CROSS – CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
WHAT IS CULTURE?
‘culture is everywhere – and nowhere’
it affects people’s feelings, thoughts and actions on many levels and occasions
‘culture is everywhere – and nowhere’
it does not exist in any specific or ‘real’ sense. It is something abstract
NATIONALITY <> ETHNICITY
the country you come from the group of people you share a culture,
language, history, set of traditions, … with
* they overlap but they are not the same
CULTURE AND GROUPS
culture is a characteristic of any human group > city cultures
> family cultures
> online cultures
CULTURE AND INDIVIDUALS
multicollectivity = you automatically belong to several cultures at the same time
example: I am a member of Belgians, IBM students, women, the family Bland, 18 year olds, …
CULTURE AS REPERTOIRE
- repertoire = everything you have of ideas, behaviours and symbols within a culture
5 elements in a cultural repertoire:
1. Knowledge = kennis
> you know about some cultural characteristics, history, values, beliefs, and behaviors of
another ethnic or cultural group.
2. Values = waarden
> cows in India – you can not kill them, if you do you are getting punished
2. Norms = normen
> tipping – in some countries you need to tip the staff of the restaurant
, 4. Language = taal
> in Belgium we speak Dutch, French and German but also a lot off dialects
5. Heroes, traditions and rituals = helden, tradities en rituelen
> heroes are for example Jesus or the Buddha
> traditions: the tradition to remove your shoes when entering a home in Japan
> rituals: in a wedding ceremony there are some rituals, for example the reading of vows
TAIYE SELASI
Explain: “History and culture are real, but countries are invented.”
- she means by this that you are not a person of a country, if you live in that country - you don't have
to have that nationality - you can call yourself from a country if you look at your own history and
culture, that's where you come from
- there is a limiting trap ‘coming from a country goes over reality (human experience)’ – you can
don’t have to feel like a national, you can be a local or multi-local
- “all experience is local”, “all identity is experience” >>> MY EXPERIENCE IS WHERE I’M FROM
What are the 3 R's?
- to answer the question “where are you a local” Taiye Selasi made a three step test: rituals,
relationships and restrictions
RITUALS = making your coffee in the morning, saying your prayers, … > what are these? where do
they occur?
RELATIONSHIPS = think of the people who shape you days: to who do you speak? on a weekly basis
RESTRICTIONS = where are you able to live, what passport do you hold? this one is less lyric then the
other R’s – the question is: “where are you know” TO “why aren't you there, and why”
Can you complete the three R's for yourself?
RITUALS = every day I wake up, drink my coffee, I put make up on myself, put on a lovely outfit and I
go to school, I go by bike or with public transport, …
RELATIONSHIPS = every day I make contact on social media with my friends that study in another
city, I speak to my friends that are on school in real life and text with my family
RESTRICTIONS = I am now in Belgium, studying for my bachelor's degree but I would love to study
outside of Belgium, my parents are divorced so it is not easy to give that much money to school, the
government doesn’t have scholarships for me because my parent’s wages are to high, that restricts
me from studying outside of Belgium
, What do countries represent? Write down one word.
- countries represent power
Why can we never go back to a place and find it exactly as we left it? Give 2 reasons.
- the biggest problem with coming from countries is the myth of going back to them
- we can not go back to a country, because the place no longer exists
> this is because of people, it is about human experience – locality bespeaks humanity
In order to understand each other’s culture, we must understand ourselves first. So, where are you
local?
- I am a local of Belgium, my grandfather is English so I feel a bit English because my back name is
Bland, that is what makes me special
SELF – REFERENCE CRITERION
- definition = = an unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values, experiences and knowledge as
a basis for decisions
example: American students in a local restaurant in Maastricht
THE CULTURE SHOCK
- you go through a culture shock, for example when you are an exchange student or when you are a
traveller
> it describes the impact of moving from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one (climate, food,
language, dress, values, etiquette and behaviour)
- it goes in 4 PHASES (U – curve)
- or in a W-curve when you are re-entering the culture shock
WHAT IS CULTURE?
