The "clash Of Civilisations" A Kind Of Communication

The theory of clash of civilizations has been popular ever since it was first coined by Huntington in1993. Despite its theoretical value and worth, there has been not too much in-depth research from an approach of communication. In light of communication analysis and cultural studies, the paper reveals and analyzes the rise and fall of civilizations, cultural identity and cultural differences by revolving around Huntington’s theory of conflict of civilizations. The paper reveals the light the theory sheds on the theory of cross-cultural communication, reexamines the idea of cross-cultural communication in the context of the positives and negatives of the cross-cultural communication of China’s Confucius Institute. The paper includes foreword, body of six chapters and conclusion. The first chapter examines Huntington’s theory of ups and downs in a civilization by covering the history of Huntington’s theoretical view of "culture" and "civilization", thus complementing his theory in light of the ups and downs in a civilization. The second chapter analyzes Huntington’s view of cultural identity by covering the exclusiveness of cultural identity, the evolution pattern of cultural identity and the impact globalization has on cultural identity, pointing out that the dominant western power can still make a big difference in the identity of non-western culture. The third chapter examines the relationship between new media, global communication and cultural identity and reveals the complexity of the current cultural identity in China. The fourth chapter unravels the consistency between western culture and eastern culture in terms of the moral premises for cross-cultural communication and target-oriented communication models by juxtaposing and analyzing the philosophical work of "The Analects of Confucius" and "Phaedrus" in axial age. Furthermore, the paper examines the possibility of cross-cultural dialogues of communication theories on the basis of the consistency. The fifth chapter endeavors to shed some light on the theory of the conflict of civilizations by comparing the Huntingtonian models for cultural communication, the Tianxia models for cultural communication and the Socratesian models for cultural communication in terms of the moral and cultural premises for cross-cultural communication. The sixth chapter analyzes the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of cultural communication in China’s Confucian Schools and proposes that cross-cultural communication is supposed to be based on cultural commonness, cultural spirit and cultural retrospection. In the end, the paper points that Huntington’s theory of conflict of civilizations can shed some light on how to reduce the conflicts in cross-cultural communication, thus leading to cultural integration.