Aproximaciones semióticas a la interculturalidad

Interculturality has been deprived of its political sense and thus has lost its mobilizing nature due to its being co-opted by state discourses and being staged by the media. Both State and media refer to interculturality as something already accomplished instead of a project yet to be construed by all the members of the society. It becomes necessary to denaturalize such “interculturality” by reflecting on its unquestioned assumptions, in particular those concerning the notions of culture, identity and language. The role played by language in interculturality becomes determinant not only as an expression of cultural diversity but, above all, as the main though not the easiest road to responsible intercultural practices. The issue of languages allows us to reflect on intercultural practices and rethink their assumptions. The opening of intercultural spaces of daily coexistence and the incorporation of so-far unrecognized languages to a new symbolic horizon that enables us to maintain other relations to human beings and other beings of nature become alternatives to the deprivation of the political nature of interculturality and its folkloric staging. In order to acknowledge and use new languages, however, a shift in the semiotic paradigm is required. To this end, several elements are discussed of a new theory of semiotics and communication which make a fresh point of departure for the overcoming of the grapho-gloto-centrism cradled in intercultural notions so far. The corollary is the embracing of the symbol and the symbolic function as the semiotic modality most suitable for a poly-centric and intercultural communication making use of new literacies and textualities.