ФИЛОЛОШКИ ФАКУЛТЕТ „БЛАЖЕ КОНЕСКИ“ – СКОПЈЕ

КАТЕДРА ЗА ПРЕВЕДУВАЊЕ И ТОЛКУВАЊЕ

ИНТЕРКУЛТУРНА
КОМУНИКАЦИЈА
(ИНТЕРНА СКРИПТА)

проф. д-р ТАТЈАНА ПАНОВА-ИГЊАТОВИЌ

2017

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“BLAZHE KONESKI” FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY – SKOPJE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING

INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION

(LECTURE NOTES)

TATJANA PANOVA-IGNJATOVIK, PhD

2017

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Contents

Intercultural Communication ..................................................................................................................... 4

The Importance of Developing an Intercultural Understanding ................................................................. 22

Categorising Cultures .................................................................................................................................. 28

Intercultural Communication: Signs And Symptoms .................................................................................. 39

Business communication & etiquette ......................................................................................................... 45

Language and Culture ................................................................................................................................. 64

Coping with Culture-Specific Items ............................................................................................................. 69

APENDIX ...................................................................................................................................................... 75

Innocent gestures can translate poorly .................................................................................................. 75

Cultural Translation: Culturally oriented translation theory .................................................................. 77
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 90

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Intercultural Communication

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of
all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by
any. – Mahatma Gandhi

INTRODUCTION

Today an Internet search on the topic of intercultural communication or cross-cultural

communication yields over 100 000 results. In recent years practitioners in a wide variety of
fields—scientific cooperation, academic research, business, management, education, health, culture,
politics, diplomacy, development, and others—have realised just how important intercultural
communication is for their everyday work. Fast travel, international media, and the Internet have
made it easy for us to communicate with people all over the world. The process of economic
globalisation means that we cannot function in isolation but must interact with the rest of the world
for survival. The global nature of many widely diverse modern problems and issues such as the
environment, governance of the Internet, poverty and international terrorism call for cooperation
between nations. Intercultural communication is no longer an option, but a necessity.

Because important decisions in business, politics, education, health, and culture these days usually
effect citizens of more than one nation, the question of whether communication between people of
different nations is effective and whether all parties emerge with the same understanding is of
crucial importance. Individuals who deal with people from other cultures want to learn how to
improve their performance through improving their communication skills. Numerous resources
have sprung up to meet this emerging market in the business, academic and international relations
communities: leading authors have written books and articles on the topic; business services
provide consultation for improving the conduct of international business; universities and other
educational institutions offer programs or degrees in Intercultural Communication; and
researchers have established international journals and academic societies specialising in research
on intercultural communication. In fact, intercultural communication has become a business in
itself.

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Why is it important to improve intercultural communication?

Lack of knowledge of another culture can lead, at the best, to embarrassing or amusing mistakes in
communication. At the worst, such mistakes may confuse or even offend the people we wish to
communicate with, making the conclusion of business deals or international agreements difficult or
impossible.
Donnell King provides some examples from the advertising world of how simply translating words
is not enough—deeper understanding of the other culture is necessary to translate meaning
effectively:

 A General Motors auto ad with "Body by Fisher" became "Corpse by Fisher" in Flemish.
 A Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste named "Cue" was advertised in France before anyone
realized that Cue also happened to be the name of a widely circulated pornographic book
about oral sex.
 Pepsi Cola's "Come Alive With Pepsi" campaign, when it was translated for the Taiwanese
market, conveyed the unsettling news that, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the
grave."
 Parker Pen could not advertise its famous "Jotter" ballpoint pen in some languages because
the translation sounded like "jockstrap" pen.

Intercultural training
For those that deal with the public in multi-cultural societies, knowledge of different ethnicities,
religions and cultures is important in breaking down barriers.

As Martin Luther King once said, "Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear
each other because they don't know each other.."

Why Cross Cultural Awareness?

"...the single greatest barrier to business success is the one erected by culture." Edward T. Hall and
Mildred Reed Hall

Understanding and appreciating intercultural differences ultimately promotes clearer

communication, breaks down barriers, builds trust, strengthens relationships, opens horizons,
yields tangible results in terms of business success.

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Culture shock
Culture shock is a part of the process of trying to adjust and adapt to a new culture.

Specifically, culture shock is a mental state caused by the transition that occurs when you go from a
familiar cultural environment to an unfamiliar one and discover that your normative, established
patterns of behavior are ineffective.

REACTIONS TO CULTURE SHOCK

The reactions associated with culture shock may vary widely among individuals and can appear at
different times.

When confronting some of the effects associated with culture shock, it is not uncommon for people
to experience:

a sense of disorientation,
feelings of rejection,
homesickness,
withdrawal,
irritation, and physical and mental fatigue.

THE PHASES OF CULTURE SHOCK

1. The first phase, the exhilaration stage, is usually filled with excitement, hopefulness, and even a
feeling of euphoria. People see their cultural experience as a time to explore everything from new
foods to a different pace of life.

2. The second phase: Disenchantment stage- begins when they recognize the reality of the new
setting, start to encounter some difficulties, and adaptation and communication problems begin to
emerge: difficulties of language, inadequate schools for the children, poor housing, crowded
transportation, chaotic shopping… Confused and baffled by their new surroundings, people can
easily become irritated, hostile, impatient, angry, and even lonely.

3. The adjustment stage, the third phase, is when the sojourner gains some cultural insight and
gradually begins to make some adjustments and modifications in coping with the new
surroundings.

4. In the final phase, the effective functioning stage, people understand the key elements of the new
culture (special customs, behaviors, communication patterns, and such) and feel comfortable in the
surroundings

- Enculturation = the process of learning the culture of your birth.

- Acculturation - the name given to the process of learning to live in a new culture is
acculturation. Berry defines acculturation as “the dual process of cultural and psychological
change that takes place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups and their
individual members…”

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 Proficiency in the language of the host culture

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he
visits. Otherwise he makes himself a great baby—so helpless and so ridiculous.”

Lack of language skills is a strong barrier to effective cultural adjustment and communication,
whereas lack of knowledge concerning the ways of speaking of a particular group will reduce the
level of understanding.

Ethnocentrism = a conviction that one’s own culture is superior to all other cultures.

Problems adapting to a new culture are often hindered by ethnocentrism, and excessive
ethnocentrism can lead to prejudice, which in turn results in mistrust, hostility, and even hate.

Learn about the host culture

Developing a fund of knowledge about other cultures is a useful first step toward improving
intercultural communication.

Culture shock and adaptation may be less troublesome if you become aware of the fundamental
characteristics of the culture in which you will be living.

Cultural awareness refers to understanding the culture’s religious orientation, historical

background, political system, key values and beliefs, verbal and nonverbal behaviors, family.
organization, social etiquette, and other similar aspects.

