跨文化交际导论

Understanding culture
Culture is like an iceberg Culture is our software Culture is like the water a fish
swims in Culture is the story we tell
ourselves about ourselves Culture is the grammar of our
Definitions of Culture
Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952 ) identified 164 different definitions of culture.
Dictionary Definitions of Culture (COD)
The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. (intellectual perspective)
What is common to the definitions?
Culture is what distinguishes human beings from animals. It is human endeavor and its outcome.
Culture includes patterns of behavior, beliefs and values and artifacts.
The society is composed of people whose way of actions make up their culture.
Culture
basic function definitions ingredients characteristics Understanding culture
Culture is shared by a group of people.
Levels of culture
material /symbol level
most superficial,visible
institutions/system level visible
values/belief & behavior level invisible
The characteristics of culture
(see Textbook p.38-48)
Culture is not innate; it is learned. Culture is transmissible. Culture is dynamic. Culture is selective. The facets of culture are interrelated. Culture is ethnocentric. Culture is adaptive
behavior
Culture is like an iceberg
Culture is like an onion
Culture is our software
Culture is like the water a fish swims in
Learning about culture and
“culture” and “society”
A culture is the way of life of a nation, while a society is a community organized in accordance with a certain way of life. (Herskivits, 1945)
4. Do “culture” and “society” refer to the same thing or mean different things?
“dominant culture” vs. “co-
culture”
“dominant culture” –umbrella culture, mainstream culture—one part of the culture shared by most people and exerts greater influence.
Functions of Culture
(Dressler & Carns )
to communicate with others through language
to anticipate others’ response in our society
to give us standards for distinction
Sleeping is nature while where one sleeps is cultural.
Giving birth is nature while where and how a woman gives birth is cultural.
Human beings are cultured animals.
Approaches for examining a particular culture
1) Sense of Self and space. 2) Communication and language. 3) Dress and Appearance. 4) Food and feeding habits. 5) Time and Time Consciousness. 6) Relationships. 7) Values and Norms. 8)Beliefs and Attitudes. 9) Mental Process and Learning. 10) Work Habits and Practices.
Culture is acquired instead
of hereditary.
“All over the world, since the beginning of human history, it can be shown that peoples have been able to adopt the culture of peoples of another blood. There is nothing on the biological structure of , that makes it even difficult. Man is not committed in detail by his biological constitution to any particular variety of behavior.” (Benedict, 1935)
Biological vs. cultural
Sneezing is biological while saying ‘god bless you’ is cultural.
Feeling hungry is nature while what we eat and how we eat it is cultural.
“co-cultures” : groups or social communities exhibiting communication characteristics, perceptions, values, beliefs, and practices that are significantly different enough to distinguish them from the other groups, communities and dominant culture.
learning to do culture
The purpose of this course is to raise the hidden part of the iceberg so that more of it becomes visible.
Another purpose is to enable you to add new software to your basic operating systems to increase its power and flexibility.
The customs, civilizations, and achievements of a particular time or people. (anthropologic perspective)
Scholar’s definition
Edward Sapir : “Culture may be defined as what a society does and thinks. Language is a particular how of thought.” “Culture is the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture of our lives.”
Group Activity
Warm-up questions
1. Tell whatever comes to your mind when you hear or think of culture.
2. How do you understand “small c” and “big C”?
3. What do “dominant culture” and “coculture” mean to you?
Talk 4
Culture
Culture is communication and vice versa.
How we communicate and what is “said” through our communication helps define what is “our cultBiblioteka Baidure.”
to provide the knowledge and skill needed
to identify with other people of similar background
Functions of Culture
(Samovar & Porter)
The basic function of culture is to explain the world to each new member of the culture. By telling us what to expect, culture reduces confusion and helps us predict the future.
“small c” and “big C”
Big C: achievement culture (history, education, geography, institutions, literature, art, music…)
Small c: behavior culture (values, beliefs, perceptions)
Scholar’s definition
Geert Hofstede (1984): “views culture from a psychological perspective, defining it as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another". Culture is “software of the mind”.