Intercultural communications : from problem to gift

Intercultural communication seems to be a problem mostly because we assume that the appropriate goal for communication is 'communing', finding common ground, or understanding. This paper suggests that the basis of communication should be the acknowledgement of difference, and the goal of communication should be the 'spacing' of individuals rather that the 'communing' of 'idle talkers'. It suggests that if we reconceptualise communication using the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Jean-Luc Nancy, the 'problem' of intercultural communication disappears, and intercultural communication emerges as a gift to our understanding of what it means to be human and unique. Intercultural communication becomes an opportunity to appreciate and value our human differences even more acutely than is possible when we communicate with people of cultural background similar to our own. This paper suggests that the more we appreciate our 'singularity', the more 'authentic' we become as individual human beings. The more we realise our existential potential, the more we can help others to do the same. This is not a conventional aim of intercultural communication, but it is a worthy one.