Cross-cultural Communication and Cultural Variation

Abstract: In "Cross-cultural Communication and Cultural Variation" Yina Cao discusses the concept of "cultural variation" (Cao Shunqing) as an extension of the discipline of comparative literature. She argues that the concept of cultural variation explains many problems in the field of cross-cultural communication while it can also provide a unique research perspective for the phenomenon of cultural integration. By summarizing and sorting out the problems which need to be solved in "cultural variation" and the core cases of cultural variation (e.g., "journey to the West"), Cao discusses the phenomenon of aphasia in the process of cultural foreignization, cultural transmission, and cultural variation and attempts to imagine a new approach in scholarship in order to explore new theoretical tools for the future of the discipline of comparative literature with the use of Cao’s variation theory.