SHOW RESPECT FOR OTHERS

How would you respond if someone embarrassed you in front of others, put you down, or treated
you as if you were insignificant?

The answer is obvious: Your feelings would range from anger to emotional hurt.

Confucius has much the same message concerning the ethical treatment of others when he tells us
that: “Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?”

In intercultural interactions this means that you must reach beyond your own cultural norms and
respect the norms of other cultures.

Common values

The world’s great religious traditions have also recognized the values that bind people and make
for a more just society. They all offer tutoring to their followers - correct moral precepts.

For example, they all denounce murder, stealing, bearing false witness, adultery, and the like.

In addition, these traditions also agree on the significance of the “Golden Rule.”
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Golden Rule

The wisdom contained within the words is universal:

Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways you yourself would find harmful.”

Christianity: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”

Confucianism: “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.”

Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to
you.”

Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

Judaism: “What is hateful to you; do not to your fellow man. This is the law; all the rest is
commentary.”

RESPECT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

“All people have the right to be equal and the equal right to be different.”
Former President Shimon Peres of the State of Israel

While seeking commonalities you need to be aware and respectful of cultural differences.

Keep in mind: People are both alike and different.

STUDYING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Aim of the course:

You should be convinced of three important points:

First, learning how to become successful in your future intercultural interactions is a necessary and
worthwhile pursuit.

Second, venturing in and out of cultures different from your own can involve culture shock and
other issues related to acculturation.

And third, the study of intercultural communication requires that you develop a set of ethical
standards because your interactions with other people will influence them in both minor and major
ways.

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Specifically, we need to offer three warnings that will clarify the crucial link between culture and
communication.

These qualifications deal with:

(1) the uniqueness of each individual,

(2) the perils of generalizing, and

(3) the need for objectivity.

1) the uniqueness of each individual: Your genetic makeup, social group experiences, language,
gender, age, individual and family history, political affiliation, educational level, perceptions of
others, the region and neighborhood where you grew up, your religious experiences, and many
other aspects are at play every moment of your life.

All of these factors (along with culture) form your individual personality.

2) GENERALIZING:

- all Americans wear baseball caps everywhere they go and eat mostly fast food = generalizing.

When Americans conclude that Germans and Irish spend most of their time drinking beer and
singing old folk songs in beer halls and pubs, they are generalizing.

And when people say that Muslims do not have time to do anything but pray because they pray five
times a day, they are also generalizing.

When we generalize, we are allowing a few instances to represent an entire class of events, people,
or experiences. It is easy to fall into the trap of employing generalizations.

E.g. after meeting someone from India who is studying computer science, you conclude that all
students from India only want jobs working with computers.

In intercultural communication, this means ascribing characteristics to a larger group of people

based on attributes displayed by a smaller group.

Stereotypes

They differ from generalizations in that they may not be based solely on assumption and usually
appeal to the audience’s positive or negative emotions.

For example, “all Asian students make good grades” is a stereotype.

A generalization would be “Records indicate that Asian students are likely to make good grades.”
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Recognizable behaviors

You even see a somewhat consistent pattern in something as simple as greeting behavior. For
example, in Mexico people usually embrace, in India people bow, in the United States people
typically shake hands.

These kinds of behaviors are recognizable because of their consistency over an extended period,
usually involving generation after generation.

Cautious generalizations

Conclusions and statements about cultures should be qualified so that they do not appear to be
absolutes, but only cautious generalizations. E.g. if the culture is somewhat homogeneous, such as
that of Japanese or Koreans, references to group characteristics tend be more accurate. However,
heterogeneous cultures, like the United States, are far more difficult to generalize about because of
the variety of backgrounds, religions, ethnic groups, and the importance placed on each person’s
individuality.

OBJECTIVITY

Definition of objectivity- “The state of being objective, just, unbiased and not influenced by
emotions or personal prejudices”.

The method of using your own culture as an anchor for assessing other cultures is called
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is “the belief that one’s culture is superior to all other’s.” E.g. An
American might believe that the family organization of the Watusi (of East Africa) is immoral
because a husband may have several wives.

To reject someone simply for having a different skin color, living in a different country, advocating a
different worldview, or speaking another language diminishes them and keeps you from having
new cultural experiences.

Objectivity promotes learning to interact with and value distinct groups of people regardless of
their culture, race, ethnicity, religion, country, or gender.

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 Course topics
Now we are ready to begin the process of improving your interactions with people of cultures
different from your own!

Lectures - topics:

-examine values and cultural patterns that shape the perspectives and behaviors of people.
Numerous cultural comparisons illustrate the link between cultural patterns and intercultural
interaction.

Cultural identity—the way it is formed and its impact on perception and communication. This
lecture demonstrates how cultural identity, when misused, can lead to stereotyping, prejudice,
racism, and ethnocentrism.

Topics :

- the symbols of intercultural interaction.

- how language is used in intercultural communicative exchanges and the ways it is often
employed differently depending on the culture.
- the effects of cultural diversity on nonverbal communication and how nonverbal messages
support verbal communication in a variety of cultures.
- The importance of two communication principles: first, that communication is rule
governed, second, that those rules are often tied to a particular cultural context.
Specifically, our investigation turns to cultural variations in the business setting.
- Cultural translation: coping with culturally unique concepts - linguistically represented
items that pose a problem in translation because they do not exist in the target culture or
have a different value.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

METHOD OF EVALUATION

GROUP PRESENTATIONS ON COURSE TOPICS

Working in teams of 5-6 individuals, groups will investigate a particular intercultural situation,
present their project to the class, and produce a report that summarizes the project.

At the end of each class presentation, the other class members will be asked to provide feedback to
the group about their presentation.

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Project topics

The seven topics are: (+ ideas - from ACTIVITIES – textbook Communicating Across Cultures, pp.
212, 243, 264, etc.

1. Verbal communication

2. Nonverbal communication/ Nonverbal misinterpretations: Nonverbal messages and signals are

located within cultures and patterns of behavior and, therefore, cannot be learned through mere
language acquisition.

3. Intercultural relationships

4. Preconceptions and stereotypes: Intercultural communication takes place in the backdrop of

preconceptions and stereotypes deriving from initial contacts with other cultures.

