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Key reference disciplines such as postmodern philosophy and postcolonial studies have significantly contributed to a changing concept of culture. In addition, they offer plenty of inspirations for the further development of cultural learning in the EFL classroom. Therefore, it is important to elaborate on them at this point.

Postmodernism is a twentieth century movement characterised by scepticism, subjectivism and relativism. Representatives of postmodern philosophy (e.g. Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault) deny the existence of an objective truth and objective values. They are particularly sceptical about binary oppositions and are of the opinion that the world can be better understood through diversity and ambivalences. Postmodern writing focuses on the role that power and ideology play in the shaping of discourse. Foucault (1972, 1977, 1980), for example, argues that knowledge and power are closely interrelated and Lyotard (1986) reflects upon the existence of “metanarratives” which form human thought. The scholars plead against an unquestioned reproduction of given structures and for a critical and deconstructive approach to ways of thinking, norms and a reflective analysis of discourses (see Fäcke, 1999, pp. 62–67).

Deconstruction is also at the heart of postcolonial studies. Postcolonialism1 intends to deconstruct the ideology of the superiority of the West:

Above all, postcolonialism seeks to intervene, to force its alternative knowledges into the power structures of the west as well as the non-west. It seeks to change the way people think, the way they behave, to produce a more just and equitable relation between the different peoples of the world. (Young, 2003, p. 7)

Since the late 1970s, cultural theory is influenced by a body of writing which criticises the way the Orient is represented in Western discourse. This postcolonial discourse builds on works of anti-colonial critiques such as Fanon, Achebe and Ngũgĩ. Fanon published two important books, Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961) that deal with colonialism and its effects on the people. Both Achebe (1975, 1988) and Ngũgĩ (1972, 1981, 1986) criticise in several lectures, essays and essay collections the way Africa is perceived and depicted in the Western world. In 1978, Edward Said’s landmark work Orientalism was published. This book “examines the ways in which Eurocentrism not only influences and alters, but also actually produces other cultures” (Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 2013, p. 108). According to Said, Orientalism is the source of the West’s inaccurate cultural representations of the East. It involves the exaggeration of difference and the presumption of Western superiority. This book was very influential for the development of postcolonial theories and the cause of many controversial discussions. The scholars Homi K. Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak built on Said’s work and made further essential contributions to discussions in the field of postcolonial studies. Whereas Bhaba (1990, 1994) has a rather optimistic view on postcolonial societies and emphasises aspects such as hybridity and transculturation, Spivak (1988a, 1988b) is more sceptical about the postcolonial condition. In her seminal essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1988a), she raises the question whether those people who are outside the hegemonic power structures can actually express their views or if their voices are drowned by the Western theorists who speak about them instead.

The understanding of culture as a fluid concept is rooted in the context of postmodernism and postcolonialism. Whereas in the 19^th and the greater part of the 20^th century the understanding of culture as monolithic and static construct prevailed and it was commonly believed that we live in a world of separate national cultures (see Herder’s (1967) understanding of cultures as islands or spheres), postmodern and postcolonial scholars plead for a reconsideration of culture as something dynamic, open, hybrid and individual. They point out that culture is characterised by diversity, fractures and overlaps. Since the 1990s, terms concerned with reflections on global changes such as transnationalism (Hannerz, 2003), hybridity (Bhabha, 1994; Hall, 1990, 1994) and transculturality (Welsch, 1995, 1999, 2010) have gained in importance in these fields. As transculturality is a central concept for transcultural learning, there is need for further explanations in this context.

The concept of transculturality has been notably developed by the postmodern philosopher Wolfgang Welsch (1995, 1999, 2010), who criticises the understanding of cultures as clearly demarcated entities and therefore introduced the term transculturality to philosophical reflection on culture.

Cultures de facto no longer have the insinuated form of homogeneity and separateness. They have instead assumed a new form, which is to be called transcultural insofar that it passes through classical cultural boundaries. Cultural conditions today are largely characterized by mixes and permeations. (Welsch, 1999, p. 197; italics in the original)

Welsch draws attention to internal complexities of cultures, cultural transgressions, hybridity and commonalities. He distinguishes between transculturality on the micro and the macro level; the former refers to culture as society and the latter to the cultural identity of the individual. He claims that “we are all cultural hybrids” (ibid.) and so points to the multiple identities of every person. Accordingly, nobody can or should be reduced to ‘typical’ categories of nationality, ‘race’, gender or class. In his argumentation, Welsch clearly distances himself from interculturalism and hermeneutics. Consequently, he also questions the philosophical foundations of intercultural learning in foreign language didactics (see Delanoy, 2014, p. 27). According to Welsch, interculturality may contribute to a peaceful exchange between cultures but for him it remains rooted in an essentialised understanding of culture.

Welsch is frequently criticised for romanticising transculturality since he is considered to neglect problems that may surface when different cultures meet. Scholars observe that the concept not only brings about positive aspects:

Transkulturalität kann von Individuen nicht allein als Gewinn, sondern auch und zuerst als Identitätsverlust, als Zwang der Anpassung an globale, vor allem ökonomisch geprägte Hegemoniestrukturen empfunden werden. [Individuals may perceive transculturality not only as a gain but also and primarily as a loss of identity, a pressure to adapt to global hegemony structures which are economically influenced.] (Volkmann, 2014, p. 43; my translation)

Transculturality may lead to the levelling of differences which also incorporates the risk of postmodern blurring that does not take into account power relations and marginalisation. Not all people benefit from the positive aspects of transculturality equally (see Fäcke, 2011, p. 180; Volkmann, 2014, p. 43).

Scholars from the fields of postcolonial studies deal with the concept of cultural transgressions in a more sceptical way (Loomba, 1998; Pratt, 1992). Pratt (1992, p. 7), for example, refers to prevalence of power relations in this context. She describes transculturation as a “phenomenon of the contact zone” and defines these contact zones as

social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination – like colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out across the globe today. (ibid., p. 4)

She therefore points out that cultural transgressions are not always characterised by equality but frequently influenced by hierarchies which need to be given consideration. Loomba (1998, p. 183) also pleads for a differentiated look at hybridity that takes the “intersections in the multiple histories of colonialism and postcoloniality” into account.