%0 Journal Article
%T Cross-Cultural Understandings in the Language and Politics of Friendship
%A Heather Devere
%J Canadian Social Science
%D 2007
%I Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture
%X Friendship is a frequently-used word but it is difficult to define it clearly. Friendship in its various configurations links people and communities together in some sort of reciprocally beneficial association that forms societies. Thus friendship is a concept that deserves attention. This paper examines some of the similarities and differences about understandings of friendship which both support and challenge traditional western perspectives. The article argues that an exploration of the experiences and interpretations of friendship outside the western philosophical tradition demonstrates a shared understanding about many aspects, but also some subtle differences which, while challenging some of the western concepts, can also be incorporated into developments of the idea of friendship. Key words: friendship, western philosophical tradition, cross-cultural understandings, language of friendship, socio-linguistic approach R¨¦sum¨¦: L¡¯amiti¨¦ est un mot fr¨¦quemment utilis¨¦ mais il est difficile de le d¨¦finir clairement. L¡¯amiti¨¦ lie, dans ses diverses formes, les peuples et les communaut¨¦s ¨¤ une sorte d¡¯association r¨¦ciproquement b¨¦n¨¦fique qui forme la soci¨¦t¨¦. L¡¯amiti¨¦ est ainsi un concept qui m¨¦rite l¡¯attention. Le pr¨¦sent article examine des similitudes et diff¨¦rences des compr¨¦hensions de ce mot, qui supporte et d¨¦fie ¨¤ la fois les perspectives occidentales traditionnelles. L¡¯auteur argumente qu¡¯une exploration des exp¨¦riences et interpr¨¦tations de l¡¯amiti¨¦ hors de la tradition philosophique occidentale montre une compr¨¦hension partag¨¦e sur beaucoup d¡¯aspects, de plus, des diff¨¦rences subtiles qui, tout en d¨¦fiant des concepts occidentaux, peuvent aussi ¨ºtre int¨¦gr¨¦es au d¨¦veloppement de l¡¯id¨¦e d¡¯amiti¨¦. Mots-cl¨¦s: amiti¨¦, tradition philosophique occidentale, compr¨¦hension transculturelle, langage d¡¯amiti¨¦, approche sociolinguistique
%U http://cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/view/564