Transcultural categorization in contextualized domains

Abstract

Introduction. This study takes classifications of musical instruments from three different cultural regions to show that the model of knowledge organization in use is not appropriated for cultural integration. Method. The set of categories used for the analysed instruments have been taken from previous work of M. Kartomi and M. López-Huertas. Analysis. The selected categories have been processed according to the concept theory developed by Dalhberg as a departure point. Categories from the three cultures are compared according to their meaning in order to see if there are matches or not and the degree of each of them. Results. From a total set of fifty-four categories, twenty-two are fully shared (40.7%), five partially shared (9.2%) and seventeen (31.4%) not shared by the three regions. There is a significant set of interchangeable or essential categories for the studied area. Citation order is problematic because it is not shared by any of the three cultures, resulting in different schemas although the shared categories are high. It is much affected by cultural values. Conclusions. It has been demonstrated with real data how culture affects categorization and citation order. The considerable number of shared categories suggests that it is possible to build integrated intercultural systems