Welsch transculturality puzzling form of cultures today 1999.docx
- 文档编号:12064209
- 上传时间:2023-04-16
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:19
- 大小:31.39KB
Welsch transculturality puzzling form of cultures today 1999.docx
《Welsch transculturality puzzling form of cultures today 1999.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Welsch transculturality puzzling form of cultures today 1999.docx(19页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
Welschtransculturalitypuzzlingformofculturestoday1999
WolfgangWelsch,“Transculturality–thePuzzlingFormofCulturesToday,”inSpacesofCulture:
City,Nation,World,ed.MikeFeatherstoneandScottLash(London:
Sage,1999),pp.194-213.
WolfgangWelsch
Transculturality-thePuzzlingFormofCulturesToday
“Whenwethinkoftheworld'sfuture,wealwaysmeanthedestinationitwillreachifitkeepsgoinginthedirectionwecanseeitgoinginnow;itdoesnotoccurtousthatitspathisnotastraightlinebutacurve,constantlychangingdirection.”
LudwigWittgenstein,CultureandValue,1929
InthefollowingIwanttopresentaconceptofculturewhich,Ithink,isappropriatetomostculturestoday:
theconceptoftransculturality.Iwillcontrastitwiththreeotherconcepts:
firstwiththeclassicalconceptofsingleculturesandthenwiththemorerecentconceptsofinterculturalityandmulticulturality.Ibelievetheconceptoftransculturalitytobethemostadequateconceptofculturetoday-forbothdescriptiveandnormativereasons.
I.Thetraditionalconceptofsinglecultures
Asiswellknown,thetraditionalconceptofsinglecultureswasparadigmaticallyandmostinfluentiallydevelopedinthelate18thcenturybyJohannGottfriedHerder,especiallyinhisIdeasonthePhilosophyoftheHistoryofMankind.Manyamongusstillbelievethisconcepttobevalid.
Theconceptischaracterizedbythreeelements:
bysocialhomogenization,ethnicconsolidationandinterculturaldelimitation.Firstly,everycultureissupposedtomouldthewholelifeofthepeopleconcernedandofitsindividuals,makingeveryactandeveryobjectanunmistakableinstanceofpreciselythisculture.Theconceptisunificatory.Secondly,cultureisalwaystobethe“cultureofafolk”,representing,asHerdersaid,“theflower”ofafolk’sexistence(Herder,1966:
394[13,VII]).Theconceptisfolk-bound.Thirdly,adecideddelimitationtowardstheoutsideensues:
Everycultureis,asthecultureofonefolk,tobedistinguishedandtoremainseparatedfromotherfolks’cultures.Theconceptisseparatory.
Allthreeelementsofthistraditionalconcepthavebecomeuntenabletoday.First:
Modernsocietiesaredifferentiatedwithinthemselvestosuchahighdegreethatuniformityisnolongerconstitutiveto,orachievableforthem(andtherearereasonabledoubtsastowhetheriteverhasbeenhistorically).T.S.Eliot’sNeo-Herderianstatementfrom1948,thatcultureis“thewholewayoflifeofapeople,frombirthtothegrave,frommorningtonightandeveninsleep”(Eliot,1948:
31),hastodaybecomeanobviouslyideologicaldecree.Modernsocietiesaremulticulturalinthemselves,encompassingamultitudeofvaryingwaysoflifeandlifestyles.Thereareverticaldifferencesinsociety:
thecultureofaworking-quarter,awell-to-doresidentialdistrict,andthatofthealternativescene,forexample,hardlyexhibitanycommondenominator.Andtherearehorizontaldivisions:
genderdivisions,differencesbetweenmaleandfemale,orbetweenstraightandlesbianandgaycanconstitutequitedifferentculturalpatternsandlifeforms.-Soalreadywithrespecttothisfirstpoint,thetraditionalconceptofcultureprovestobefactuallyinadequate:
itcannotcopewiththeinnercomplexityofmoderncultures.
Secondly,theethnicconsolidationisdubious:
Herdersoughttoenvisageculturesasclosedspheresorautonomousislands,eachcorrespondingtoafolk'sterritorialareaandlinguisticextent.Culturesweretoresidestrictlywithinthemselvesandbeclosedtotheirenvironment.Butasweknow,suchfolk-bounddefinitionsarehighlyimaginaryandfictional;theymustlaboriouslybebroughttoprevailagainsthistoricalevidenceofintermingling;andtheyare,moreover,politicallydangerous,aswearetodayexperiencingalmostworldwide.
Finally,theconceptdemandsouterdelimitation.Herdersays:
“Everythingwhichisstillthesameasmynature,whichcanbeassimilatedtherein,Ienvy,strivetowards,makemyown;beyondthis,kindnaturehasarmedmewithinsensibility,coldnessandblindness;itcanevenbecomecontemptanddisgust.”(Herder,1967a:
45)-SoHerderdefendsthedoubleofemphasisontheownandexclusionoftheforeign.Thetraditionalconceptofcultureisaconceptofinnerhomogenizationandouterseparationatthesametime.Putharshly:
Ittends-asaconsequenceofitsveryconception-toasortofculturalracism.Thespherepremissandthepuritypreceptnotonlyrenderimpossibleamutualunderstandingbetweencultures,buttheappealtoculturalidentityofthiskindfinallyalsothreatenstoproduceseparatismandtopavethewayforpoliticalconflictsandwars.
