"Ethnocommunication because of its holistic approach does not stick to one communication medium only but tries to see the interrelation between the different communication media, traditional as well as modern. Many development communication projects are designed for one medium only, like e.g. Radio
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or Television and the same holds for respective research projects. They do not sufficiently consider the need for a multimedia as well as a culturally bound approach. It is part of human nature not only to see but also to use other senses, i . e. to hear, to see, to smell and at the same time taste. Any isolation of one medium or one sense will immediately limit not only the success of such a medium but also promote a onesided development, finally not serving total human development. The multimedia approach or rather the interlink between the different means of communication – traditional and modern – in a culture also must be extended beyond the means themselves. The communications means are embedded in the culture, her social and value structure and therefore have to be seen in their use and effect within the framework of a given culture and society. Fernando Poyatos in his very revealing book on new perspectives on non-verbal communication has underlined the need not only for linguistic fluency but also a cultural fluency in intercultural communication. It is this cultural fluency as well which is part of the Ethnocommunications approach. The service of Ethnocommunication for development lies especially in this taking seriously the cultural data and situations, to relate them with the communication means and structures of the given culture and analyze and design communication processes which will be embedded and thus becoming a genuine part of the society and culture they are to serve. Development in this sense is not in the first instance concerned with technical developments but rather is first and foremost a step towards conscientization and liberation of the people in the sense of Paulo Freire and his followers. Thus Ethnocommunication should be a contribution to the liberation and redemption of man." (Page 17)
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"[...] la lógica del aymara es trivalente, no nada más que bivalente como la del español. Es decir, la sintáxis del idioma indígena revela una lógica "no Aristotélica" porque no tiene solamente los dos valores de la lógica tradicional occidental: verdadero, falso. Tiene tres: verdadero, fals
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o, incierto. En observancia del principio de "tercero excluido", la lógica del español sólo permite hacer inferencias a partir de premisas necesariamente verdaderas o falsas. En la lógica no dicotómica, que es la del aymara, los enunciados se construyen con sufijos, en vez de palabras de conexión, y se torna posible derivar conclusiones a partir de premisas dudosas o apenas plausibles. O sea, algo puede - creámoslo o no los no aymaras - ser "quizás cierto y quizás no cierto". La ambigüedad tiene valor; la incertidumbre importa. No se trata, pues, simplemente del conflicto común entre dos vocabularios diferentes pero equiparables. Son dos maneras de pensar marcadamente opuestas que trasuntan universos culturales muy alejados entre sí. De ahí que el riesgo de incomunicación no es en este caso un problema de mera divergencia semántica puesto que, por ejemplo, "para el hombre que piensa en aymara su premisa es que el pasado está adelante y el futuro atrás". En el presente informe de la investigación que el CIID auspició, Guzmán deseoso de alcanzar con sus resultados no solamente a otros especialistas como él ofrece más de una explicación de aquella diferencia. Para los versados en lingüística e idóneos en aymara, densos capítulos de argumentación lógica y demostración matemática. Para los legos, sencillos ejemplos iluminantes y hasta un gracioso pero efectivo recurso didáctico: un diálogo imaginario entre Aristóteles y una "india" aymara. Pero ¿qué implicaciones tiene la distinción hallada por el investigador boliviano?
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"The problems confronting Americans when they attempt to communicate with foreign countries — Human progress and international understanding, these are the aims pursued by the Americans — How can they make people accept them and how can they reach foreign peoples with their message? — The Amer
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ican experience with Thailand — How to be more effective in the field of communication." (Jean-Marie Van Bol, Abdelfattah Fakhfakh: The use of mass media in the developing countries. Brussels: CIDESA, 1971 Nr. 1662, topic code 211)
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