The Herald. Dialogism theory is used to explore discourse and ideological interaction occurring between mass media and its audiences in the news website comments section and how online communication is in fact a reciprocal social practice that is both modelled and remodelled through processes of co-production and negotiation of meaning. The research also takes into account the naming practices that the participants employ in their online interaction.     

华商网络内部信息交流机制研究

华商网络的成功,来自于其内部的信息交流与合作机制,它对于克服现实中大量存在的非正式贸易与投资壁垒起着非常重要的作用;“五缘关系”是华商网络内部信息交流机制的核心,在此基础上形成了多种交流方式与渠道,而且多种交流方式之间可以相互重合;华商网络内部区分成员的标准越松散,那么成员的信息交流与合作就变得越为困难,但如果区分成员的标准过于严格的话,又会造成华商网络规模过小,从而不利于华商之间的合作。     

南海丝绸之路最早始发港合浦兴衰史考证

本文利用相关史料记载和考古研究成果,并参考相关学者的研究,论述了南海丝绸之路最早的始发港之一——合浦在两汉时期的发展和繁荣,以及为中国对外贸易和交流作出的重要贡献,说明今广西沿海地区历史上与东南亚地区等海外地区的海上贸易联系由来已久。同时指出,随着中国一东盟自由贸易区的发展,南海丝绸之路迎来了发展的新契机。如何将广西沿海地区的发展融入到中国的发展和中国-东盟区域合作中,以及如何利用这样的新契机来促进广西沿海地区的新发展,是研究者应该思考和探索的问题。     

Digital Fit as a Leg-Up for Nongovernmental Organizations’ Media and Political Success

Two important and understudied dimensions of the interaction between politics and the digital revolution are the impact of digital technology on the ability of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to win more media coverage and to successfully influence the political processes. This original quantitative comparison of 50 Israeli NGOs examined two main issues: the impact of technology on the ability of organizations to achieve mass media and political success and whether some groups are better positioned than others to exploit technology to their advantage. A theoretical concept labeled digital fit was introduced and put to a statistical test using data from a survey of 50 NGO leaders and a survey of 15 key politicians who were asked to rank the political impact of organizations they are familiar with from relevant parliamentary committees they are members of. Digital fit is defined as a cluster of digitally related variables that puts political actors in a better position to harness digital technology to self-produce and self-distribute multimedia messages for the purpose of advocating their cause to mass media outlets and politicians. A prospective dimension of digital fit is its potential to stimulate power shifts between the old guard of successful political-communication actors and a new breed of successful challengers. Results showed that digital fit had a strong positive direct effect on mass media success and a mediated influence on political success. There are positive signs that conventional models are shifting in a way that empowers new political actors.