commucation across culture

One of the most popular classification of culture:

high culture: philosophy, literature, fine arts, music, religion etc.

popular culture: customs and habits, rites and rituals, ways of living (housing, dressing, eating and drinking) and all interpersonal behavior.

deep culture: the conception of beauty, definition of sin, notions of modesty, ordering of time, etc.

Cultural iceberg: p. 44-50

Conscious or subconscious?

Deep culture—the out-of-awareness part of a culture

Nine-tenth of an iceberg / culture is out of sight.

Those that are above the “water” :

what to eat and how to eat it;

how to keep healthy;

how to raise children;

how to participate in ceremonies;

how to introduce and greet people;

Those that are below the “water” :

what is good or bad;

what is right or wrong;

what is beautiful or ugly;

what is clean or dirty;

how is an individual related to others;

Generally speaking, differences in those things that are usually outside of our conscious

awareness, i.e. the so-called “ deep culture”, are more likely to cause problems in intercultural communication. The reason is that this part of culture is internalized in people’s mind and thus is hard to perceived.

Summary

Culture is not anything that people in a group are born with, but something they learn either by being taught or by growing up in it.

Different cultures have different ways of eating, drinking, dressing, finding shelter, marrying and dealing with death.

Our own culture seems natural to us while other cultures may think it funny, strange or even disgusting. However, this has nothing to do with right or wrong.

It follows that there is no “best” culture suitable for all people in the world. In comparing cultures, we can hardly say which culture is definitely better than the other, for each culture can be appropriate to certain group of people living in a particular geographic and social environment.

A culture should therefore be judged and interpreted in its own context. Without considering the environment in which people of a particular culture live, it would be impossible for us to really understand and appreciate what is significant and meaningful in that culture.

Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with impartiality, we should find no people so rude, nor any so polite.

2. Instinctive Behavior and

Cultural Behavior