5. Intercultural conflict. Roots of misunderstanding

6. Cultural values

7. Cultural translation. Coping with culture specific items (CSIs)

COURSE MATERIALS

1. Communicating Between Cultures, Eighth Edition, by Larry A. Samovar, Richard E. Porter, Edwin,
R. McDaniel & Carolyn S. Roy. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013

2. Readings and Lecture notes made available throughout the semester by handout or sent by e-
mail.

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 Interculturalism vs. multiculturalism

On defining culture
Defining culture is important, not as an academic exercise, but because the definition delimits how
culture is perceived and taught. The word ‘culture’ comes from the Latin cultus, ‘cultivation’, and
colere ‘to till’. The metaphorical extension is apt. Seeds continually absorb elements from the land,
or rather the ecosystem, to ensure their development. In the same way, people continually absorb
unaware, vital elements from their immediate environment which influence their development
within the human system.
The definition of the word ‘culture’ has been notoriously difficult. One of the oldest and most
quoted definitions of culture was formulated by the English anthropologist Edward Burnett Taylor
in 1871, which is used by the Encyclopedia Britannica (1983: vol. 4:657) to introduce the topic:
“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and any
other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. By 1952, American
anthropologists Alfred Louis Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn (1961:181) had compiled a list of 164
definitions, and their lengthy (165th) contribution was as follows: “Culture consists of patterns,
explicit, and implicit of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the
distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artefacts; the essential
core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially
their attached values. Culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action,
on the other hand, as conditioning elements of future action”.

As David Katan (1999:16) confirms, “Despite a century of efforts to define culture adequately, there
was in the early 1990’s no agreement among anthropologists regarding its nature”. Therefore, he
proposes a definition of culture in terms of “a shared mental model or map of the world, which
includes Culture, though it is not its main focus. The model is a system of beliefs, values, strategies
and cognitive elements which guide the shared basis of behaviour. Each aspect of culture is linked
in a system to form a unifying context of culture which identifies a person and his or her culture”
(Katan 1999:17). Most of the definitions cited by Kroeber and Kluckhohn, in fact, relate to a part to
this definition of culture.
However, when speaking of culture it must be remembered that, unlike the human nature of
sharing the same emotions which is in the genes of every human being, the culture is a collective

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phenomenon which is learnt throughout life and not inherited. The culture is present in every
aspect of person’s life, regardless whether we talk about one’s personality, the way in which one
expresses his thoughts, the way one thinks, moves or solves problems.1

The Macedonian ambassador in the Council of Europe – Mrs. Eleonora Petrova-Mitevska in one
article for “Utrinski vesnik” newspaper identifies the culture to be same as the history of one
country and one nation, of the ethnic communities and their lifestyles; as a system of teachings,
artistic values and cultural heritage2.

In his work “Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind” the Dutch anthropologist Geert
Hofstede talks about layers of cultures. Since at the same time people belong to more groups in
terms of their gender, ethnicity, religion etc., within themselves they carry different mental
programming which belongs to different levels of culture:

 a national level according to one’s country (or countries for people who migrated during
their lifetime)
 a regional and/or ethnic and/or religious and/or linguistic affiliation level, as most nations
are composed of culturally different regions and/or ethnic and/or religious and/or
language groups;
 a gender level, according to whether a person was born as a girl or as a boy;
 a generation level, which separates grandparents from parents from children;
 a social class level, associated with educational opportunities and with a person’s
occupation or profession;
 for those who are employed, an organizational or corporate level according to the way
employees have been socialized by their work organization.

The mental programs for these various levels are not necessarily in harmony. In modern society
they are often partly conflicting: for example, religious values may conflict with generation values;
gender values with organizational practices. Conflicting mental programs within people make it

1
HALL T. Edward, Au-delà de la culture, Editions de Seuil, Paris, 1979, p. 21
2
Utrinski vesnik, Eleonora Petrova-Mitevska, Култура, мултикултура-интеркултура и културна различност,
retrieved from http://star.utrinski.com.mk/?pBroj=1878&stID=43149&pR=7 (20 May.2011)
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difficult to anticipate their behavior in a new situation.3 Since culture touches upon every aspect of
human life and one can get easily “lost” in exploring all these aspects of culture, in this paper I
would focus more on the ethnic, religious and linguistic aspect of culture and I would try to explain
how these differences are reflected in the way we interact with others.

The cultural cocktail

Now that we defined the term “culture” we can continue in another direction and talk about
diversity among cultures and communities. There isn’t such a thing as one global culture or global
community. “There are no communities that consist of a million or 270 million or 6 billion people…
Communities exist where people can come face to face, where people can know each other and find
a way of life together.”4 Now, managing the ever-growing cultural diversity in the world which has
been enhanced by globalization is becoming a priority in recent years. It is a fact that there has
never been and never will be a “monocultural” country free of any interaction with other cultures.
On the contrary and especially nowadays the countries are becoming more and more “polycultural”,
even though the reasons for this present-day mixing of cultures might be different from those in the
past. Nowadays there are 184 independent states with 600 living language groups and 500 ethnic
groups.5 With the economic growth, the single market economy and the technological
advancements it is almost impossible for these different cultural groups not to interact. On the
contrary, the success of the present-day economy and social life depends highly upon their positive
and constructive interaction (even though later we would see that some social scientists argue that
diversity might actually have negative impact on the overall health of one society).

The cultural mixing is an inevitable result of the migration process. Still, “the causes and
consequences of migration are not the same as they were before First World War, at the time of
transoceanic emigration from Europe to the Central and North Americas, or after the Second World
War at the time of labour migration to Northern Europe”6. Nowadays there are different factors
triggering international migration. One of them is the population increase (which is truer about the

3
HOFSTEDE Geert, Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind, Profile Books LTD, London, UK 2003, p.
10
4
ALPERSON Philip, Diversity and Community, an Interdisciplinary approach, Blackwell Publisher, UK, 2002, p.
48
5
Erdem Ayçiçek, Intercultural Dialogue is possible or not?.., retrieved from
http://www.sbtac.org/tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:intercultural-dialogue-is-possible-or-
not&catid=36:tuerkiye&Itemid=59 (08 July.2011).
6
HAMMAR Tomas, BROCHMANN Grete, TAMAS Hammar, FAIST Thomas, International Migration,
Immobility and Development, Berg, Oxford 1997, p.3
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South where as much as 93% of this population growth takes place than the North which actually
has a stagnant or decreasing level of reproduction7). In IR studies the North is defined as the
industrialized regions and the South encompasses the rest of the world8, mostly the developing
world i.e. the third-world countries. Other relevant factors are poverty, un- or underemployment,
political conflicts, ecological factors, etc.

In recent years, we can witness this phenomenon of (temporary) migration even in Macedonia,
especially during the summer season. It is a new trend that young Macedonians, mostly students,
seek summer jobs abroad, either for earning some extra money, or for traveling, improving their
language skills or just gaining some life experience. I am convinced that this interconnectedness
where more and more Macedonians easily and often come in touch with people from all over the
world will have great influence over the mentality of our nation in future years.

Intercultural dialogue

It might be difficult to pinpoint the exact line where multiculturalism ends and where
interculturalism begins, and what actually do these terms represent. EU is experiencing the
phenomenon of interculturalism (or at least strives for interculturalism) i.e. more cultures living
together and interacting while accepting each other’s differences and specific cultural traits. In
addition, the Council of Europe talks about “living together as equals in dignity”. Indeed, when we
talk about interculturalism, we talk about accepting the others who are different from us and giving
them equal position in the society, equal opportunities and equal say in all matters of society. From
this we can conclude that multiculturalism is the inevitable condition of our society – cultures easily
mix; but it takes conscious effort and will from every actor in the society to bring about the condition
of interculturalism – equality of everyone and mutual understanding.

