This essay juxtaposes postcolonial and whiteness schola~ship to identify gaps and clarify influences on critical race scholarship within communications studies. The essay considers the multiplicity of each perspective and identifies the focus on race and the body as communicative texts as a linkage that unites the three perspectives. How each perspective informs a communicative understanding of race is explored through the constructs of Cartesian dualism (1968), the performance (Goffman, 1959) and the gaze (Lacan, 1977). The essay concludes by suggesting future directions for interrogating race within the communication discipline that considers a multiplicity of identity factors and that considers how white privilege is extended to and assumed by minority individuals. Articulating Identity 3 Articulating Identity: Refining Postcolonial and Whiteness Perspectives on Race within Communication Studies Race and difference have becomes a focus of critical communication studies as the body is increasingly used as a text to read, theorize, and critique systems of oppression and privilege. Such activity is rooted in perspectives offered by postcolonial and whiteness studies. By juxtaposing postcolonial and whiteness perspectives on one can better see the influence of each perspective upon critical communication thought. Additionally the perspectives elaborate one another by individually illustrating gaps in examining race and difference. This essay will highlight the origins, constructs, and gaps of each approach while articulating how each perspective works to inform communication studies' critical perspectives on race. The Origins of Postcolonial and Whiteness Perspectives The whiteness and postcolonial perspectives speak not with one voice but instead encompasses a variety of voices and traditions. This discussion is not meant to imply that neither is an exclusive area of study. Gandhi (1999, p.3) argues that postcolonial thought crosses disciplines and both eastern and western thought in a way that,"[ ... ] confounds any uniformity of approach." In addition whiteness studies, some argue should be viewed as extending postcolonial thought (Hytten and Adkins, 2002) where scholars argue that postcolonial studies has failed to effectively interrogate whiteness (Nakayama, and Krizek, 1995; Supriya, 1999). In a similar way the origins of each perspective are not singular in nature. Many argue that Said's (1978) Orienta/ism: Western Conceptions of the Orient is the catalyst for postcolonial thought. Gandhi (1999) argues that Said's work came about as poststructuralism and Marxism were challenging structures of privilege. Postcolonial thought includes a broad array of academics and artists whose works examine the experience of Articulating Identity 4 postcolonial life including the impact of colonial oppression. Postcolonial encompasses a need for self-reflection to assess the hybridized nature of the culture and character produced through the colonial undertaking. Looking at structures of oppression such as the colonizer's l...

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