Abstract
Public diplomacy scholarship remains largely confined to English, with limited cross-linguistic engagement, despite the fact that public diplomacy inherently involves communication with foreign publics. To promote inclusivity and dialogue in public diplomacy research, I launched this special issue initiative to explore the literature on public diplomacy in non-English languages. The authors reviewed literature in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, French, Russian, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia. Nearly all the articles highlighted methodological ambiguity or a lack of rigor in the majority of publications in these respective languages. In this editorial, I address two potential explanations for this: 1) the peripheral position of non-English publications in the global knowledge production hierarchy; and 2) potential epistemological American-centrism. Another significant finding is that the countries most frequently mentioned are almost always major countries where the respective language is spoken in a self-reflective way, underscoring the importance of cross-linguistic conversations to enrich the literature. I hope the articles in this special issue will inspire greater interest in “public diplomacy in other words” and encourage more cross-linguistic conversations, ultimately enriching our understanding of public diplomacy theories and practices. Keywords: public diplomacy, systematic literature review, non-English, non-Western international relations, international relations, communication
…
BibTeX citation
@article{ayhan_public_2024,
title = {Public Diplomacy in Other Words: Unpacking the Literature in Non-English Languages},
volume = {4},
issn = {2765-768X},
doi = {10.23045/jpd.2024.4.1.002},
pages = {18--24},
number = {1},
journaltitle = {Journal of Public Diplomacy},
author = {Ayhan, Kadir Jun},
date = {2024}
}