International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Defining communication in Africa as well as the African diaspora is a complex task involving both cultural commonalities and differences. African communication itself reflects a complex mix of cultural values from the cultures and traditions spread across the vast continent (→  Communication as an Academic Field: Africa ; Africa: Media Systems ; Communication Law and Policy: Africa ). While some traditional values have been fervently preserved throughout the continent, the myriad of outside influences, including European colonizers and religious crusaders, cannot be ignored. Similarly, Hecht et al. (2003 , 9) explain that African-American communication builds from a “cultural amalgam of the cultural traditions, values, and norms of the indigenous African slaves as well as the European settlers who laid claim to what we know now as the United States.” Understanding African and African-American communication involves a thorough analysis of this cultural amalgam, understanding the worldviews through cultural codes (e.g., values and norms), processes (e.g., communication patterns and practices), and sense of community. We begin with a discussion of African-American communication. Pioneers in research on African-American communication such as Asante, Blake, Cummings, and DuBois worked to establish it as a salient area of inquiry ( Jackson & Givens 2006 ). Western thought had long ... log in or subscribe to read full text