Hybridity and Heterogeneity:
The Balance of Interpretation
©This paper is not for reproduction without permission of the authors.
Abstract
The
hybrid aspect of cultures has been on the agenda of cultural and social studies
as well as the arts for several years. From the perspective of the semiotician,
cultures will necessarily be in continuous contact with a minimum of neighbours
in order to enhance cultural semiosis, i.e., to make innovation and change
possible. Otherwise, isolation would be in effect and limit a culture to its
own resources. The utter failure of all isolationist historical examples
illustrates this. – Peircean semiotic theory provides a basis for analysis of
cultural exchange. The semiosic interface making sign exchange possible is
generated actively in any peaceful or hostile contact situation. This paper,
arguing that cultural interfacing is the key to the understanding of cultural
evolution, utilises the concepts of pragmatism and aims at communicating the
importance of semiotic theory for understanding any transcultural dynamics.