Ms. Myriam Met, the Director of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of
Maryland, defines interculturalism as being able to communicate with, collaborate with, and

7
Ibid. p.6
8
GOLDESTEIN S. Joshua, PEVEHOUSE C. Jon, International Relations 8th Edition, PEARSON LONGMAN,
United States 2008, p. 423
16
befriend people across multiple cultures, whereas “multicultural” for her means being
simultaneously a member of more than one culture.9

Furthermore, Ms. Eleonora Petrova-Mitevska in the aforementioned article defines

multiculturalism as a society where the majority group dominates over the minorities which have
to assimilate, whereas the interculturalism abates the domination of any group and puts all ethnic,
religious and linguistic groups as equals.

Intercultural dialogue thus is understood as an open and respectful exchange of views between
individuals, groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage
on the basis of mutual understanding and respect10. It is an essential feature of inclusive societies,
which leave no one marginalized or defined as outsiders11. The Council of Europe says that what
distinguishes intercultural dialogue from multiculturalism is the definition of a common core of
values on which there cannot be any negotiation… Ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic affiliations
or traditions cannot be invoked to prevent individuals from exercising their human rights or from
responsibly participating in society…This core of non-negotiable common values applies in
particular to “the right not to suffer from gender-based or other forms of discrimination, the rights
and interests of children and young people, and the freedom to practice or not to practice a
particular religion or belief.12 Still, one of the omnipresent problems which impedes the actual
existence of interculturalism is installing these core values in every citizen without interfering in
people’s traditions and system of values (for instance, in the Arabic society it is accepted that
women have generally less rights than men). Therefore, by imposing these “core values” on every
culture the world might face the annihilation of diversity and the birth of one global universalism
which is the complete opposite of what interculturalism strives for.

Diversity – a curse or a blessing?

Since diversity is an integral part of interculturalism and usually is the source of

discrimination and stereotypes, some people tend to question the benefits from having a culturally
diverse society.

9
Ting Renee, Multiculturalism vs. Interculturalism, retrieved from
http://www.shens.com/blog/2009/08/multiculturalism-vs-intercultu.html ( 08 July 2011)
10
White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 7 May 2008, p. 10
11
Ibid. p.17
12
Ibid. p.19
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“In the United States, some champions of social cohesion argue against the recognition of diversity.
They believe that too much diversity leads to a weakening of social ties, to fragmentation of society
and to a cost in terms of public expenditure. The Council of Europe, on the contrary, considers that
recognition of diversity is a precondition of social cohesion (social cohesion, as understood by the
Council of Europe, denotes the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members,
minimizing disparities and avoiding polarization. A cohesive society is a mutually supportive
community of free individuals pursuing these common goals by democratic means)”13.

Still, when doing research on the topic I came to the conclusion that nowadays the problem of
discrimination is less and less present in the official dealings of institutions or governments. The
human rights activists nowadays are louder than ever before and even though discrimination might
exist on an institutional level it isn’t so prevalent that is should be treated as a serious threat to
interculturalism. Rather than the institutions, today we have the problem of discrimination on more
interpersonal level – when one man sees other with contempt only because he does not belong to
the same group/culture/nationality. The human nature is such that every human being has a
natural inclination towards creating groups/clans/clubs and making distinctions between him and
the others (in the past those were the tribes, nowadays we have all sorts of grouping: family, school,
work, religion, ethnicity, interests and hobbies, sexual orientation - the LGBT community tends to
be treated as an outcast which only strengthens its unity, etc). I believe that people put
delimitations between them and the others and try to stick closer to those similar to them and
avoid those who are different as a natural response to something unknown and potentially harmful
– this behavior puts them at ease, gives them comfort and security. Therefore, the only way to incite
people to go out of their comfort zone, or even better- to make them feel comfortable among people
who are different from them is through education (formal, informal and non-formal).

Social scientists argue that having one society which consists of many sub-cultures only
increases the level of mistrust among people and thus contributes to discrimination and creation of
stereotypes. On the other hand, however, there are those scientists who see diversity as an excellent
opportunity for enriching people’s life by sharing experience and knowledge with people different
from themselves. I believe that both groups are right – diversity can be at the same time a source of
mistrust and also a source of new insights and experience. While I somewhat agree with the former,

13
SALAMA Pierre, Living Together as Equals in Dignity; Migrants and Fighting Discrimination in Europe, p. 62
18
I believe that education is the road which will take the society to the level where diversity will be
seen as something positive and even desirable.

Diversity does not only contribute to cultural vitality but can also enhance social and economic
performance. Indeed diversity, creativity and innovation provide a virtuous circle, whereas
inequalities may also be mutually reinforcing, creating conflicts dangerous to human dignity and
social welfare.14 The fact remains that culturally diverse societies are our reality. It depends on us
and how we respond to them whether diversity will be seen as a curse or a blessing.

Trust and equality

One thing is certain – whether diverse or not, one society cannot function without trust among
people and we shall see that the level of trust and equality are tightly correlated.

“Inequality is a powerful social divider, perhaps because we all tend to use differences in living
standards as markers of status differences. We tend to choose our friends from among our near
equals… and when we have less to do with other kinds of people, it’s harder for us to trust them.
Our position in the social hierarchy affects who we see as part of the in-group and who as out-group
– us and them – so affecting our ability to identify with and empathize with other people…Empathy
is only felt for those we view as equals….Prejudice is an imaginary inequality which followed the
real inequality produced by wealth and law”15. But wealth is not the only marker of inequality.
Inequality can exist in every aspect of human life: gender inequality, social inequality, majority vs.
minority inequality etc. And inequality goes hand in hand with mistrust, though we might ask
ourselves which is the cause and which is the result (the chicken and egg dilemma).

If we are not careful and aware of all these phenomena a domino effect can easily be triggered: if we
allow it, diversity can lead to stereotypes and discrimination, that can cause a feeling of inequality
and mistrust and we might end up trapped in this vicious circle that can disintegrate our society.
Since this is a very complex issue which touches upon every part of the social life, this issue of
acquainting the cultures with one another and fostering mutual understanding should be dealt with
on all levels:

 governmental measures on regional, local, national and international level.

14
White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, Council of Europe, Strasbourg. 7 May 2008, p. 13
15
WILKINSON Richard, Pickett Kate, The Spirit Level, Why Equality is Better for Everyone, Penguin Books Ltd.
2010, p. 52
19
  Non-governmental participation of each individual in the society and NGOs.

