Theories
How should we think about the viral spread of information in the digital age? In this graduate research post, Peng Wenxuan explores what Chinese microblogs and messaging services might tell us about new forms of communication.
In this graduate research report, Mariëlle de Goede discusses her work on Chinese blogs and how they might function as utopian works of the imagination.
This post will introduce you to the theory of semiotics. Using examples from East Asia, it explains key words of this "science of the sign", and shows why semiotics might be a useful way to conceptualize political communication, whether in East Asia or elsewhere.
Is the way we understand mass communication content entirely subjective, or are there patterns in movies, TV broadcasts, pop music, or mass events that lend themselves to analysis? This post discusses what characterizes communication, and why media content analysis is a useful approach to understanding mass-communicated political discourse.
Watch this video blog for an introduction to discourse analysis, including many examples from actual research.
If you are new to discourse theory, this post will help you get your bearings. It introduces several definitions of discourse and discusses how they relate to theoretical concepts.
