Abstract | Keywords | Export | Availability | Bookmark

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The present thesis focuses on intercultural competence analysis as depicted in the literary case of Lafcadio Hearn. Intercultural contact is a recurrent topic within social sciences and wider society. Every communication can be considered as a form of intercultural contact that is abiding, be it today or in the 19th century as is it observed in the case of Hearn. Intercultural competence analysis constitutes the analysis of one’s ability to interact adequately within intercultural settings and as societies keep evolving and intertwining intercultural contact will never cease to be a relevant field of research. The research question this thesis aims to answer is how can Hearn’s writings contribute to intercultural competences analysis, and vice versa. Towards this end, the theoretical framework that was used is Intercultural Competences Analysis (ICA), initially designed for education and adapted for the thesis, and the methodology is literary analysis of intercultural dimensions. The introductory chapter of the thesis, provides an examination of Hearn’s life, work. Hearn (1850-1904) was a Greek-Irish journalist, writer and teacher, known for introducing the Japanese culture to the West in the 19th century. Furthermore, the chapter examines the existing academic research on Hearn. It highlights Hearn’s multiple representations as misinterpreted or forgotten writer, and highlights the necessity for an in-depth examination of Hearn’s intercultural value, a blind-spot in the existing literature. The theoretical framework, methodological and analytical approaches are also presented. The following four chapters focus on the application of the ICA framework to Hearn’s writings and each scrutinise the different elements of intercultural competence found (or not) in Hearn. Chapter one examines elements of openness and exoticisation in Hearn’s writings. Chapter two evaluates Hearn’s self-awareness and degree of knowledge of Japanese culture. Chapter three examines Hearn’s skills of interpreting and relating to the Japanese culture. Chapter four analyses Hearn’s ability to value cultural diversity. The final chapter presents and discusses the conclusions of the thesis. The thesis generates two conclusions. First, even though Hearn was influenced by the broader trends of the 19th century, namely Romanticism and Orientalism, he still differentiates from his predecessors and contemporaries. Second, through the intercultural competences analysis, Hearn is deemed to be more progressive and self-aware of intercultural differences and of his limits to understanding Japanese culture. Finally, the thesis highlighted the versatility of the theoretical framework, and its important value for literary cases, further underscoring the importance of intercultural competence analysis in different fields of research.