Blending Spaces

8 The interplay of cultures: Constructs of interculture

Constructs of interculture have been challenged by transculturalists and multiculturalists. While the former tend to see interculturality as a potentially racist construct because it allegedly contributes to the maintenance of cultural boundaries and therefore suppresses and segregates members of other cultures (cf. Welsch 1994: 152), the latter allege that interculturality tends to alienate people from their cultural roots and therefore contributes to their cultural confusion. Transculturality wants to overcome traditional boundaries and position itself above existing cultures, thereby overcoming racism and ethnocentrism. Transcultural individuals “are culturally footloose, owing loyalty ...