ABSTRACT
The Oslo panel was organized around the general subject ‘Symbiosis and conflicts in comparative aspects’ within the framework of Islamic societies. It may be assumed, from the panel's title, that there is an opposition between a positive aspect of historical developments (symbiosis) and a negative one (conflict). A first question is thus related to the meaning of symbiosis (and, secondly, of conflict) and how these concepts are used for the present discussion. What do we understand by ‘symbiosis’? Do we use this concept mainly because we appreciate it as one of the more positive aspects of Islamic culture? Would we use it in the same way when dealing with Western culture? In the past, concepts such as ‘influence’ have been profusely employed to signal a historical hierarchy between cultures. The replacement of ‘influence’ by other terms, like ‘mutual contacts’ or ‘symbiosis’, is an indication of a more subtle approach to the whole problem, but it will remain as a mere terminological change if we are not able to make an accurate definition of the concept we are using. To analyse a process of cultural symbiosis, historians should take into account variables such as who is taking what and from whom, how the absorption of cultural signs affects individuals and communities, where and why the process of symbiosis meets opposition or not, etc. In a similar train of thought, ‘conflict’ may be, in itself, a consequence rather than a contrary of ‘symbiosis’. Conflict can be of a creative nature, and it is rarely solved without some proportion of symbiosis being accepted, even when violence is used to put an end to it.
