Abstract
At the end of December 2014 quite a surprising piece of news hit the Internet: Merriam-Webster, the reference book and online dictionary, announced that Culture had been selected as the 2014 word of the year. The list was compiled by analysing the lookups in the online dictionary. According to the Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster: “Culture is a word that we seem to be relying on more and more. It allows us to identify and isolate an idea, issue, or group with seriousness” (Merriam-Webster, 2014).
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
(Carroll, 1872, p. 72)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abdallah-Pretceille, M. (2005). Pour un humanisme du divers. Vie sociale et traitements, 3(87), pp. 34–41.
Abdallah-Pretceille, M. (2012). Towards a humanism of the diverse. International Journal of Education for Diversities, 1, pp. 133–136.
Adichie, C. N. (2014). We Should All Be Feminists. New York, NY: Vintage.
Amselle, J.-L. 2010. Ré trovolutions. Paris: Stock.
Argenter, J. A. (2000). Cultural identity and heteroglossia. Estudios de Sociolinguistica, 1(1), pp. 27–39.
Baumann, G. (1996). Contesting Culture. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London, UK: Routledge.
Bhatia, S. (2007). American Kharma. New York, NY and London, UK: New York University Press.
Breidenbach, J. & Nyíri, P. (2009). Seeing Culture Everywhere. Washington, DC: University of Washington Press.
Carroll, L. (1872). Through the Looking-glass. Raleigh, NC: Hayes Barton Press.
Chauvier, E. (2014). Les mots sans les choses. Paris: Allia.
Cheng, A. (1997). Histoire de la pensée chinoise. Paris: Éd. du Seuil.
Clifford, J. & Marcus, G. E. (1986). Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Comaroff, J. L. & Comaroff, J. (2009). Ethnicity, Inc. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Debray, R. (2007). Un mythe contemporain: le dialogue des civilisations. Paris: CNRS.
Dervin, F. (2011). A plea for change in research on intercultural discourses: A “liquid” approach to the study of the acculturation of Chinese students. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 6(1), pp. 37–52.
Dervin, F. (2013). Researching identity and interculturality: Moving away from methodological nationalism for good? In R. Machart, C. B. Lim, S. N. Lim, & E. Yamato (Eds.), Intersecting Identities and Interculturality: Discourse and Practice (pp. 8–21). Newcastle-upon-Tyne UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dervin, F., Gajardo, A. & Lavanchy, A. (Eds.) (2011). Politics of Interculturality. Newcastle-upon-Thyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Earley, P., & Peterson, R. (2004). The elusive cultural chameleon: Cultural intelligence as a new approach to intercultural training for the global manager . Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(1), pp. 100–115.
Eriksen, T. H. (2001). Between universalism and relativism: “A critique of the UNESCO concept of culture. In Cowan, P. et al (Eds.). Culture and Rights: Anthropological Perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Foblets, M.-C. & Renteln, A. D. (Eds.) (2009). Multicultural Jurisprudence: Comparative Perspectives on the Cultural Defense. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing.
Godelier, M. (2009). Communauté, Société, Culture. Paris: CNRS.
Hahl, K., Niemi, P.-M., Johnson Longfor, R. & Dervin, F. (2015). Diversities and Interculturality in Textbooks: Finland as an Example. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Hannerz, U. (1999). Reflections on varieties of culturespeak. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2(3), pp. 393–407.
Holliday, A. (2010). Intercultural Communication and Ideology. London UK: Sage.
Jahoda, G. (2012). Critical reflections on some recent definitions of “culture.” Culture & Psychology18, pp. 289–303.
Kaufmann, J.-C. (2004). L ’inventiondesoi: Une théorie de l’identité. Paris: Armand Collin.
Latour, B. (2008). Sur le culte moderne des dieux faitiches. Paris: Les Empê cheurs de Tourner en Rond.
Machart, R. (2013). Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis ou les actifs de l’essentialisme stratégique. In Dervin, F. (Ed.), Le concept de culture; comprendre et maîtriser ses détournements et manipulations (pp. 121–144). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Melton, J. V. H. (2001). The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe. London UK: Cambridge University Press.
Merriam-Webster (2014). 2014 Word of the Year. Retrieved January 15, 2015 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-year/2014-word-of-the-year.htm
Phillips, A. (2010). Gender and Culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Piller, I. (2011). Intercultural Communication: A Critical Approach. Edinburgh, UK: EUP.
Roberts, C. (2012). Photography and China. London UK: Reaktion Books.
Sen, A. (2001). Violence and Identity. London, UK: Penguin.
Shafak, E. (2013). Honour. London, UK: Penguin.
Simoni, V. 2011. L’interculturalité comme justification: Sexe ‘couleur locale’ dans la Cuba touristique. In A. Lavanchy, F. Dervin, & A. Gajardo (Eds.), Anthropologies de l’interculturalité (pp. 197–225). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Spencer, S. (2006). Race and Ethnicity: Culture, Identity and Representation. London, UK and New York NY: Routledge.
Tan, J.-P., Rozumah B., Rumaya J., & Krauss, S. E. (2008). Socio-demographic characteristics of intercultural marriage: A study of a multi-ethnic community in Malaysia. European Journal of Social Sciences, 5(4), pp. 30–44.
Thiesse, A.-M. (1999). La création des identités nationales: Europe XVIII e –XIX e siècle. Paris: Le Seuil.
Vauramo, P. (2014). The power of culture. Blue Wings, p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2015 from http://www.digipaper.fi/bluewings/121187/index.php?pgnumb=3
Wikan, U. (2002). Generous Betrayal. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Wimmer, A. (2013). Ethnic Boundary Making. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Fred Dervin and Regis Machart
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dervin, F., Machart, R. (2015). Introduction: Omnipresent Culture, Omnipotent Cultures. In: Dervin, F., Machart, R. (eds) Cultural Essentialism in Intercultural Relations. Frontiers of Globalization Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137498601_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137498601_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-55769-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-49860-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)