Pathways of intercultural communication research. How different research communities of communication scholars deal with the topic of intercultural communication

Abstract

The following article deals with intercultural communication research as a (potential) subfield of communication studies. The broader aim is to contribute to the history as well as to the systematization of the field of intercultural communication research. The author is mapping three very different national research communities: Germany, France and the US. The main question is: Why, in each of the countries under comparison, do communication studies deal so differently with the subject of intercultural communication as a research topic and/or field? The methodology is comparative and focuses on the differences and similarities in the three national communities of communication studies and research. Both the German and the French communication researchers look closely (but again differently and completely in ignorance of each other) at US research. It appears that research traditions and general trends of mainstreaming in communication studies are highly influential as gatekeepers or barriers to intercultural communication research as a subfield of communication studies.