Tosumthisup:
Theclassicalmodelofcultureisnotonlydescriptivelyunserviceable,butalsonormativelydangerousanduntenable.Whatiscalledfortodayisadeparturefromthisconceptandtothinkofculturesbeyondthecontrapositionofownnessandforeignness–“beyondboththeheterogeneousandtheown”,asAdornoonceputit(Adorno,1984:
192).
II.InterculturalityandMulticulturality
Arethen,perhaps,theconceptsofinterculturalityandmulticulturalitymoreabletoprovideanappropriateconceptoftoday’scultures?
Theyapparentlytrytoovercomesomeflawsofthetraditionalconceptbyadvocatingamutualunderstandingofdifferentcultures.Yettheyare,asIwillargue,almostasinappropriateasthetraditionalconceptitself,becausetheystillconceptuallypresupposeit.
1.Interculturality
Theconceptofinterculturalityreactstothefactthataconceptionofculturesasspheresnecessarilyleadstointerculturalconflicts.Culturesconstitutedasspheresorislandscan,accordingwiththelogicofthisconception,donothingotherthancollidewithoneanother.Their“circlesofhappiness”must,asHerdersaid,“clash”(Herder,1967a:
46);culturesofthiskindmustignore,defameorcombatoneanother.
Theconceptionofinterculturalityseekswaysinwhichsuchculturescouldneverthelessgetonwith,understandandrecognizeoneanother.Butthedeficiencyinthisconceptionoriginatesinthatitdragsalongwithitunchangedthepremissofthetraditionalconceptionofculture.Itstillproceedsfromaconceptionofculturesasislandsorspheres.Forjustthisreason,itisunabletoarriveatanysolution,sincetheinterculturalproblemsstemfromtheisland-premiss.Theclassicalconceptionofculturecreatesbyitsprimarytrait-theseparatistcharacterofcultures-thesecondaryproblemofastructuralinabilitytocommunicatebetweenthesescultures.Thereforethisproblemcan,ofcourse,notbesolvedonthebasisofthisveryconception.Therecommendationsofinterculturality,albeitwell-meant,arefruitless.Theconceptdoesnotgettotherootoftheproblem.Itremainscosmetic.
2.Multiculturality
Theconceptofmulticulturalityissurprisinglysimilartotheconceptofinterculturality.Ittakesuptheproblemswhichdifferentcultureshavelivingtogetherwithinonesociety.Buttherewiththeconceptbasicallyremainsintheductofthetraditionalunderstandingofculture;itproceedsfromtheexistenceofclearlydistinguished,inthemselveshomogenouscultures-theonlydifferencenowbeingthatthesedifferencesexistwithinoneandthesamestatecommunity.
Theconceptseeksopportunitiesfortoleranceandunderstanding,andforavoidanceorhandlingofconflict.Thisisjustaslaudableasendeavourstowardsinterculturality-butequallyinefficient,too,sincefromthebasisofthetraditionalcomprehensionofculturesamutualunderstandingoratransgressionofseparatingbarrierscannotbeachieved.Asdailyexperienceshows,theconceptofmulticulturalityacceptsandevenfurtherssuchbarriers.Comparedtotraditionalcallsforculturalhomogeneitytheconceptisprogressive,butitsalltootraditionalunderstandingofculturesthreatenstoengenderregressivetendencieswhichbyappealingtoaparticularisticculturalidentityleadtoghettoizationorculturalfundamentalism.
Icannotfurtherexpandonthispointhere.ThiswouldforexamplerequiredistinguishingbetweentheUS-AmericanandtheEuropeancomprehensionofmulticulturalismanddiscussingtheirdifferenthistories,contexts,andrelatedproblems.Thebasicpoint,however,isineachcase,thattheconceptimpliesandaffirmsthetraditionalconceptionofculturesasautonomousspheres,andthatit'sexactlythiswhichemergesinpresent-dayphenomenaofseparationandghettoization.Itcomestolightherejusthowfataltheoutcomeofrecoursestotheoldconceptofculturecanbe.Theoldculturalnotionofinnerhomogeneityandouterdelimitationengenderschauvinismandculturalfundamentalism.
Criticismofthetraditionalconceptionofsinglecultures,aswellasofthemorerecentconceptsofinterculturalityandmulticulturalitycanbesummarizedasfollows:
Ifcultureswereinfactstill-astheseconceptssuggest-constitutedintheformofislandsorspheres,thenonecouldneitherridoneselfof,norsolvetheproblemoftheircoexistenceandcooperation.However,thedescriptionoftoday’sculturesasislandsorspheresisfactuallyincorrectandnormativelydeceptive.Culturesdefactonolongerhavetheinsinuatedformofhomogeneityandseparateness.Theyhaveinsteadassumedanewform,whichistobecalledtransculturalinsofarthatitpassesthroughclassicalculturalboundaries.Culturalconditionstodayarelargelycharacterizedbymixesandpermeations.Theconceptoftransculturality-whichIwillnowtrytoexplain-seekstoarticulatethisalteredculturalconstitution.,
III.Transculturality
1.Macro-level:
thealteredcutoftoday’scultures
a.Transculturalityis,inthefirstplace,aconsequenceofth
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Welsch transculturality puzzling form of cultures today 1999
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/12064209.html