ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 focuses on the concept of ‘culture’, which is central to understandings of interculturality. The chapter starts by discussing interculturality in relation to the concept of ‘culture’, including critical reflections on ‘Chinese culture’ and evolving understandings of the concept of ‘culture’. Discussions arising from the cultural understandings of students interviewed in this study are also offered, specifically their observations on self-taken photographic images, their experiences of multilingual and multicultural landscapes in China, their perspectives of culture-related questions and their developing critical cultural awareness. This chapter engages critically with complexities attending the terms ‘culture’ and ‘Chinese culture’, as it was found that the cultural issues raised during student interviews were often contradictory and emerging. Some interviewees adopted more sophisticated critical perspectives regarding their understanding of culture and showed a sense of interculturality. The chapter reveals how grand and personal narratives of culture may influence the understanding of culture held by individuals. This chapter argues that a focus on culture can be shifted from a narrow understanding of culture towards broader discussions of interculturality.
