Language in extreme situations: experience with intercultural dialogue

Abstract

If intercultural thought has not had greater social influence, it is because it has not shared with the general public the instruments to untangle the conceptual knots that prevent intercultural communication and most people suffer the effects of these mental knots, but they cannot unknot them because they lack the information and experiential experiences that support it to do so. They are too immersed in their own culture, with their prejudices and beliefs or simply lack intellectual effort and dedication, which is considerable. This is a practical introduction to intercultural thinking that aims to address this demand, which is surely real and that not only occurs for those of us who start in this dialogue of globalized culture, but also for those of the opposite pole, of the heirs of ancestral cultures, who also do not have the intellectual means to reflect on their culture and their mechanisms. For example, their languages lack the notion of symbol, and so they cannot categorize symbolic or metaphorical uses, and it is much more difficult to distinguish them from literal senses. This makes them very susceptible to having to accept explanations for their immediate value, without recognizing the symbolic character. And on another level, it is also difficult to recognize the character of model or logical prototype of certain divine characters, for example, and in general to distinguish logical patterns of everyday uses. And then, the demand for explanations also exists on this indigenous side, because it is not enough to follow the instructions and procedures of their culture to be able to understand why rituals can be effective and why symbolic manipulation works, it is not enough to insert oneself into customs to recognize what the design of culture is.