Self, Other and Interculturality: An Epistemic Shift Towards Intersensoriality

Abstract

The conceptualisation of interculturality has largely been informed by the Centre-western meanings of the notions of culture, Self and the Other (Holmes, 2015). The dominant Eurocentric view of culture which is associated with the idea of civilisation, progress and growth in opposition to the notions of that which is uncivilised, backword or retrogressive, has constructed culture as a static entity with fixed boundaries that display discernible differences (Jenks, 2005). This view of culture has established that the encounters of cultures can necessarily be confrontational and traumatic. Within this context, intercultural education is expected to play a vital role in facilitating effective cross-cultural interaction, in particular, by improving the understanding of the cultural Other and avoiding Othering. In this process, the Self and the Other are recognised as categories with ascribed qualities which are fixated in a singular nationality, ethnic group or a religious faith. This thesis silences the dynamicity of the transient Self while strengthening the continuation of the existing cultural hegemonies and social–cultural binaries rather than democratising and enabling effective encounters among people. I argue that the uncontested primacy of the western dualistic world views and the absence of the non-western philosophical thinking have resulted in narrowing down the breadth and the depth of intercultural education and its capacity to help develop cross-culturally fluent graduates. In this chapter, I use the concepts of Anathma (non-Self) and Anicca (impermanence) in Theravada Buddhist philosophy (Kornfield & Fronsdal, 2011) to understand how alternative perceptions of Self can help develop cosmic compassion that contributes to successful co-existence between humans and all living Beings in the universe. My argument in this chapter is informed by the ideas of sociological absence (Santos, 2007) decoloniality (Maldonado-Torres, 2007) and Sandoval’s (2000) ideas on decolonial love.

Citation

Welikala, T. (2021), "Self, Other and Interculturality: An Epistemic Shift Towards Intersensoriality", Kumar, M. and Welikala, T. (Ed.) Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Context of Being, Interculturality and New Knowledge Systems, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 171-182. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-006-820211013