COVID-19, Communication and Culture

This book analyses some of the many upheavals brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of the COVID-19-communication-culture interface, with a particular focus on the new global, virtual workplace. It brings together a pluridisciplinary and multinational team of researchers from the fields of sociology and organisational studies, discourse analysis, linguistics, communication and cultural studies, and includes testimonials from actors within the professional sector such as international managers, consultants and foreign trade advisors. The collection examines a wide range of phenomena including communication on the pandemic by public authorities, the pandemic as a discursive construct, the digital turn and its impact on communication, the role of social media, as well as national diplomacy and questions of surveillance, (bio)power and trust. Issues pertaining specifically to the workplace focus on the impact of remote work, including the challenge of building cohesive work relations and managing cultural difference, distance recruitment, the new forms of professional online communication, the future of the remote work model and questions of identity that are underpinned by the culture of professions. It aims to theoretically inform some of the enormous changes which have been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic at multiple levels of our professional and social lives. It concludes with a virtual round-table discussion on the question of cultural difference with respect to both the pandemic itself and work practice. COVID-19, Communication and Culture: Beyond the Global Workplace will be of great interest to academics and professionals interested in the communication and discourse and the cultural impact of COVID-19.

Fiona Rossette-Crake is Professor in the Department of Applied Languages at Université Paris Nanterre, France. Her research explores specialised communication, particularly new forms of public speaking. She is the author of Public Speaking and the New Oratory: A Guide for Non-native Speakers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and numerous journal articles. Elvis Buckwalter is Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Languages at Université Paris Nanterre, France, and Director of Professional English Training at Centre de Techniques Internationales (CTI) and Centre d'Etudes Supérieures du Commerce International (CESCI). His research focuses on international marketing and trade and cultural studies.

Introduction 1. COVID-19, communication, culture and the workplace, multiple spaces, multiple interfaces Part I: Communicating about COVID-19 2. Responding to the pandemic: a discourse analysis approach 3. Wikipedia as a trusted method of information assessment during the COVID-19 crisis 4. Understanding China's "intermestic" online vaccination-themed narrative strategy: towards a "Global community of health for all"? 5. Formulating a discourse of solidarity amid COVID-19: a positive discourse analysis of remarks given by spokespersons from China's foreign ministry 6. COVID-19 and communication through the lens of culture Part II: Communication during COVID-19 7. Why face-to-face communication matters: a comparison of face-to-face and computer-mediated communication 8. COVID-19 and the rise of digitalised spoken communication: the example of webinars 9. Managing multilingual teams in a virtual context 10. Communicating on the job during COVID-19: some professional testimonials Part III: COVID-19 and representations of the workplace 11. Remote work and the contemporary workplace: the example of student internships in the context of France 12. COVID-19 and the culture of professions: issues and tensions in the group of health professionals 13. From privilege to duty: changing media representations of remote work in France, the USA and Estonia 14. International managers and expatriates in the face of the pandemic: impact and cultural issues 15. Working internationally during COVID-19: professional testimonials Postface 16. Concluding virtual round-table discussion: COVID-19, communication, culture and work practice