“No sphere should be exempt from engaging in intercultural dialogue – be it the neighborhood, the
workplace, the education system and associated institutions, civil society and particularly the youth
sector, the media, the arts world or the political arena. Every actor – whether NGOs, religious
communities, the social partners or political parties – is implicated, as indeed are individuals. And
every level of governance – from local to regional to national to international – is drawn into the
democratic management of cultural diversity”.16

When we talk about diversity, especially on a national level, the discussion always revolves around
having one “host” majority and few or many minorities (minority is a group in one state which has
an ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity that differs from that of the majority and which it
wants to maintain or even strengthen17). The majority-minority gap afterwards might be
strengthened by many factors, some of which are:

 The minority group refuses to integrate in the society. In every major city in the world one
can find Chinatown, or other suburbs inhabited by minorities.
 The majority group tries to assimilate the minorities. Quite often, in order to be able to
prosper in one society, people from minorities have to assimilate in the common culture
and accept its values.
 The process of gentrification - nowadays, more and more cities and towns are being
urbanized, thus many poor people (usually members of the minorities) are being displaced
without any additional support to cope with the newly-arrived situation. This just adds to
the gap between the majority and minority communities because of the difference in living
conditions between the two or more groups.

Still, the Opatija Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention from 2003 completely
rejects the division of peoples into “minorities” and “majorities”, arguing that this “singles out
cultures and communities, and categorizes and stigmatizes them in a static position, to the point at

16
White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 7 May 2008, p. 10
17
Crossroads, the Macedonian Foreign Policy Journal, Macedonian Information Center, 2007, p. 109
20
which social behavior and cultural stereotypes are assumed on the basis of groups’ respective
status”18.

Interculturalism emerged as an alternative solution after assimilation and multiculturalism

failed at eliminating this division between people. The Council of Europe started talking about
interculturality or interculturalism after the previous approaches proved unsuccessful. “Unlike
assimilationism – in which deviations from the cultural norms of the host country are not
encouraged… intercultural policy accepts that whilst their rights to have their differences from the
cultural norm of the host community are recognized in law and institutions, there is a valorization
of policies, institutions and activities which create common ground, mutual understanding and
empathy and shared aspirations”19

18
White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 7 May.2008, p. 19
19
SALAMA Pierre, Living Together as Equals in Dignity, Migrants and Fighting Discrimination in Europe, p. 75
21
The Importance of Developing an Intercultural Understanding
Culture and Identity

A people must have dignity and identity.

ANDREW GOODMAN

An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his
experience.

JAMES BALDWIN

Identity is the relationship between “the I” and “the other”. There is no identity without the “other”,
so when talking about the own identity, we also have to consider the foreign identity.

Personal identity:based on the culture in which we were socialized

Cultural identity:founded on the sense of belonging to a community with certain characteristics

IMPLICATIONS

If intercultural communication is communication between at least two people from different

cultures…

ALL communication between people is essentially intercultural.

Different types of cultures shape communication.
Caring, responsible and ethical business leaders must be effective intercultural
communicators.

Definition - cultural identity

The identification of communications of a shared system of symbolic verbal and nonverbal behavior
that are meaningful to group members who have a sense of belonging and who share traditions,
heritage, language, and similar norms of appropriate behavior.

22
Cultural identity is a social construction. [M. Fong, “Identity and the Speech Community,” in
Communicating Ethnic and Cultural Identity (2004: 6.)]

For those that deal with the public in multi-cultural societies, knowledge of different ethnicities,
religions and cultures is important in breaking down barriers.

As Martin Luther King once said,

"Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don't
know each other.."

Why Cross Cultural Awareness?

"...the single greatest barrier to business success is the one erected by culture."

Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall

Understanding and appreciating intercultural differences ultimately promotes clearer

communication, breaks down barriers, builds trust, strengthens relationships, opens horizons and
yields tangible results in terms of business success.

Regardless of where one lives, it is an unavoidable truth that each and every person comes in touch
with people from different cultures on daily basis, whether at work or in their personal life. There
are two perspectives we should bare in mind when we talk about cultural differences.

Perspective 1: The Western-Eastern continuum

While it is true that there are many distinct cultures in the world, there are also a few common
traits which can help us group all cultures in two groups – namely the Western culture and the
Eastern culture (even though within themselves they bare many other sub-cultures as well).
Nowadays the intercultural marriages are a normal occurrence. Furthermore, with the market
pressure more and more companies merge together and create big multinational corporations in
order to survive on the market. This means that in the business environment it is quite plausible to
have colleagues coming from other countries and other cultural background. In this respect,
23
developing understanding and awareness, firstly, about our own culture and then the culture of the
others is of crucial importance for successful communication. Now let’s take a closer look at these
two cultural groups.

Collectivist vs. individualistic societies

Many anthropologists characterize the Western societies as being individualistic, meaning the
interest of the individual is put before the interest of the collective (individualism pertains to
societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself
or herself and his or her immediate family20). Therefore, in one company the American, British,
Dutch and Swedish managers will found their value system on the welfare of the individual and
then, later, form these persons into effective groups.21

On the other hand, they define the Eastern cultures as being collectivist, meaning the interest of
the collective is put before the interest of the individual (collectivism…pertains to societies in which
people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout
people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty22).

In a study on country’s or region’s individualism/collectivism represented in the book “Cultures

and Organizations” by Geert Hofstede, USA scored as being the most individualistic society, Canada
shared the 4th place with Netherlands, whereas Yugoslavia (there was no separate study for
Macedonia) shared the 33th position with East Africa and Portugal23 which puts Yugoslavia in the
category of a collectivist society. The local study I carried out confirmed this about Macedonia.
58.1% or 18 out of 31 respondents believe that the collective interests should be given precedence,
even to the detriment of the individual. Still, the other 13 respondents responded just the opposite -
meaning that one country cannot be classified as being uniquely collectivist or individualist; rather
it can be both, but incline more towards the one or the other.

20
HOFSTEDE Geert, Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind, Profile Books LTD, London, UK 2003,
p. 51
21
TROMPENAARS Fons, HAMPDEN-TURNER Charles, The Seven Cultures of Capitalism, Judy Piatkus Ltd.,
London, 1994, p. 13
22
HOFSTEDE Geert, Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind, Profile Books LTD, London, UK 2003,
p. 51
23
Ibid. p.53
24
 Monochronic vs. polychronic societies

Another cultural distinction can be made in relation to the perception of time. The American
anthropologist Edward T. Hall talks about “polychrony” and “monochrony”. Namely, he
characterizes the North American and North European societies as being monochronic – they like
to divide the time in sequences and do one thing at a time. Also typical for the monochronic
societies is that they prefer working for a short-term profit rather than for a long-term benefit. On
the other hand, the countries from the Middle East and Latin America are seen as polychronic
societies - they prefer doing more things simultaneously and usually give priority to long-term
goals rather than short-term successes.24

In this regard, in the book “Seven Cultures of Capitalism”, the authors talk about sequential
view of time (added: monochrony) and synchronized view of time25 (polychrony). They continue to
say that “all cultures think of time in both ways, as sequences and as synchronizations…but they
vary in their relative appreciation of sequence or of synchronies, in how strict their schedules are,
and how readily altered in the interests of synchronizing with and accommodating other persons’
priorities”26. In a study presented in the same book, Japan scored as being the most long-term
oriented, whereas USA held the 19th position (out of 31 countries ranked) which infers that the
American society is more short-term oriented.

