Materialität und fehlendes Verständnis kultureller Dimensionen von Texten

Abstract This article examines cultural lacks of understanding which occur on the textual and material level. Using the theoretical framework and methodology of textual linguistics, this article considers textual genres as cultural artifacts. Analyses of textual examples show that materiality is both central to the reception of a text and determinant for it. Materiality can also carry cultural meaning, e. g. knowledge about the text’s cultural context. When materiality is misunderstood, the receiver outside the cultural community fails to perceive the strategies intended to increase communicative effectiveness, to manipulate reception and to focus on playful creativity with an aesthetic dimension. Misunderstandings may occur, but do not affect the essence of the message. The partial understanding affects the pragmatic and social dimension of the text. In this sense, cultural incomprehension generated by the materiality of texts deserves to be investigated, especially in relation to the increasing prevalence of multimodality in public spaces and the growing presence of images in communication.