handouts

　　Lecture1DEFININGtheTERMS

　　InterculturalCommunication

　　Becausewehavebeenusingtheterminterculturalcommunicationfromthebeginning,itonlyseemsappropriatethatwepauseandgivemeaningtothosetwowords.Sinceweemploythetermsdominantcultureandco-culturethroughoutthebook,webelieveitwouldalsobeofvaluetodefinethoseconcepts.Letusbeginwithinterculturalcommunication.Forus,interculturalcommunicationoccurswhenamemberofonecultureproducesamessageforconsumptionbyamemberofanotherculture.Moreprecisely,

　　Interculturalcommunicationinvolvesinteractionbetweenpeoplewhoseculturalperceptionsandsymbolsystemsaredistinctenoughtoalterthecommunicationevent.TheDominantCulture

　　Whenwerefertoagroupofpeopleasaculture,weareapplyingthetermtothedominantculturefoundinmostsocieties.IndiscussionsoftheUnitedStates,manytermshavebeenemployedtorepresentthisgroup.Inthepast,termssuchasumbrellaculture,mainstreamculture,U.S.Americans,orEuropeanAmericanshavebeenused.Wepreferthetermdominantculturebecauseitclearlyindicatesthatthegroupwearetalkingaboutistheoneinpower.Thisisthegroupthatusuallyhasthegreatestamountofcontroloverhowtheculturecarriesoutitsbusiness.Thisgrouppossessesthepowerthatallowsittospeakfortheentireculturewhilesettingthetoneandagendathatotherswillusuallyfollow.Thepowerisnotnecessarilyfoundinnumbers,butincontrol.Thepeopleinpowerarethosewhohistoricallyhavecontrolled,andwhostillcontrol,themajorinstitutionswithintheculture:church,government,education,military,massmedia,monetarysystems,andthelike.HistoricallyintheUnitedStates,adultwhitemalesgenerallymeettherequirementsofdominance,andhavedonesosincetheestablishmentofthiscountry.Althoughwhitemalesconstitutelessthan40percentoftheU.S.population,52itistheirpositionsofpower,nottheirnumbers,whichfosterthisdegreeofcontrol.Whitemalesareatthecenterofthedominantculturebecausetheirpositionsofpowerenablethemtodetermineandmanipulatethecontentandflowofthemessagesproducedbyvariouspolitical,economic,andreligiousinstitutions.Itshouldbenotedthatadominantgroupthatgreatlyinfluencesperceptions,communicationpatterns,beliefs,andvaluesisacharacteristicofallcultures.

　　Whatthesegroupsuseasthebasisfortheirpower(money,fear,themilitary,etc.)maydifferfromculturetoculture,butineverycase,thedominantgroupleadstheway.Regardlessofthesourceofpower,certainpeoplewithineveryculturehaveadisproportionateamountofinfluence,andthatinfluenceistranslatedintohowothermembersoftheculturebehave.TheelectionofBarackObamaasPresidentoftheUnitedStates,however,maysignalthebeginningofthediffusionofpowerhistoricallyheldbywhitemalestoothergroups.

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　　Co-Cultures

　　Aswehavejustpointedout,withineachsocietyyouwillfindadominantculture,butthiscultureisnotmonolithic.Thatistosay,withinthedominantcultureyouwillfindnumerousco-culturesandspecializedcultures.AsVictorsuggests,“Anationalcultureisneverahomogeneousthingofonepiece.Ineveryculture,thereareinternalcontradictionsorpolarities.U.S.cultureisnoexception.”53Webelievethatthebestwaytoidentifythesegroupsisbyusingthetermco-cultures,becauseitcallsattentiontotheideaofdualmembership.Wewill,therefore,usethewordco-culturewhendiscussinggroupsorsocialcommunitiesexhibitingcommunicationcharacteristics,perceptions,values,beliefs,andpracticesthataresufficientlydifferenttodistinguishthemfromothergroupsandcommunitiesandfromthedominantculture.

　　Someco-culturessharemanyofthepatternsandperceptionsfoundwithinthelarger,dominantculture,buttheirmembersalsohavedistinctanduniquepatternsofcommunicationthattheyhavelearnedaspartoftheirmembershipintheco-culture.Asyouwillseelaterinthischapterwhenwediscusscultureindetail,mostoftheco-culturesintheUnitedStatesmeetmanyofthecriteriaandcharacteristicsthatwewillapplytodescribeculture.Theseco-culturalaffiliationscanbebasedonrace,ethnicbackground,gender,age,sexualpreference,orotherfactors.54Whatisimportantaboutallco-culturesisthatbeinggay,disabled,Latino,AfricanAmerican,AsianAmerican,AmericanIndian,orfemale,forexample,exposesapersontoaspecializedsetofmessagesthathelpdeterminehowheorsheperceivessomeaspectsoftheexternalworld.Italsosignificantlyinfluenceshowmembersofthatco-culturecommunicatethoseperceptions.