Perspective 2: The Backyard “Us vs. Them” division

Being aware of this global divide of cultures can be extremely useful when we come in touch
with a person from the other side of the globe – it can help us understand why he/she behaves in
certain way and how should we respond to them. Nevertheless, what is equally, if not more,
important is the familiarity with the local sub-cultures (either from the same or from a different
cultural group) with whom we interact on daily basis and who live in our region i.e. the minorities
living in our community.

Minorities can be found in all continents. In Europe, and especially in South-Eastern Europe,
there are many. Since they live in the same country/region the differences that exist, for instance,
with the Eastern-Western divide might not be very evident with the minorities who moved or were

24
HALL T. Edward, Au-delà de la culture, Editions de Seuil, Paris, 1979 p. 22
25
TROMPENAARS Fons, HAMPDEN-TURNER Charles, The Seven Cultures of Capitalism, Judy Piatkus Ltd.,
London, 1994, p. 136
26
Ibid. p. 137
25
born in one country. Still, the ethnic, linguistic and/or religious differences always remain.
“National minorities are constantly trying to protect and where possible to strengthen their
position. Being numerically weaker, they seek to compensate for this by seeking stronger cohesion
and building their own institutions”27. Oftentimes if the minority feels rejected, discriminated or
simply threatened by the majority’s culture, it insists even stronger on its cultural traits as a way of
protection of its origin. And this insisting cuts both ways: on the one hand it helps maintain the
cultural diversity in general, but on the other hand it builds a wall between them and the majority.
“In quite a number of states the majority tends to be rather suspicious of the minority. Will it be
loyal to the state or will it try to create a state of its own or to join a neighboring kinstate? And
where such suspicion does not exist, the majority is often concerned that the national minority is
not willing to integrate, and is trying to seek its strength in isolation”28. This fear of the majority is,
however, not unjustified if we look at what is happening in Iraq where the Kurds are claiming on
the region of Kurdistan; similar is the case with the region of Abkhazia in Georgia and Somaliland in
Somalia where the minorities claim the territories even though they are not internationally
recognized as separate states.29 But, “being superior in numbers does not guarantee a group control
over its destiny and ensure majority status. In 1920, the majority of people in Mississippi and South
Carolina were African Americans. Yet African Americans did not have as much control over their
lives as did Whites, let alone control of the states of Mississippi and South Carolina. Throughout the
United States today there are counties or neighborhoods in which the majority of people are African
American, Native American, or Hispanic, but where White Americans are the dominant force.
Nationally, 50.7 percent of the population is female, but males still dominate positions of authority
and wealth well beyond their numbers”30. Therefore we should be very careful when we use the
terms majority and minority.

27
Crossroads, the Macedonian Foreign Policy Journal, Macedonian Information Center, 2007. p. 109
28
Ibid. p.110
29
GOLDSTEIN S. Joshua, PEVEHOUSE C. Jon, International Relations 8th Edition, PEARSON LONGMAN,
United States, 2008, p. 15
30
Schaefer T. Richard, Racial and Ethnic Groups 12th Edition: Census Update, PEARSON, USA, 2011 p.6
26
REFERENCES

-Byram Michael, From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship,
Cromwell Press Ltd, Great Britain, 2008.
-Erdem Ayçiçek, Intercultural dialogue is possible or not?, retrieved from
http://www.sbtac.org/tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:intercultural-
dialogue-is-possible-or-not&catid=36:tuerkiye&Itemid=59 (20 May.2011).
-Geertz, Clifford (1993). The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Fontana Press.
-Gudykunst, William B. (2002). “Intercultural Communication: Introduction.” William B. Gudykunst
and Bella Mody (eds) (2002). Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication.
California: Sage Publications, 179-182. http://bookily.net/pdf/handbook-of-international-and-
intercultural-communication-edited-by-william-b-gudykunst-bella-mody
-Hall T. Edward (1979). Au-delà de la culture, Editions de Seuil, Paris.
-Hofstede Geert (2003). Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind, Profile Books LTD,
London UK.
-Renee Ting, Multiculturalism vs. Interculturalism
http://www.shens.com/blog/2009/08/multiculturalism-vs-intercultu.html (20 May 2011)
-Utrinski Vesnik, Eleronora Petrova-Mitevska, Култура, мултикултура-интеркултура и културна
различност, retrieved from http://star.utrinski.com.mk/?pBroj=1878&stID=43149&pR=7 (20 May
2011).

27
 Categorising Cultures

 Just what are the differences between cultures? Is it useful to look for patterns or categories
to make it easier for us to understand these differences?

Categorising cultures offers both advantages and disadvantages. Looking for categories is a useful
tool for analysis and the training of diplomats, and can be used as initial device in preparing for
cross cultural encounters. However, we should beware of creating and reinforcing stereotypes.
Creating categories ignores fact that within any cultural are sub-groups which may have different
traits, and also that individuals within a culture may not follow the norm. Rigid adherence to
categories may lead to false assumptions.

Lewis Categorisation

Richard D. Lewis, author of When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully Across Cultures (London:
Nicholas Brealey, 1993), divides cultural characteristics into three groups:

- “linear active”,
- “multiactive”
- “reactive”.

He argues that people of different nations exhibit characteristics from each of these groups to
different degrees. For example, some linear active traits are: introvert, plans ahead methodically,
works fixed hours, follows procedure, limited body language; some multiactive traits are: extrovert,
plans grand design but impatient with detail; works any hours, does several things at once,
interrupts frequently, interweaves personal and professional; and some reactive traits are:
introvert, sees whole picture, plans slowly, subtle body language.

Lewis categorises nations by determining which of the groups their characteristics tend to fall
within. The nations with the most linear active traits are the Germans and the Swiss. Typical
examples of multiactive nations are Latin Americans, Arabs, Africans, Indians and Pakistanis.
Nations showing reactive traits are the Japanese, and to a lesser degree the Chinese.

28
Raymond Cohen of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Negotiating Across Cultures: International
Communication in an Interdependent World, revised ed., Washington DC: USIP Press, 1997) offers a
system for analysing national negotiating styles in terms of the importance which negotiators
attach to the broad cultural context in which they operate. Cultures fall into various places on a
continuum from high to low context. Arab culture, for example, is high context as Arab negotiators
attach great importance to context, for example history, and make a sharp distinction between the
way matters of state should be conducted and matters of commerce. The first is the realm of
principle and morals, and the second, the realm of haggling. Arab negotiators attach high
importance to creating bonds of friendship and trust between negotiators, and respect for the
honour and dignity of negotiating partners. Less developed, traditional societies tend to give rise to
a high context approach.

