Communicating as a process requires referring to the space of social communication, which I understand as the assumptions of the sense of communication symbols. Hybridity as a phenomenon in culture is on one hand a social fact, the effect of globalization processes, on the other it becomes a challenge in the process of educational narrative. Maintaining continuity and cohesion in culture in the face of the problem of hybridity and building communication capable of taking up this challenge seems to be an important consideration also (and perhaps above all) in the field of pedagogy. Multiculturalism as an idea, if it were to become a social principle, requires a debate of competent interlocutors. Hence the need to reflect on the communicative competence of the units of the multiculturalism standard.

W tekście prezentuję taki sposób rozumowania, zgodnie z którym rozwój zdolności komunikacyjnych w zakresie komunikacji międzykulturowej jest złożonym procesem, który przynosi najlepsze efekty, jeśli jest motywowany wewnętrznie – indywidualnymi dążeniami podmiotu. Takie motywacje pomagają, a w zasadzie tylko one umożliwiają zrozumienie Innego, w oparciu o przekraczanie własnych granic poznawczych. Wrażliwość na różnice kulturowe, świadomość tego, jakie one są i jak można je wyznaczać, podnoszą poziom empatii. Wzmacnianie kompetencji kulturowych w zakresie komunikacji międzykulturowych sprzyja rozumieniu innych, osób reprezentujących najróżniej definiowane grupy i kategorie społeczne. Sprzyja to redukowaniu zjawiska „niewidzialnych grup” – takich, które są postrzegane jako niekomfortowy partner komunikacyjny, którego się unika.

(Nie)istniejące metro

Artykuł zawiera analizę kontentu strony internetowej „Metro barnaulskie”. Strona przedstawia nieistniejące metrze w Barnaule w taki sposób, jak gdyby to metro istniało w rzeczywistości. To pozwala opisać projekt „Metro barnaulskie” na różne sposoby, jako: fake, Internet-mem, sposób komunikacji i socjalizacji, jako frame, tekst itp.

The so-called new media redefine social relations both on a micro and a macro scale. A media user from five or six decades ago is an entirely different subject to a modern user. Within half a century, the roles of particular media, their social functions, and consequently users’ patterns of perception all changed. A 21st-century recipient is, as far as anthropology is concerned, equipped totally differently to one from the 1960s. Nevertheless, one thing remains unchanged in the real and the media worlds alike. Both confront us with the predominance of sight and hearing while taste, smell, and touch are of peripheral interest in spite of the perceptions conveyed through them being all-encompassing. The article focuses primarily on the sense of smell, but also on the closely related taste. Smell is too elusive and indeterminate and cannot be measured to the same extent sound is measured, for instance. Smell therefore has to give way to the more durable and definite senses. Its presence in films is absolutely marginal which is due to, as I perceive it, the technological capabilities in this area, or rather lack thereof. In this text I argue that certain films should be watched with one’s nose and taste buds, are a source of cognitive confusion, since everything important depicted in them is beyond the viewer’s reach. When scrutinising such films, one arrives at a conclusion that cinematic realism (but not only realism) must be multisensory. Otherwise, a case of epistemic schizophrenia occurs. The above reflection is undertaken in the context of two theories of social communication, namely M. McLuhan’s classic proposal and the cognitive theory of film.

The article discusses the bases of the contemporary concept of the theory of sources. I have made an attempt at re-interpreting this basic concept of historical methodology based on the semiotic concept of signs and reality.

Morality as crucial systemic operation in the theory of Niklas Luhmann

Morality in the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann has a special place as a formula that enables communication, in other words functioning of the mechanism of the self-processing. Over the centuries this role in the system has evolved and today morality faces utterly new challenges. Will she still fulfill her commitments in the face of crisis of current values? Do we need new standards of behaviour in an era of progressive complexity?

Creating an impaired identity of the Other in the educational environment (psychiatricization)

The aim of the article, based on a qualitative study, is to identify and interpret the meanings parents assign to messages conveyed by school personnel about the behavior of students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities coupled with autism. The main research objective is to present the mechanism of impairment of the identity of pupils in special education, known as psychiatricization. The phenomenon of psychiatricization occurs in situations where school staff abuse and misinterpret the behaviour of people with intellectual disabilities, looking for mental illness in the behaviours they present. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the misunderstood, behavioural-coded communication of pupils perceived as mentally ill by teachers who are convinced they should be diagnosed and treated with appropriate psychotropic drugs in order to subdue and quieten the awkward pupil. A consequence of the activities and discourse of school staff, i.e. psychiatricization, including stigmatization, harm, abuse of power-knowledge, is falsifying the identity of students, depriving them of opportunities and opportunities for optimal development and satisfying their special educational needs. The presented qualitative research is located in the constructivistinterpretative paradigm, and the mainstream of the scientific narrative is the critical theory.

Messages directed to potential volunteers via Polish-language websites. An example of voluntary work in African countries

Internet communication is widely used by Polish NGOs in communicating with the public. It is also used by foundations and associations that organize volunteering in Africa. The purpose of this article is to characterize the communications concerning participation in volunteering in the African area, which have been posted on the Polish-language Internet by the aforementioned NGOs. This article presents theoretical issues relating to the Internet as a tool of communication in NGOs, the image of the Other in Polish society (in relation to Africa and the inhabitants of the continent) and volunteering in Polish NGOs. It presents the results of the author’s own qualitative research conducted using an analytical technique, the content analysis method. Messages posted on the websites of NGOs focus on the person of the volunteer experiencing exotic adventures and gathering attractive experiences, at the expense of presenting the beneficiaries of the volunteer’s activities. The described communications present reality in a way that perpetuates stereotypes, while conveying information about the professional, ethical and intelligent nature of the activities of foundations and associations.