This book analyses local actors agency in implementing official cultural diplomacy (CD) activities, using Japan as a case to show how the nation is presented to Spanish-speaking audiences. Drawing on qualitative methods, the book argues that CD activities undergo a process of localisation, whereby local actors strategically adapt and modify official narratives. This localisation highlights both the agency of local actors and a gap little explored in the CD literature between official diplomatic narratives and their actual manifestation at the local level. The book further explains why these narrative adjustments occur and how they foster deeper audience engagement, dialogue, and mutual understanding.
Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: An Introduction Local Actors and the Localisation of Cultural Diplomacy.-Chapter 2: Cultural Diplomacy and Local Actors.-Chapter 3: Everything Goes According to the Plan: Central Authorities and their Expectations and Japan s Cultural Diplomacy.-Chapter 4: Localisation of Cultural Diplomacy.-Chapter 5: Japan s CD for Spanish-speaking Audiences: Localisation of the Practice.-Chapter 6: Japan s Off-script Cultural Diplomacy: Departing from the Expected Plan .-Chapter 7 Conclusion: Off-script CD and its Potential
Daniel Veloza-Franco, PhD, is a Research Associate at Monash University and the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on public and cultural diplomacy, foreign policy, and Latin American politics.