American society is typical of the low context approach of more developed countries. These
cultures view negotiation as an exercise in collective problem solving: knowledge and expertise are
applied to find mutually acceptable solutions to problems, and partners expect to adopt a give-and-
take approach. Low context cultures subordinate history, personal honour and personal
relationships for the purpose of agreement. These cultural differences can lead to serious
misunderstandings not only about the topic of negotiations, but about what it actually means to
negotiate.

Professor Paul Sharp, head of political science at the University of Minnesota, points out that
although Cohen’s approach is useful as a point of departure, it has some weaknesses:

 …[the categorisation] misses the extent to which there exist variations within cultures
which are themselves brought forth by different contexts…there are times and
circumstances in which US negotiations are very high context, even on the proverbial
second hand car lot. In Minnesota alone books have been written (and, more
importantly, money has been made) providing outsiders with the context they need to
make sense of what is, or may be, being communicated in the sparse conversations and
non-verbal exchanges which participants in the culture instantly recognise.

In everyday life at least, Americans sometimes negotiate in a low context manner and
sometimes they do not. The question to be asked is what kind of contexts give rise to which

29
kinds of approaches to negotiating, and I have already suggested that an analysis of the balance
of resources between those involved might be a starting point for an answer to this question.
Syrians in their dealings with Americans and Israelis may take a high context approach, but
Syrians in their dealings with the Lebanese or the Kurds, one suspects, may take a low context
approach.

The second problem with the high context-low context approach resides in its characterisation
of what is meant by low context. While Cohen and others are at pains to suggest that the low-
context, American approach involves only one way of looking at the world which is not
necessarily superior to others, they do tend to accept it on its own terms, namely that it is
sparse or thin not only in its presentation but also in fact. By so doing, an opportunity is missed
to put the use of language by Americans under the microscope. A closer examination reveals, of
course, an implied universe of assumptions about what is important, how the world works, and
America's proper place within it, not to mention the place of others. ("Talking to Americans:
Problems of Language and Diplomacy," Language and Diplomacy, Malta: DiploProjects, 2001)

High-context/ Low context cultures

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s theory of high- and low-context culture helps us better understand
the powerful effect culture has on communication. A key factor in his theory is context. This
relates to the framework, background, and surrounding circumstances in which communication or
an event takes place. The following summary highlights the problems facing low-context North
Americans when they interact with people from high-context cultures.

High-context cultures (including much of the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America) are
relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. This means that people in these cultures
emphasize interpersonal relationships. Developing trust is an important first step to any business
transaction. According to Hall, these cultures are collectivist, preferring group harmony and
consensus to individual achievement. And people in these cultures are less governed by reason
than by intuition or feelings. Words are not so important as context, which might include the
speaker’s tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, posture—and even the person’s family history
and status. A Japanese manager explained his culture’s communication style to an American: “We
are a homogeneous people and don’t have to speak as much as you do here. When we say one
30
word, we understand ten, but here you have to say ten to understand one.” High-context
communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Flowery language, humility, and
elaborate apologies are typical.

Low-context cultures (including North America and much of Western Europe) are logical, linear,
individualistic, and action-oriented. People from low-context cultures value logic, facts, and
directness. Solving a problem means lining up the facts and evaluating one after another. Decisions
are based on fact rather than intuition. Discussions end with actions. And communicators are
expected to be straightforward, concise, and efficient in telling what action is expected. To be
absolutely clear, they strive to use precise words and intend them to be taken literally. Explicit
contracts conclude negotiations. This is very different from communicators in high-context
cultures who depend less on language precision and legal documents. High-context business
people may even distrust contracts and be offended by the lack of trust they suggest.

Measured by the use of ambiguities in peace agreements, there is no significant difference between
so-called “low-context” and “high-context” cultures. Both low- and high-context cultures use
ambiguous language to bridge the gap between negotiating parties. In other words, there is no
direct and positive correlation between the use of ambiguous provisions, on the one hand, and
types, or kinds of culture, on the other. Negotiators from different cultures rely on similar means to
arrive at the text of an agreement. This means that, at least when it comes to the use of ambiguities,
there may be a common diplomatic culture, a common culture of drafting an agreement. In other
words, there is no pre-determined cultural barrier to hugely affect one’s attitude towards an
ambiguous proposal.

However, Norman Scott, director of diplomatic training programs at the Graduate Institute of
International Studies in Geneva suggests:

It is possible (even probable) that different languages, emerging from and reflecting distinct
cultures, offer varying scope for ambiguity, intended or unintended. Some maintain, for
example, that the Chinese are predisposed to under specification and ambiguity as a culture-
conditioned stance in interpersonal communications; while the opposite holds true of United
States citizens…

31
If this is true, differences in the grasp of the language used in negotiations could conceivably
confer a distinct advantage on diplomats seeking to introduce ambiguities in negotiated
texts in order to serve their own purposes.

Low vs. High Context Communication

Low Context (Direct)

(e.g., Germany, USA)
- Meaning reliant on verbal message
- Nonverbal communication low importance
- Silence is avoided

High Context (Indirect)

(e.g., Korea, Japan)
- Meaning can be derived from context
- Nonverbal communication high importance
- Silence is normal

Cultures Arranged Along the High-Contextand Low-Context Dimension

32
 Other Categorisations

Steven A. Beebe, Susan J. Beebe, and Mark V. Redmond (Interpersonal Communication: Relating
to Others, Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon, 1996) propose several other categories of
differences between cultures:

Masculine versus feminine approaches to interaction: masculine cultures value

achievement, assertiveness, heroism, and material wealth. Feminine cultures value
relationships, caring for the less fortunate, and overall quality of life.

Tolerance of uncertainty versus avoidance of uncertainty: cultures in which people need

certainty to feel secure are more likely to have and enforce rigid rules for behavior and develop
more elaborate codes of conduct, either formal or informal.

Concentrated versus decentralized power: some cultures value equality and distribution of
power more. Others expect a hierarchy and that some people will have more power than
others.

Individual versus group achievement: Some cultures put more emphasis on individualism;
some place most emphasis on the good of the group.

33
THE TRAFFIC LIGHT MODEL OF CULTURE
Green light: Go ahead
Yellow light: Be careful
Red light: Stop!

What kinds of behaviors require coaching?

Business protocol, negotiating, conducting meetings, rapport-building, social etiquette,
giving work instructions, etc.

