跨文化交际阅读材料.docx

跨文化交际阅读材料.docx

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跨文化交际阅读材料

PartIBasicConcepts

Chapter1Culture

Definingculture

Whenyouthinkoftheword“culture”,whatentersyourmind?

Perhapsmusic,architecture,thearts.Manypeopleassociatetheseareaswithculture.Othersmaythinkofphilosophy,history,andliterature.Stillothersmaythinkofbeliefs,customs,values,andworldview.

Perhapstheearliestformaldefinitionofculture,putforwardbyE.B.Tylorin1871,isalsooneofthebestknown.Heconceivedofcultureas“thatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,custom,andanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.”（Tylor,1871）SinceTylor’sdefinition,morethan500differentversionshaveemerged,butstillnoconsensushasbeenreacheduptothepresent.Definingcultureisdifficultmainlybecausescholarshavedifferentunderstandingsofit.Onedefinition,forexample,treatscultureaseverythingthatishuman-made.Anotherscholar,however,hasproposedthat“cultureiscommunicationandcommunicationisculture”（Hall,1976）.

Theauthorsofthisbookagreewithmostanthropologists’viewthatculturereferstothetotalwayoflivingofparticulargroupsofpeople.Itincludeseverythingthatagroupofpeoplethink,say,do,andmake.TraditionalChinesemedicine,ChineseGongfu,PekingOperaandChineseCuisinesareamongthemostfrequentlymentionedsymbolsofChineseculture.Besides,examplesofculturecanalsobefoundineveryaspectofourlife.Theseincludethecustomsweobservefornamingourchildren,thewayweaddressourfamilymembers,ourmodeofentertainingourguests,thewaywespendourmoney,howwetakeourvacation,thewayweraiseourchildren,aswellasthetablemannersweexpect,theclotheswewear,thevehicleswedrive,theutensilsweuseformeals,andsoon.Inaword,cultureisawholecollectionofourlivingpatternsandbehaviors.

Metaphorsofculture

Asalargeandpervasiveconcept,cultureisoftencomparedtoaniceberg,suggestingthatonlyasmallpartofitisvisiblewhilemostofitliesconcealed.Ourcustoms,habitsandtheartifactsmadeandusedbyhumanslieatoptheiceberg,easytodiscover.Thehiddendimension,however,ismainlycomposedoftheunderlyingworldview,valuesystems,waysofthinking,nationalcharacterandanyotherdeepconceptsofourmindthatserveasthefoundationofthevisiblepartandthataccountforourcustoms,habitsandartifacts.InChina,forinstance,weoftengreeteachotherbyasking“Whereareyougoing?

”andgiveageneralanswertoitwhengreeted.ThestrongemphasisonsocialrelationshipsandtheheavyinterdependencebetweenChinesepeoplearesomeunderlyingreasonsthataccountforthishabit.ToanAmerican,thissamesentencemaybeinterpretedasanintrusionintoone’sprivacy.Theunderlyingindividual-orientedrelationshipistheinvisiblepartoftheiceberg.

Cultureisalsocomparedtothe“softwareofourmind”（Hofstede,1991）andthegrammarofourbehavior.LeviStraussoncesaid,“Allsocietiesconstructtheirownrealitiesinaccordancewithmentalorpsychologicalprinciples…Wethusinventtheworldweinhabit.”（Hawkes,2003）Thesocietyaroundusisnotanentirelyobjectivereality,foreveryoneofushelpstoconstructourworld.Cultureisthissharedsetofmentalandpsychologicalprinciplesthatexistinpeople’sminds.Thiscollectiveagreementthengovernspeople’sbehaviorandgivespeopleguidelinesaboutwhatthingsmean,whatisimportant,andwhatshouldorshouldnotbedone.Chinesepeoplearewellknownfortheirmodesty.Confucianteachings,whichoriginatedinthegroup-orientedcultures,aretheguidelinesthathelpshapetheirbehavior.

Anotherpopularmetaphorforcultureistocompareittotherulesofthegameeverybodyisplayinginanyparticularsocietyalthoughwegenerallyarenothighlyawareoftherulesatanygivenmoment.Thesesharedrulesofthegametellushowtocommunicatewithothersandhowtointerpretthebehaviorofthosearoundus.Egyptians,forinstance,tendtousemoresimilesandmetaphorsintheircomplimentsthanAmericans.“Heislikeabrothertome”isoftenheardintheirconversation.Besides,“MayGodprotecthim”isoftenaddressedtoapregnantwomanorachildtoprotecttheindividualfrombadluck.Americans,ontheotherhand,seemtocomplimentmorefrequentlythanEgyptiansthoughtheircomplimentsareoftenshorterandincludefewermetaphorsandsimiles.Thus,cultureiseverythinganindividualneedstoacquireinordertobewellacceptedintoasociety.

Characteristicsofculture

However,onedoesnotbecomeamemberofaculturebybirth.Cultureislearned.Welearnourculturefromthosepeoplewithwhomweinteractinourprocessofsocialization:

ourparents,teachers,friends,andevenstrangers.Ahumaninfantwilllearnwolfcultureifheliveswithwolvessincehisbirth.Wealsolearntheexpectationsothersmayhaveforourbehaviorthroughourreligiousinstitutionsandthemassmedia.Television,forexample,notonlyprovidesuswithviewsofrealitybutalsoteachesusmanyoftheday-to-daynormsofourculture.

