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14
Introduction
aboutinterculturaldialogueliesin“thepossibilityto(re)negotiateand
(re)constructtheirpositionsandidentitieswithinandacrossgroups,to
acknowledgethecomplexityanddiversityofrelationships,andtowork
towardssolutionstoseeminglyintractabledivergencesandunrelenting
posturesinsituationsofconflict.”Takingalltheseaspectsintoaccount,
itisevidentthataninterculturalencounterachallenge–thechallenge
ofthe21stcentury.
Thebookrevolvesaroundtwobroadconcepts,namely,intercultural
encountersandnarrativeinquiry.Bothoftheconceptsunderpinthe
characteristicsaswellasthechallengesofthe21stcentury.Theterm
interculturalencounterreferstotheopportunityandtheactualsitua-
tionofmeetingforeignersorexperiencingcross-culturalconversations
duetomobility,alternative,computer-basedmeansofcommunication,
aswellastheplurilingualandmulticulturaldiversityofthesociety.In
thissense,interculturalencounterisnotlimitedtodirectcontactin
theforeigncontextbutencompassesavarietyofsituationsbothinthe
homecountrycontextandabroad(thesenotionswouldbeelaborated
uponelsewhereinthisbook).
Thetheoreticalpartofthebookaimsatdiscussingtheideaofinter-
culturalencounters,characterisingtheiraspectsandexaminingthefac-
torswhichafectthesuccessofsuchencounters.Specialattentionwill
befocusedontheroleinterculturalencountersplayinforeignlanguage
learningaswellastheirimpactonshapinglearneridentity.Acloser
lookwillbealsogiventothenatureandmechanismsinvolvedinin-
terculturalencountersaswellasthedescriptionofcontextualfactors
thatmayhavesomeimpactonthecharacterandnatureofintercultural
encounters.
Thevalueofinterculturalencounters,however,liesnotonlyin
whatweexperience,butmostofall,inwhatwedoafterwards,thatis,
howwenarrateandreflectupontheinterculturalencountersandwhat
knowledgewederivefromthem.Consequently,interculturalencounters
canbeperceivedascatalystsforreflectionandanincentivetoexpress
oneselforallyorinwriting.Thisbringsustothesecondimportantissue
thatthebooktackles,namely:narrativeinquiryornarrativeanalysis,
whichisrelatedtotheroleofnarrativesinorganisingandshapingin-
dividuals’experiences.
HumanbeingsareoftendefinedasHomonarrans(“story-telling
man,”“thestory-tellingorganism”–Straś-Romanowska,Bartosz,and
Żurko2010).Thismeansthatanyindividualleadsastoriedlifeand
tellsstoriestoothers.Infact,storiesornarrativesareperceivedasin-
dispensableelementsofinterpersonalinteractionandcommunicationof
one’sownpersonalexperiences(Straś-Romanowska,Bartosz,andŻurko