　　Beforeweapplythethreedefinitionswehavejustexamined(interculturalcommunication,dominantculture,andco-culture)tothestudyofinterculturalcommunication,weneedtopauseandtalkabouthumancommunication.Ourrationaleforbeginningwithcommunicationissimple.Whilethisbookisabouttheroleofcultureincommunication,itisalsoaboutwhatthephrase“interculturalcommunication”impliesabouthumaninteraction.Byunderstandingsomeprinciplesinherentincommunication,youwillbeabletoobservehowtheseprinciplesareactedoutintheinterculturalsetting.

　　Lecture2CULTURE

　　Movingfromcommunicationtocultureprovidesuswitharatherseamlesstransition,forasHallpointsout,“Cultureiscommunicationandcommunicationisculture.”72Putintoslightlydifferentwords,whenlookingatcommunicationandcultureitishardtodecidewhichisthevoiceandwhichistheecho.Thereasonforthedualityisthatyou“learn”yourcultureviacommunication,whileatthesametimecommunicationisareflectionofyourculture.Thisbookmanifeststheauthors’strongbeliefthatyoucannotimproveyourinterculturalcommunicationskillswithouthavingaclearunderstandingofthisthingwecallculture.Thepowerfullinkbetweencommunicationandculturecanbeseeninthefollowingfewquestions:

　　?Somepeopleinmanypartsoftheworldputdogsintheirovens,butpeopleintheUnitedStatesputthemontheircouchesandbeds.Why?

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　　?SomepeopleinKabulandKandaharprayfivetimeseachdaywhilesittingonthefloor,butsomepeopleinLasVegassitupallnightinfrontofvideopokermachines.Why?

　　?SomepeoplespeakTagalogandothersspeakEnglish.Why?

　　?Somepeoplepaintanddecoratetheirentirebodies,butothersspendhundredsofdollarspaintinganddecoratingonlytheirfaces.Why?

　　?SomepeopletalktoGod,butothershaveGodtalktothem,andstillotherssaythereisnoGod.Why?

　　?Somepeopleshakehandswhenintroducedtoastranger,butotherpeoplebowatsuchanencounter.Why?

　　Thegeneralanswertoallofthesequestionsisthesame:culture.AsPeoplesandBaileypointout,“culturesvaryintheirwaysofthinkingandwaysofbehaving.”73Asyoumayhavenoticed,allofthequestionsweposeddealtwiththinkingandbehaving.Rodriguezunderlinestheinfluenceofcultureonhumanperceptionandactionswhenshewrites,“Cultureconsistsofhowwerelatetootherpeople,howwethink,howwebehave,andhowweviewtheworld.”74Althoughcultureisnottheonlystimulusbehindyourbehavior,itsomnipresentqualitymakesitoneofthemostpowerful.AsHallconcluded,“Thereisnotoneaspectofhumanlifethatisnottouchedandalteredbyculture.”75

　　Whatmakesculturesouniqueisthatyoushareyourculturewithotherpeoplewhohavebeenexposedtosimilarexperiences.Whileyourpersonalexperiencesandgeneticheritageformtheuniqueyou,cultureunitespeoplewithacollectiveframeofreferencethatisthedomainofacommunity,notacharacteristicofasingleperson.AsHofstedepointsout,“Cultureistoahumancollectivewhatpersonalityistoanindividual.”76Nolanreaffirmsthisideawhenhesuggeststhatcultureisagroupworldview,thewayoforganizingtheworldthataparticularsocietyhascreatedovertime.Thisframeworkorwebofmeaningallowsthemembersofthatsocietytomakesenseofthemselves,theirworld,andtheirexperiencesinthatworld.77Itisthissharingofacommonrealitythatgivespeoplewithinaparticularcultureacommonfundofknowledge.ChiuandHongofferanexcellentsummaryofsomeoftheactivitiesandperceptionsthatgrowoutofasharedwayofexperiencingtheworld:

　　Sharedknowledgegivesrisetosharedmeanings,whicharecarriedinthesharedphysicalenvironment(suchasthespatiallayoutofaruralvillage,subsistenceeconomy)socialinstitutions(e.g.,schools,family,theworkplace),socialpractices(e.g.,divisionoflabor)thelanguage,conversationscripts,andothermedia(e.g.,religiousscriptures,culturalicons,folklores,idioms).78

　　Inherentinourdiscussionofcultureistheideathatculturehelpspeoplemakesenseoftheworld.Rememberthatalthoughyouarebornwithalltheanatomyandphysiologyneededtoliveintheworld,youarenotbornintoaworldthathasmeaningforyou.Youdonotarriveinthisworldknowinghowtodress,whattoystoplaywith,whattoeat,whichgodstoworship,whattostrivefor,orhowtospendyourmoneyandyourtime.Cultureisbothteacherandtextbook.Fromhowmucheyecontactyouemployinconversationstowhyyoubelieveyougetsick,cultureplaysadominant

