Cultural Adaptation of Public Interiors: The Pictogram Illusion

Abstract

According to the assumption that social values ​​are used as a tool in cultural transmission, it can be said that culture and society are immanent to each other. According to imperialist thought, uniform non-verbal communication tools are recommended for the integration of multiple cultures instead of verbal communication using common cultural values. In this context, pictograms, which are one of the nonverbal communication tools in public areas, were chosen as the research object in the study in which the standardization was questioned. Based on the assumption that universality is not possible in nonverbal communication, the aim of the research is to examine cultural adaptation practices through pictogram examples. The hypothesis of the research was determined as ‘the pictograms developed for cultural adaptation continue to express the local social identity semiotically since they do not contain the same cultural codes and messages for everyone’. The scope of the research is limited to the cultural characteristics of the countries according to the pictograms in the public space and their level of development. As a result of the research, it has been understood that the pictograms used in nonverbal communication are not culturally homogeneous tools.