As a topic that is both timeless and current, the variety of manifestations and functions of ambiguity in culture, politics and everyday life has inspired scholars from various disciplines in the study of culture, from gender and queer studies (Engel 2002, Wilkerson 2007) to art history and theory (Eco 1962, Franklin 2020), and social sciences (Bauman 2007). The 12th issue of On_Culture seeks to explore ambiguity in its potential and limits as an analytical tool for research in the study of culture. By the same token, the issue is also interested in perspectives on ambiguity as a cultural phenomenon in its historical situatedness and political dimensions.
The act of renouncing fixed binary oppositions in social and cultural environment, although often celebrated for its dynamic power and political potential, can fuel reactionary and anti-democratic backlashes and calls for cultural homogeneity. Especially in times of crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic, simple answers to complex questions seem to be growing in popularity. In a study on the connection between totalitarianism, authoritarianism and ambiguity intolerance, Adorno et al. (1950) pointed out that “ambiguity tolerance” (Frenkel-Brunswick 1949) decreases, when the social and cultural environment is uncertain. More recently, Thomas Bauer (2018, 2021) has also argued that modern societies show a comparatively high level of ambiguity intolerance in comparison to pre-modern societies.
From literary fiction to political discourse, ambiguity counts among the narrative effects of the increasingly noticeable blurring of the fact/fiction boundaries. What are the implications of this epistemological ambiguity and what does it reveal about the cultural landscape which gives rise to this situation? While the concept of ambiguity is often employed to describe equivocal, open, and enigmatic phenomena, the following questions often remain unanswered: What exactly is meant when something is characterized as ambiguous? Are there different stages, degrees, or variations of ambiguity, and can they be differentiated terminologically and analytically? How can we include ambiguity’s historicity in our conceptual reflections and theoretical discussions? To what extent are the production, perception, transformation and functions of ambiguity shaped by the occidental western tradition of thought, and what are the challenging phenomena?