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　　roleinyourlife.Aswehavenoted,thisbookisabouthowdifferentculturesproducedifferentlives.Andwhenculturesdiffer,communicationpracticesalsodiffer.AsSmithpointedout:

　　Inmodernsocietydifferentpeoplecommunicateindifferentways,asdopeopleindifferentsocietiesaroundtheworld;andthewaypeoplecommunicateisthewaytheylive.Itistheirculture.Whotalkswithwhom?How?Andaboutwhat?Thesearequestionsofcommunicationandculture.AJapanesegeishaandaNewEnglandlibrariansendandreceivedifferentmessagesondifferentchannelsandindifferentnetworks.Whentheelementsofcommunicationdifferorchange,http://www.wendangwang.communicationandcultureareinseparable.79

　　Wehavetriedtoconvinceyouthatcultureisapowerfulforceinhowyouseetheworldandinteractinthatworld.Tofurtherthatindoctrination,letusnow(1)defineculture,(2)explainthebasicfunctionsofculture,(3)highlighttheessentialelementsofculture,and(4)discussthemajorcharacteristicsofculture.

　　DefiningCulture

　　Theprecedingdiscussiononthetopicofcultureshouldenableyoutoseethatcultureisubiquitous,complex,allpervasive,and—mostofall—difficulttodefine.AsHarrisonandHuntingtonnote,“Theterm‘culture,’ofcourse,hashadmultiplemeaningsindifferentdisciplinesanddifferentcontexts.”80Theelusivenatureofthetermisperhapsbestreflectedinthefactthatasearlyas1952areviewoftheanthropologyliteraturerevealed164differentdefinitionsofthewordculture.81AsLonnerandMalpasspointout,thesedefinitions“rangefromcomplexandfancydefinitionstosimpleonessuchas‘cultureistheprogrammingofthemind’or‘cultureisthehuman-madepartoftheenvironment.’”82Themediaalsousesthewordtoportrayaspectsofindividualsophisticationsuchasclassicalmusic,fineart,orexceptionalfoodandwine.This,ofcourse,isnotthewayweplantousetheword.Forourpurposes,weareconcernedwithadefinitionthatcontainstherecurringthemeofhowcultureandcommunicationarelinked.OnedefinitionthatmeetsourneedsisadvancedbyTriandis:

　　Cultureisasetofhuman-madeobjectiveandsubjectiveelementsthatinthepasthaveincreasedtheprobabilityofsurvivalandresultedinsatisfactionfortheparticipantsinanecologicalniche,andthusbecamesharedamongthosewhocouldcommunicatewitheachotherbecausetheyhadacommonlanguageandtheylivedinthesametimeandplace.83

　　Welikethisdefinitionbecauseithighlights,inonelongsentence,theessentialfeaturesofculture.First,byreferringto“human-made”itmakesitclearthatcultureisconcernedwithnon-biologicalpartsofhumanlife.Thisallowsforexplanationsofbehaviorthatareinnateanddonothavetobelearned(suchaseating,sleeping,crying,speechmechanisms,andfear).Second,thedefinitionincludeswhatHarrisonandHuntingtoncallthe“subjectiveelementsofculture—elementssuchas“values,attitudes,beliefs,orientations,andunderlyingassumptionsprevalentamongpeopleinasociety.”84Thinkforamomentofallthesubjectiveculturalbeliefsandvaluesyouholdthatinfluenceyourinterpretationoftheworld.YourviewsabouttheAmericanflag,work,immigration,

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　　freedom,age,ethics,dress,propertyrights,etiquette,healingandhealth,deathandmourning,play,law,individualism,magicandsuperstition,modesty,sex,statusdifferentiation,courtship,formalityandinformality,bodilyadornment,andthelikeareallpartofyourculturalmembership.Finally,thedefinitionalsocallsattentiontotheimportanceoflanguageasasymbolsystemthatallowsculturetobetransmittedandshared.AsPhilipsennotes,cultureinvolvestransmittedpatternsof“symbols,meanings,premises,andrules.”85

　　ElementsofCulture

　　Whilecultureiscomposedofacountlessnumberofelements(food,shelter,work,defense,socialcontrol,psychologicalsecurity,socialharmony,purposeinlife,etc.),therearefiveelementsthatrelatedirectlytothisbook.Understandingtheseelementswillenableyoutoappreciatethenotionthatwhileallculturesshareacommonsetofcomponents,theactingoutoftheseissuesoftendistinguishesoneculturefromanother.

