Postcolonial theory and cross-culturalism : collaborative ‘signposts’ of discursive practices

This paper is a forerunner of a detailed piece of work. It explores the notions of postcolonial theory and cross-culturalism, and whether they can be regarded as collaborative ‘signposts’ of discursive practices. The aim of this paper is to move beyond the contemporary constructs of race, culture and identification and into the arena of hybridity and multiplicity and the constituting and reconstituting of self. In this discussion, I will first outline the notions of postcolonial theory and cross-culturalism, and then explore focal points of collaborative discursive practices. In doing so, I will discuss perceptions of language and discourse and their relationships to postcolonial theory and cross-culturalism. In the context of this topic, I shall use Australia as an example of a diverse community and English as the language being discussed under the term ‘discursive practices’.