‘culture is everywhere – and nowhere’
it affects people’s feelings, thoughts and actions on many levels and occasions
‘culture is everywhere – and nowhere’
it does not exist in any specific or ‘real’ sense. It is something abstract
NATIONALITY <> ETHNICITY
the country you come from the group of people you share a culture,
language, history, set of traditions, … with
* they overlap but they are not the same
CULTURE AND GROUPS
culture is a characteristic of any human group > city cultures
> family cultures
> online cultures
CULTURE AND INDIVIDUALS
multicollectivity = you automatically belong to several cultures at the same time
example: I am a member of Belgians, IBM students, women, the family Bland, 18 year olds, …
CULTURE AS REPERTOIRE
- repertoire = everything you have of ideas, behaviours and symbols within a culture
5 elements in a cultural repertoire:
1. Knowledge = kennis
> you know about some cultural characteristics, history, values, beliefs, and behaviors of
another ethnic or cultural group.
2. Values = waarden
> cows in India – you can not kill them, if you do you are getting punished
2. Norms = normen
> tipping – in some countries you need to tip the staff of the restaurant
, 4. Language = taal
> in Belgium we speak Dutch, French and German but also a lot off dialects
5. Heroes, traditions and rituals = helden, tradities en rituelen
> heroes are for example Jesus or the Buddha
> traditions: the tradition to remove your shoes when entering a home in Japan
> rituals: in a wedding ceremony there are some rituals, for example the reading of vows
TAIYE SELASI
Explain: “History and culture are real, but countries are invented.”
- she means by this that you are not a person of a country, if you live in that country - you don't have
to have that nationality - you can call yourself from a country if you look at your own history and
culture, that's where you come from
- there is a limiting trap ‘coming from a country goes over reality (human experience)’ – you can
don’t have to feel like a national, you can be a local or multi-local
- “all experience is local”, “all identity is experience” >>> MY EXPERIENCE IS WHERE I’M FROM
What are the 3 R's?
- to answer the question “where are you a local” Taiye Selasi made a three step test: rituals,
relationships and restrictions
RITUALS = making your coffee in the morning, saying your prayers, … > what are these? where do
they occur?
RELATIONSHIPS = think of the people who shape you days: to who do you speak? on a weekly basis
RESTRICTIONS = where are you able to live, what passport do you hold? this one is less lyric then the
other R’s – the question is: “where are you know” TO “why aren't you there, and why”
Can you complete the three R's for yourself?
RITUALS = every day I wake up, drink my coffee, I put make up on myself, put on a lovely outfit and I
go to school, I go by bike or with public transport, …
RELATIONSHIPS = every day I make contact on social media with my friends that study in another
city, I speak to my friends that are on school in real life and text with my family
RESTRICTIONS = I am now in Belgium, studying for my bachelor's degree but I would love to study
outside of Belgium, my parents are divorced so it is not easy to give that much money to school, the
government doesn’t have scholarships for me because my parent’s wages are to high, that restricts
me from studying outside of Belgium
, What do countries represent? Write down one word.
- countries represent power
Why can we never go back to a place and find it exactly as we left it? Give 2 reasons.
- the biggest problem with coming from countries is the myth of going back to them
- we can not go back to a country, because the place no longer exists
> this is because of people, it is about human experience – locality bespeaks humanity
In order to understand each other’s culture, we must understand ourselves first. So, where are you
local?
- I am a local of Belgium, my grandfather is English so I feel a bit English because my back name is
Bland, that is what makes me special
SELF – REFERENCE CRITERION
- definition = = an unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values, experiences and knowledge as
a basis for decisions
example: American students in a local restaurant in Maastricht
THE CULTURE SHOCK
- you go through a culture shock, for example when you are an exchange student or when you are a
traveller
> it describes the impact of moving from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one (climate, food,
language, dress, values, etiquette and behaviour)
- it goes in 4 PHASES (U – curve)
- or in a W-curve when you are re-entering the culture shock