　　History

　　Overtwothousandyearsago,theRomanoratorCiceroremarkedthathistoryprovidesguidanceindailylife.Itseemshewasright,becauseallculturesbelieveintheideathathistoryisadiagramthatoffersdirectionabouthowtoliveinthepresent.Whatisinterestingaboutaculture’shistoryisthat,likemostoftheimportantelementsofculture,itistransmittedfromgenerationtogenerationandhelpsperpetuateaculture’sworldview.Thesestoriesofthepastofferthemembersofaculturepartoftheiridentity,values,rulesofbehavior,andthelike.Historyhighlightstheculture’sorigins,“tells”itsmemberswhatisdeemedimportant,andidentifiestheaccomplishmentsofthecultureofwhichtheycanbeproud.Asyoushallseeinthenextchapter,whileallculturespassonahistorythathelpsshapetheirmembers,eachhistoryisuniquetoaparticularcultureandcarriesspecificculturalmessages.The“lessons”oftheHolocaust,theSpanishconquestofMexico,themotivationbehindthebuildingoftheGreatWallofChina,andtheAmericanRevolutionarestoriesthatarespecialtotheirrespectiveculturesandhelpexplaincontemporaryperceptionsheldbymembersofthosecultures.

　　Religion

　　Anotherfeatureofallculturesisreligion.Morespecifically,accordingtoParkes,Laungani,andYoung,allculturespossess“adominant,organizedreligionwithinwhichsalientbeliefsandactivities(rites,rituals,taboos,andceremonies)canbegivenmeaningandlegitimacy.”89Theinfluenceofreligioncanbeseenintheentirefabricofaculturesinceitservessomanybasicfunctions.Ferraronotesthatthesefunctionsincludesocialcontrol,conflictresolution,reinforcementofgroupsolidarity,explanationsoftheunexplainable,andemotionalsupport.90Thesefunctionsconsciouslyandunconsciouslyimpacteverythingfrombusinesspractices(thePuritanworkethic)topolitics(thelinkbetweenIslamandgovernment)toindividualbehavior(codesofethics).Values

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　　Valuesareanotherfeatureofeveryculture.AccordingtoPeoplesandBailey,valuesare“criticaltothemaintenanceofcultureasawholebecausetheyrepresentthequalitiesthatpeoplebelieveareessentialtocontinuingtheirwayoflife.”91Theconnectionbetweenvaluesandcultureissostrongthatitishardtotalkaboutonewithoutdiscussingtheother.AsMacionisnotes,valuesare“culturallydefinedstandardsofdesirability,goodness,andbeautythatserveasbroadguidelinesforsocialliving.”92Thekeywordinanydiscussionofculturalvaluesis“guidelines.”Inotherwords,valueshelpdeterminehowpeopleoughttobehave.Totheextentthatculturalvaluesdiffer,youcanexpectthatparticipantsininterculturalcommunicationwilltendtoexhibitandtoanticipatedifferentbehaviorsundersimilarcircumstances.Forexample,whileallculturesvaluetheelderly,thestrengthofthisvalueisoftenverydifferentasyoumovefromculturetoculture.IntheKoreanandAmericanIndiancultures,theelderlyarehighlyrespectedandrevered.Theyareevensoughtoutforadviceandcounsel.Thisis,ofcourse,instarkcontrasttotheUnitedStates,wheretheemphasisisonyouth.SocialOrganizations

　　Anotherfeaturefoundinallculturesiswhatwecall“socialorganizations.”Theseorganizations(sometimesreferredtoassocialsystemsorsocialstructures)representthevarioussocialunitscontainedwithintheculture.Suchinstitutions—includingthefamily,government,schools,andtribes—helpthemembersofthecultureorganizetheirlives.Thesesocialsystemsestablishcommunicationnetworksandregulatenormsofpersonal,familial,andsocialconduct.93Thewaysinwhichtheseorganizationsfunctionandthenormstheyadvanceareuniquetoeachculture.Nolanunderscoresthenatureoftheseorganizationsinthefollowingillustration:

　　Socialstructuresreflectourculture,forexample,whetherwehavekingsandqueens,orpresidentsandprimeministers.Withinoursocialstructure,furthermore,cultureassignsrolestothevariousplayers—expectationsabouthowindividualswillbehave,whattheywillstandfor,andevenhowtheywilldress.94

　　Language

　　Languageisyetanotherfeaturethatiscommontoallcultures.SocrucialislanguagetoeveryculturethatHavilandandhiscolleaguepointout,“Withoutourcapacityforcomplexlanguage,humancultureasweknowitcouldnotexist.”95Notonlydoeslanguageallowthemembersofaculturetoshareideas,feelings,andinformation,butitisalsooneofthechiefmethodsforthetransmissionofculture.WhethertheyareEnglish,Swahili,Chinese,orFrench,mostwords,meanings,grammar,andsyntaxbeartheidentificationmarksofaspecificculture.

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