We Have Always Been Transcultural: The Arts as an Example

Wolfgang Welsch demonstrates for the first time that transculturality – the mixed constitution of cultures – is by no means only a characteristic of the present, but has de facto determined the composition of cultures since time immemorial. The historical transculturality is demonstrated using examples from the arts. While transculturality was often viewed with reservation where political, social, or psychological levels were at stake, it was rather welcomed and appreciated in the field of art. The book therefore demonstrates the historical prevalence of transculturality via all areas of art and does so with respect to all cultures and continents of our world.

Wolfgang Welsch, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, has been teaching at the universities of Berlin, Jena and Stanford. He received the Max Planck Research Award and the Premio Internazionale d'Estetica. He has published more than twenty books in aesthetics, cultural philosophy, and anthropology.