Intercultural Communication between the Real and the Virtual

• Main Author: Mohammed Nour Eddine Affaya
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 1998-12-01
• Series: Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals
• Online Access: http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/5478/54012/file/43-44affaya.pdf

This article brings to light the obstacles that are imposed on communications between different cultures.These obstacles are primarily due to how the Other is perceived and how the different images of the Other are used. Such a process can be clearly seen in the different Muslim- Arabic representations that circulate in the West, representations which are created by the West itself and often propagated by certain media. One consequence of this is that the Muslim-Arabic world has internalized a double despotism: on the outside, that which is represented by Western consumerism; on the inside, that which is tied to one power only. Finally, the author considers that intercultural communication is the only horizon for thought possible between the West and the Muslim-Arabic world, withneither beggary nor perverse rejection involved.