Postcolonial interventions in intercultural communication knowledge: Meta-intercultural ontologies, decolonial knowledges and epistemological polylogue

ABSTRACT

The dominant “Western” episteme in intercultural communication knowledge exemplifies the ascendancies and silences produced by modern science that grants credibility to northern “regimes of truth”. This paper makes a case for meta-intercultural ontologies as a frame of reference that is informed by the principles of post-colonial theory and intercultural philosophy. This orientation is underpinned by 1) the reconsideration of intercultural communication knowledge at the epistemological level to expand the horizons of knowledge production; 2) critique the historical Western hegemony over knowledge production and dissemination by examining the impact of power hierarchies and sociopolitical circumstances on academic practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Intercultural communication knowledge
• interculturality research
• meta-Intercultural ontologies
• postcolonial theory
• intercultural philosophy

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the journal’s editor and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on previous drafts of this essay.