Silent Transformations with China

Abstract

In this reflexive piece, one of the authors goes back to his experiences of another context (China) and describes the kinds of silent transformations that have happened to him. Silent transformations are invisible, slow yet very meaningful changes taking place in long-term engagement with otherness. Sharing pictures and reflections on his experiences and encounters, the author specifies five ‘intercultural’ transformations: (1) mind movements, (2) different perspectives on the world/life, (3) awareness of the flavours of words, (4) China in different lights and 5. relations between China and the ‘West’ revised. All in all, what these silent transformations reveal has more to do with how one sees oneself and the other, than start understanding the other ‘perfectly’. For the four authors, these elements represent essential ‘lessons’ for anyone willing to unthink and rethink interculturality, while arguing that these transformations could take place in any context beyond the canonical conceptualization of interculturality as ‘national border crossing’.