The intercultural interaction in Edward Morgan Forster?s A Passage to India

This study is concerned with the intercultural interaction in the novel A Passage to India (1924) by Edward Morgan Forster. It is composed of an introductory part, four main chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter is devoted to the evaluation of the concept of culture and the second chapter deals with intercultural communication and interaction. The third chapter focuses firstly on the novel and the writer and then on the content and theme of the novel. Finally the last chapter concentrates on the status of intercultural interaction in the novel; intercultural problems faced by the figures, the cultural misunderstandings and intercultural interaction are dealt with.One of the major themes of A Passage to India is cultural misunderstanding. Differing cultural ideas and expectations regarding social proprieties, and the role of religion in daily life are responsible for misunderstanding between the English and the Muslim Indians, the English and the Hindu Indians, and between the Muslims and Hindus. Forster demonstrates how these repeated misunderstandings become hardened into cultural stereotypes and are often used to justify the uselessness of attempts to bridge cultural gulfs.Key Words: Culture, communication, intercultural interaction, intercultural communication, cultural values.