Hybridity, Or The Cultural Logic Of Globalization

Hybridity, the interaction of people and media from different cultures, is a communication-based phenomenon. Drawing on original research from Lebanon to Mexico and analyzing the use of the term in cultural and postcolonial studies (as well as the popular and business media), Marwan Kraidy offers readers a history of the idea and a set of prescriptions for its future use.Kraidy analyzes the use of the concept of cultural mixture from the first century AD to its present application in the academy and the commercial press. The case studies build an argument for understanding the importance of the dynamics of communication, power, and political-economy as well as culture, in situations of hybridity. Suggesting that such an approach will serve as a useful way to examine how media work in international context, he concludes the book by proposing a new method for studying cultural mixture: critical transculturalism.

Marwan M. Kraidy is Assistant Professor of International Communication at the School of International Service, American University.