Analysis on the Problematization of International Relations from the Perspective of Digital Interculturality

Abstract

Digital interculturality refers to the modes by which digital media, translation systems and networked platforms facilitate cross-border encounters in culture. This paper believes that digital interculturality does not only help people of different cultures communicate more easily but also raises problems in international relations by altering the understanding that states, publics and institutions have of identity, trust, conflict and diplomacy. Based on intercultural communication studies, digital media scholarship and an intercultural theory of international relations, this paper shows that digital platforms have increased the visibility, shortened the time, and expanded the circulation of symbols and narratives. Altered circumstances have been created in foreign relations as a result of the above changes. Three levels of a conceptual analysis are introduced in this paper: mediation of meanings, reorganisation of diplomatic interaction, and the emergence of digitally amplified misrecognition and contestation. Therefore, digital interculturality should be understood as a space for communication and, at the same time, as a problem area where the cultural, political and epistemic foundations of international relations can be investigated.