Zur Rolle von Stereotypisierungen bei Assimilations- und Akkommodationsprozessen

Abstract

Meaning is widely understood as being a mental construct generated and negociated by means of viabalisation processes. It constantly develops and changes through processes of assimilation and accommodation. How then can stereotypes develop in such a dynamic system of knowledge management where language is a decisive tool in information transfer? The information transfer based on established parameters contributes to a stabilization of meaning and, as a consequence, serves as a point of reference for further thinking, speaking and doing. Linguistic relativity models have shown how this can in turn promote the dynamics of perception/thinking or, equally well, determine or inhibit it. The aim of the present paper is to show how intercultural language teaching can be conceived as a means to foster dynamic perception and mental construction processes of “the other” while leading to the cultural state of ‘transdifference’ (as opposed to a mere binary contrast of “self” and “other”). Owing to recent and ongoing political events the topic of ‚violence and resistance’ has been chosen to illustrate the approach.