COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE „How shall I talk of the sea to the frog, if he has never left the pond? How shall I talk of the forest to the bird of the summer land if he has never left the land of his birth? And how shall I talk of life with the sage if he is a prisoner of his doctrine?” Zhuang Zhou, 4th century Chinese philosopher

„Communication—our ability to share our ideas and feelings—is the basis of all human contact…the verbal and nonverbal symbols people utilise might sound and look different, but the reasons they have for communicating are universal.”*

„Self is not innate, but is acquired in the process of communication with others.” J.T. Wood, Communication Mosaics

„Because you cannot directly access the internal thoughts of another, you must rely on and interpret their use of verbal and nonverbal symbols to represent those thoughts.”*

Ingredients of Communication: a source encoding message channel receiver decoding feedback noise

Communication is a Dynamic Process --an ongoing activity that has no beginning and no end --once a word or action is produced, it cannot be retracted „In the life of one person, never the same time returns.” --T.S. Eliot „A harsh word dropped from the tongue cannot be brought back by a coach and six horses.” –Chinese proverb „A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” –Proverbs 15:1

Communication is symbolic --the symbols you use are discretionary and subjective --although all cultures use symbols, they usually assign their own meanings to them

Communication is contextual --it does not occur in a vacuum four aspects of context: 1) the number of people, 2) the environment, 3) the occasion, 4) the time

Communication is self-reflective „Wherever we go, whatever we do, self is the sole subject we study and learn.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson --Humans are the only species that can simultaneously be at both ends of the camera --The „I” is at the heart of Western religion and psychology

Communication and Culture work in tandem Some people are delighted and smile when someone pats the head of their young child. Yet in other cultures, such a gesture is deemed an inappropriate act. Why? Some people seek the company of others when they are grieving, but other people seek solitude. Why? Some people scratch their ears and cheeks as a sign of happiness, but people in other places of the world smile when they are happy. Why?

„Cultures exist to serve the vital, practical requirements of human life…to pass on the hard-learned knowledge and experience of generations past and centuries past to the young and inexperienced in order to spare the next generation the costly process of learning everything all over again…” –T. Sowell, Cultural Diversity: A World View

Characteristics of culture --culture is shared --culture is transmitted from generation to generation --is based on symbols --is learned

The Elements of Culture: --worldview „the way people interpret reality and events, including their images of themselves…” –Bailey and Peoples --religion --values --history --social organizations --language

„Cultures are always changing, but the deep structure of a culture is resistant to change.”

What does… a child reprimanded for making a hurtful remark about a classmate’s weight learn? a young boy in the US whose grandfather reminds him to shake hands when he is introduced learn? an Arab father who reads the Koran to his daughter and son teach them? an Indian child who lives in a home where the women eat after the men learn? a Jewish child who helps conduct the Passover ceremony learn? a Japanese girl who attends a tea ceremony learn? an American student watching a film on the Revolutionary War learn?

What do the following proverbs communicate about American culture What do the following proverbs communicate about American culture? Time is money Strike while the iron is hot Actions speak louder than words God helps those who help themselves Pull yourself up by your bootstraps No pain, no gain A man’s home is his castle The squeaky wheel gets the grease Fortune favors the bold

Becoming a competent intercultural communicator --the culture-specific method of gathering relevant knowledge involves studying one culture at a time --the culture-general method assumes that there are some life experiences and communication traits common to virtually all cultures „It is important to have knowledge that enables you to adapt to any culture.”* *quotes taken from communication between cultures, Larry A. Samovar, Richard e. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel, Carolyn S. Roy, 9th Edition

Questions about Harari What reasons does Harari give for Europe’s surpassing of the Asian powers in the course of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries? How does he believe European imperialism differed from previous imperial projects?

Which ten words do you believe best describe your culture Which ten words do you believe best describe your culture? Choose a culture and find an example of one of its folktales, proverbs and one of its most famous works of art. What do they communicate about that culture?