Comunicación e interculturalidad. Reflexiones en torno a una relación indisoluble

Abstract

Intercultural communication has been defined as any communicational situation where at least two people with different cultural-geographic backgrounds interact. Other definitions broaden the notion of interculturality and consider distinctive factors that span beyond the geographic, including dimensions such as social class, age, gender, ideology and sexual preference. In any case, the key to intercultural communication is interacting with those who are different, with that which is perceived (both objectively, but more importantly, subjectively) as different. Thus, the concepts of communication and interculturality maintain a binding relationship. It is therefore worthwhile to ask: What is the role of communication within intercultural processes? To offer a few areas of reflection that may provide an answer to this question, three conceptual articulations are proposed: the connection between communication-culture, the connection between communication-interaction and the difference between terms such as interculturality and multiculturality, which are often misconceived as synonyms. The overall objective of this essay is to offer some theoretical and conceptual reflections regarding the relationship between communication and interculturality. The focus transcends the traditional view (closely linked to anthropology and sociology) and takes into account the contributions of Symbolic Interactionism and Socio-phenomenology...