Beyond binaries: toward a "Polylogue" in Arab culture

Abstract

This article starts from a diagnosis of the crisis affecting contemporary dialogues, which often remain confined to a mere “discourse on dialogue” without producing genuine transformation in the understanding of the other. It reveals the limitations of the binary dialogical model, which reduces cultural complexity to a confrontation between two homogeneous entities, thereby reproducing divisions rather than fostering mutual understanding. As an alternative, the article introduces the concept of the polylogue, developed by the Austrian philosopher Franz Martin Wimmer, based on a plurality of centers, mutual influence, and simultaneous interaction. Applied to the Arab context, this approach calls for recognition of internal diversity and for a critical, plural rereading of cultural heritage, with particular emphasis on confronting the challenges of the self before those of the other.