Visual Culture and Visual Communication in the Context of Globalization

Abstract

The fact that groups of people reflect different cultural traditions and economic and social backgrounds should begin to challenge the myth of universality of human experience and the social relationships, cultures and values that emerge from it. An intercultural communication process, developed to foster and support a positive approach to globalization would foster sensitivity and care between peoples in a potent, reciprocal process. Each culture creates its own universe of symbolic meaning that structures and shapes the perception of reality which members of a specific clan or society experience. It is already a yeoman's task to decipher the complex web of interactions between anthropological, sociological, historical and cultural forces. This becomes exponentially exacerbated in multicultural communication and intercultural discourse. Modernist approaches to communication design do not support intercultural communication as they ignore the culture-destructive forces of globalization, by infiltrating and eliminating languages, removing customs and ceremonies, changing indigenous cultural values and social relationships and forms of expression. This article critically examines the limitations of communication design as currently taught and practiced.