Communication, culture, contecs and power

Lecture #3 

CULTURE,  COMMUNICATION, 

CONTEXT,  AND POWER

Outline 

    1.  Culture, Its Functions.

    1.1. High  Culture and Low Culture

    1.2. Culture  as a Contested Zone

    2.  What Is Communication?

    3.  The Relationship between  Culture and Communication

    4.  The Relationship between  Communication and Context

    5.  The Relationship between  Communication and Power

    6.  Summary

Key  words:  

    cultural  values, culture, cultural time,  formal  time, informal time, monochrone time orientation,  polychrone time orientation, high culture,  low culture, long-term versus short-term orientation,  masculinity-femininity value, popular culture, power  distance, symbolic significance, uncertainty avoidance.

What is Culture 

• Definition #1: 

  Culture  = unique human efforts (as different from nature and biology). For example, "Culture is the bulwark against the ravages of nature."

Definition #2 

  Culture = refinement, mannerism (as different from things that are crude, vulgar, and unrefined). For example, ''Look at the way in which he chows down his food. He has no culture at all.''

Definition #3 

  Culture = civilization (as different from backward barbaric people). For example, "In countries where darkness reigns and people are wanting in culture, it is our mandate to civilize and Christianize those poor souls."

Definition #4 

  Culture = shared language, beliefs, values (as different from language be­liefs and values that are not shared; dissenting voices; and voices of the "other"). For example, "We come from the same culture, we speak the same 
language, and we share the same tradition."

Definition #5 

  Culture = dominant or hegemonic culture (as different from marginal 
cultures). For example, "It is the culture of the ruling class that deter­mines what is moral and what is deviant." [This definition is a more charged version of definitions 2, 3, and 4 through the addition of power consciousness.]

Definition #6 

    Culture = the shifting tensions between the shared and the unshared (as different from shared or unshared things). For example, "American cul­ture has changed from master/slave, to white only/black only, to anti-war and black power, to affirmative action/multiculturalism and political cor­rectness, to transnational capital and anti -sweatshop campaigns"

Functions  of Culture  

    1. It  functions largely at a subconscious level. 

    2. It  fulfils a boundary-defining role; that is,  it creates distinctions between one organization  and another. 

    3. It  conveys a sense of identity for members  of the organization. 

    4. It  facilitates the generation of commitment to  something larger than one's individual self-interest. 

    5. It  enhances the stability of the organization's  social system. 

    6. It  provides 'standards' for what employees should  say and do. 

    7. It  defines the 'rules of the game'. 

High  Culture vs. Low Culture  

    High culture  refers to those cultural activities that  are often the domain of the elite  or the well-to-do: ballet, symphony, opera,  great literature and fine art. 

    Low  culture refers to the activities of the non-elite: music videos, game shows, professional wrestling, stock car racing, graffiti art, TV talk shows, and so on.

Shared  and Learned Patterns  of Belief and Perception  

    Anthropological  Definition of Culture:

    Culture  denotes a historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a sys­tem of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life [ Clifford Geertz]

Psychological  Definition of Culture:  

    Every person  carries within him or herself patterns  of thinking, feeling, and po­tential acting  which were learned throughout [his or  her] lifetime. Much of [these patterns  are] acquired in early childhood, because  at that time a person is most susceptible  to learning and assimilating [Geert Hofstede]

    Culture  . . . refers to  a socially constructed  and historically transmitted  pattern of symbols,  meaning, premises, and rules. . . . A cultural code of speaking, then, con­sists of a socially constructed and historically transmitted system of symbols and meanings pertaining to communication—for instance, symbols "Lithuanian" or "communication" and their attendant definitions; beliefs about spoken actions (that a man who uses speech to discipline boys is not a real man); and rules for using speech (that a father should not interrupt his daughter at the dinner table [Gerry Philipsen]

Cultural Studies 

    1. Great  Britain (British Cultural Studies, Stuart Hall,  the 1960s).

    2. Australia,  the US, Latin America.

    3. Other  parts of the world.

How  Culture Influences Communication  

• What is human  nature?
• What is the relationship between humans and nature?
• What is the relationship between humans?
• What is the preferred personality?
• What is the orientation toward time?

  (Kluckhohn and  Strodtbeck)

Culture and  Context 

 SPEAKING

Scene is the setting of the communication event.

Participants are the people who perform or enact the event.

End  is the goal of the participants in conversa­tion.

Act  sequence is the order of phrases during the enactment.

Key  is the tone of the conversation

Norms, as you know, are the rules that people follow.

Genre is the type or category of talk.

