Transcultural research on the 'cultural other' in European films

Abstract

While contemporary European societies experience increasing dynamics of cultural diversity and transcultural developments, namely the complex processes in different configurations of cultural mixes and cultural transformation, the perception of cultures and cultural identities is still predominantly influenced by the essentialist paradigm, which promotes static cultural positions and reinforces cultural generalisations, simplifications and even stigmatisation of 'difference' and 'othering'. This dissertation explores how transcultural research provides conceptual and analytical tools for challenging cultural essentialism, specifically demonstrating how the developed theory of transculturality contributes to questioning and de-essentialising the construct of the European 'cultural other' through the examination of transcultural meanings in European films. The theory's paradigmatic value is exemplified through conducting the theoretical and empirical research in three stages: elaboration of the hypothetical-theoretical framework of the notion of transculturality, creation of a methodological model for a cinematic transcultural analysis that derives from this framework, and the discursive analysis of selected films guided by the created methodological model. The topicality of the paradigmatic shift is further concluded, especially by showing through the film analysis how the stereotypical labelling and entrenched notions of cultural 'otherness' interfere in the construction and recognition of transcultural identities, and how this influences the positioning of immigrant/immigrant descent subjects in their societies. Most importantly, by applying a transcultural framework to explain and analyse the complexity of the non-essentialist cultural meanings in the films, the study reveals the restrictiveness and even invalidity of the essentialist construct of the European 'cultural other'.