Anothercharacteristicofcultureisthatitistransmittedfromonegenerationtoanother.Cultureispasseddownfromparentsorotheradultstochildren,whointurngrowupandteachtheirownchildrentheculture’scustomsandexpectations.Parentsoftenteachusthenormsandrulesofourculturebymodelinghowtobehaveandcorrectinguswhenweviolatethem.IntheUS,forexample,mostchildrenareaskedfromaveryearlyagetomaketheirowndecisions.Inmanyothercultures,aparentseldomorneverasksachildwhatheorshewantstodo.Instead,theysimplytellthechildwhattodo.Culturecanalsoemergeingroups,asisthecaseoftenwithyoungerpeople,whoformtheircultureapartfromparentsorotheradults.

Cultureisalsoadynamicsystemthatischangingconstantly.Theonlythingthatremainsunchangedisthefactof“change”itself.Therearelotsofreasonstoexplainthechangingnatureofculture:

forexample,economicdevelopment,shiftsinpoliticalsystems,andtechnologicalinnovations.ConsidertheexampleofChina.TremendouschangeshavetakenplaceinChinasincetheintroductionofpoliciesofreformandeconomicandsocialopening.TogetherwiththesechangesaresometraditionalChinesevalues.Forexample,theideaofsavingandthriftwasonceconsideredaveryimportantConfucianprinciple.NowitisaprincipleseldomobservedamongtheyoungergenerationsofChina,whoaremoreconcernedaboutenjoyinglifeinthepresent.

Subcultureandcoculture

Itisnottruetosaythateachcountryhasonlyoneculture.IntheUS,thereisnotonlytheso-called“WhiteAnglo-SaxonProtestant”（WASP）culture,butalsoAfrican-Americanculture,Arab-Americanculture,Asian-Americanculture,Hispanic-Americanculture,andmanyothers,whicharelabeledassubcultureswithintheUS.Thisterm,however,hasconnotationsthatsuggestsubordinationtothelargerEuro-americanculture.Thus,theterm“coculture”isoccasionallyemployedinanefforttoavoidthehierarchicalimplicationofthisterm.

Therearealsootherkindsofsubcultures（cocultures）.Wecan,forexample,talkaboutastudentsubculture,abusinesssubculture,amiddle-classsubculture,andasouthern（orotherregional）subculture.Eachofthesegroupssharesmanycommonculturalideaswithalargerculturebutobservessomeofitsownthatareunique.

Forcommunicationpurposes,however,weusuallyfocusonthedominantculturalpatterns.Forinstance,whenwesaydifferencesbetweenChineseandAmericancultures,wemeandifferencesbetweenthedominantHancultureandthedominantAnglo-SaxonAmericanculture.Thiswillprobablychangealot,asminoritygroupstogetherbecomethemajorityintheUS.Forexample,muchofAmericanmusic,suchasjazz,isinfluencedbyAfrican-Americanculture.Inaddition,wehavetorememberthatindividualdifferencesalwaysexist.Withinadominantculturalpatterntherearealwayssomepeoplewhodeviatetovaryingdegreesfromthepattern.

Chapter2Communication

Definingcommunication

Associalanimals,humansemploycommunicationineveryaspectofdailylife.Itservestofacilitatehumansocialization,maintainsocialrelationships,anddeveloppersonality.Althoughexpertshavenotagreeduponpreciselyonedefinition,communicationgenerallyreferstotheprocessinwhichparticipantscreateandshareinformationwithoneanotherastheymovetowardreachingmutualunderstanding.

Amodelofcommunication

Asourunderstandingofthissubjecthasdeepened,themodelsweuseforcommunicationhaveevolvedfromthelineartothecircular.Thefollowingmodelindicatesthetransactionalviewofcommunication.

Figure2.1Amodelofcommunication

Elementsofcommunication

Asisshownintheabovemodel,therearetenmajorelementsoraspectsofcommunication.Thefollowingisaconversationbetweentwocolleagueswhomeetinanelevatoronthewaytotheiroffices.Itservesasausefulexampletoillustratethesetenelements.Table2.1presentsexplanations,alongwithillustrations,foreachaspect.

Male:

Hi,how’veyoubeen?

Female:

Notbad.’Nyou?

Male:

Oh,can’tcomplain.Busy.

Female:

Iknow.Me,too.

Male:

Ohwell,gottatakeoff.Seeya.

Female:

Bye.Takecare.

Elements

Explanationsoftheelements

Illustrationsinthisconversation

Context

Asettingorsituationinwhichcommunicationoccurs

Anelevatoronthewaytotheoffice

Sender

Theindividualwhooriginatesamessage

Theman

Encoding

Theprocessbywhichanideaisconvertedintoamessage

Convertingtheideaofgreetingintoaverbalmessage

Message

Theinformationbeingsent

Averbalgreeting（Ho