Intercultural Encounters: Perceptions and Stereotypes The Western World Meets Islam

The world today seems more globalized than ever. Communication easily reaches peoplefrom the entire world. Transportation evolved and connects remote places from our planet. The worldis dynamic and the key-words of this picture are contact, interaction and diversity. In this newframework, intercultural communication plays an essential part because people are confronted withsituation they often don’t know how to handle. This paper presents the most common perceptions andstereotypes that the Western world holds in relation to the Islamic culture and civilization. Despite thefact that diversity is a universal aspect of international relations and of nowadays life, stereotypes areusually used to address the Other, to lighten the Unknown. The paper also highlights severalcharacteristic issues related to Islam in order to create the proper framework for analysis.