Value  Orientations  

Nature dominates  

Harmony exists between  the two  

Humans dominate 

Relation-ships  between Humans and Nature  

Basically evil  

Mixture of good and  evil  

Basically good  

Human  Nature  

Range  of Values

Range of Values 

Past-oriented  

Present-oriented  

Future-oriented  

Time  Orientation  

"Being": stress on  who you are  

“Growing”: stress on spiritual growth  

“Doing”: Stress on action  

Preferred  Personality  

Collateral  

Group-oriented  

Individual  

Relation-ships  between Humans

10 aspects of  culture which influence some basic cultural  norms and values  

Dress seen as a sign  of position, wealth, prestige.

Religious rules  

“Dress for success” ideal.

Wide range in accepted  dress  

2.Dress and appearance  

Formal: hugs, bows, handshakes  

Informal: handshake  

1.Sense of self and  space  

Other  Cultures  

Mainstream  American Culture  

Aspects  of Culture

Elastic and relative time  consciousness

Time spent on enjoyment  of relationships  

Linear and exact time  consciousness

Value on promptness –  time=money  

4.Time and time consciousness  

Dining as a social  experience.

Religious rules  

Eating as a necessity  – fast food  

3. Food and eating  habits 

Hierarchical.

Respect for authority  and social order.

Individuals accept their  destiny.

Different roles for men  and women.  

Egalitarian.

Challenging of authority.

Individuals control their  destiny.

Gender equity.  

5.Beliefs and attitudes 

Emphasis on relationships.

Rewards based on seniority,  relationships.

Work is a necessity  of life.  

Emphasis on task.

Reward based on individual  achievement. 

Work has intrinsic value. 

7.Work habits and practices  

Lateral, holistic, simultaneous.

Accepting of life`s difficulties.  

Linear, logical, sequential.

Problem-solving focus.  

6.Mental processes and  learning style 

Group orientation

Conformity.

Preference for harmony. 

Individual orientation.

Preference for direct  confrontation of conflict.  

9.Values and norms  

Focus on extended family.

Loyalty and responsibility  to family.

Age given status and  respect.  

Focus on nuclear family.

Responsibility for self.

Value on promptness –  time=money.  

8.Relationships, family, friends 

Implicit, indirect

Communication.

Emphasis on context –  meaning

found around words.  

Explicit, direct

Communication.

Emphasis on content –  meaning found in words.  

10. Communication and  language 

Value  Orientations and Cultural  Conflict (by Geert Hofstede) 

• Power distance:  social inequality, including the relationship  with authority.
• Individualism vs. collectivism: orientation toward the individual or toward groups.
• Femininity vs. masculinity: the social implications of having been born male or female.
• Ways of dealing with uncertainty, controlling aggression, and expressing emotions.
• Long-term vs. short-term orientation to life.

Power distance  

• refers to the  extent to which less powerful members  of institutions and organizations within a  country distribution of power. 

 (Denmark, Israel, and New Zealand: small power distance vs Mexico, the Philippines, or India – large power distance)

Masculinity-Femininity 

    Refers to  (1) the degree to which gender-specific  roles are valued and (2) the degree  to which cultural groups value so-called  masculine values (achievement, ambition, acqui­sition  of material goods) or so-called feminine  values (quality of life, service to others,  nurturance, support for the unfortunate). 

Uncertainty avoidance  

    concerns  the degree to which people who feel  threatened by ambiguous situations respond  by avoiding them or trying to establish  more structure to compensate for the uncertainty. 

Long-term  vs short-term orientation 

• a short-term orientation   focus on quick results in endeavors, and  recognize social pressure to conform (Christianity,  Judaism, Islam).
• with a long-term orientation tend focus more on thrift, perseverance, and tenacity in whatever they attempt (Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism).

The  Relationship between Communication  and Power  

    There  are two levels of  group-related power:

 (1) the primary dimensions—age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, race, and sexual orientation—which are more permanent in nature;

 (2) the secondary dimensions—educational background, geographic location, marital status, and socioeconomic status—which are more changeable.

Summary 

• Culture can be  viewed as deep-seated patterns of learned,  shared beliefs and perception; as deeply  felt, commonly intelligible, and widely accessible patterns of symbolic meaning; and /or as contested zones of meaning.

2. The relationship between  culture and communication is complex. Culture  influences communication and is enacted through  communication; in turn, communication is a  way of contesting and resisting the dominant  culture. 

3. The context—the physical  and social setting in which communication  occurs, or the larger politi­cal, social,  and historical environment—affects that communication. 

4. Power is pervasive  and plays an enormous, though often hidden,  role in intercultural communication interactions.