Green light cultures: Individualistic

Behavior needs little coaching and can be fairly spontaneous
Yellow light cultures: Extended family
Behavior needs some coaching and moderate training in culturally-appropriate etiquette
Red light cultures: Community/group
Behavior needs close coaching and extensive training in culturally-appropriate etiquette.
Spontaneity should be avoided.

CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS
How the individual is viewed in relation to the group

The I Culture

 Individualism
 Institutions
 Independence
Individualistic cultures see society as a conglomeration of separate individuals rather
than as interconnected individuals integrated into a holistic community.
The concept of community is vague or missing all together.

34
DEFINING YOURSELF EVERYDAY
Individualistic cultures - people continually define & redefine themselves through
career; lifestyle decisions; how money & time are spent; external appearance; hobbies;
friendships, etc.
Your self-identity must be reinforced throughout the day as you make decisions, set
priorities, & schedule your commitments.

Extended Family Culture:

 The family is my
 identity & lifeline
What’s the main psychological difference between living in a nuclear family vs. an
extended family?
BELONGINGNESS + EXTERNAL IDENTITY

Community Culture:
Ethics = Etiquette (ideals that build community)
Maintain interpersonal harmony via ritualistic social etiquette. Social behavior is
complex because it is dictated by situational etiquette, not by universal rules.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualism Collectivism
(e.g., USA, Australia, Canada) (e.g., Korea, China, Mexico)
 Focus is on the individual & self-  Focus is on the group/affiliations
promotion & selfcriticism
 Independency  Interdependency
 Task dominates relationship  Relationship dominates task
 Social obedience through sense of  Social obedience through sense of
guilt shame (‘face’)

35
 CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS

How time is perceived

Monochronic vs. Polychronic (Use of Time)

Monochronic (e.g., Germany, USA) Polychronic (e.g., Arabs, Africans)

 Time is linear and segmented  Time is flexible

 Focus on a single task  Focus on multiple tasks
 Adherence to schedules  Weak ties to schedules

Two people, participating is the same task, one monochronic and the other polychronic:

 will consider the whole process from very different points of view
 will have different objectives
 will have different priorities

36
 Monochronic Cultures
• Also called: Rigid-time
culture
• Do only one thing at the
same time
• Appointments (time) are
inescapable
• Punctuality is a norm of
conduct
• Time is money
Polychronic Cultures
• Also called: Fluid-time
culture
• Do several things at the
same time
time engagements are more
flexible
• work is considered less
important than being polite,
nice, helpful, etc. with other
people
• Time is an opportunity

WORDS/INTERPRETATION

 The case for the importance of language and culture rests on the view that semantic
distinctions reflect different interpretations of reality and normative modes of behavior.
 Words and their translations are not just interchangeable labels but keys opening the door
onto different configurations of the world

Donnell King suggests some general guidelines for bridging the gap between different
cultures:

 Seek information about the culture. Knowledge is power. Prejudice stems from
ignorance…do your homework, don't make assumptions.
 Be other-oriented. As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, we're not in Kansas anymore.
You can no longer rely on the assumptions of your own cultural heritage. This is not
to tear down the value of your own culture; it is to make you aware of the richness
that is available to you in other viewpoints. This also does not mean to try to be
something you are not. It does mean allowing the other to be whomever s/he is
rather than who you think that person should be.
 Ask questions. Be prepared to share information about yourself, and be sensitive in
the way you ask (you don't want to be perceived as prying). But open
communication helps in reducing the uncertainty that is present in any relationship.

37
  Develop mindfulness. This is another way of saying "be aware." Acknowledge that
there is a connection between thoughts and deeds, and become aware of your own
thinking and assumptions. Be conscious. Be active, not reactive. Be aware of your
own self-talk.
 Develop flexibility.
 Tolerate ambiguity. Communicating with someone from another culture produces
uncertainty, which can be uncomfortable. Learn to tolerate the discomfort until you
come out on the other side.
 Avoid negative judgments. Resist thinking that your culture has all the answers. It
has its strengths; so do other cultures.

STEPS TOWARDS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

 Develop a sense of cultural awareness

 Do not be ethnocentric
 Listen genuinely when others speak
 Do not lapse into your own language while in the presence of others who do not speak it
 Take responsibility for the communication (e.g., if miscommunication happens, it is not always
the other person’s fault)
 DO NOT STEREOTYPE

Further reading>

Communicating Between Cultures, Chapter 7.

38
Intercultural Communication: Signs and Symptoms

By the term intercultural communication I mean language interactions between individuals

and groups perceiving themselves as belonging to different cultures. Formerly, the cultural
factor was hardly recognized as capable of affecting communication and social relations.
Now, there is a strong tendency to systematically identifying culture or cultural identity as
the main cause of all relational or communication difficulties.

The question, therefore, is whether culture is an obstacle to communication and if so, under
what forms. A secondary question consists in determining the conditions in terms of
analysis and training under which it may be possible to minimize misunderstandings and
dysfunctions in communication related to cultural references and identity. The difficulty in
assessing the role of the cultural factor in communication is that there is a risk of either
overestimating it or undersestimating it, or even denying it altogether.

Besides, we have to take into account the fact that increasingly, cultural entities are no
longer perfectly homogeneous, stable and distinct in relation to one another, but rather
that they are mixed, or interrelated or fragmented. Consequently, we have to recognize that
communication in a heterogeneous context - in terms of cultural of social identity, age or
gender) does not take place in the same way as in a homogeneous context.

While it is relatively easy to anticipate the behaviour and the reactions of others in a
homogeneous context, it is far more difficult and problematic in a heterogeneous context.
Behaviour and communication within a given context are regulated by the shared
knowledge and acceptance of the relevant codes.The weight of tradition and social
cohesion contribute to stabilizing communication processes and therefore minimize or
prevent transgression of the codes. But increasingly nowadays, as a result of the diversity
of experiences and the mutual influences between cultural groups, polysemy is no longer
an accident or an exception, it has become the norm. It is essentially in a heterogeneous
context that I will address the question of intercultural communication. After presenting,
through a few concrete examples, the different possibilities for analysing dysfunctions and
misunderstandings in intercultural communication, I will propose some basic principles for
a cultural pragmatic approach to communication.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION : MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND DYSFUNCTIONS

Since the works of E.T. Hall, many scholars have analysed the influence of culture on
communication, but they mostly followed a culturalist approach, which means that they
posited a strong correlation between language behaviour and group or ethnic identity.
Without invalidating the idea that each person has a his or her own distinctive view of the
world, recent research based on the ethnography of communication and interactional
socio-linguistics has shed light on the mechanism of the relationship between language and
culture in communication in a way which is no longer purely descriptive or normative.
39
Communicating is no only exchanging information, it also means establishing a relationship
involving symbolic or real power relations. It is also through language that a given
individual becomes aware of his or her own personality. Social communication allows the
development of self-awareness. According to A. Mucchielli, communication may serve five
functions :

 Information
 Setting norms
 Establishing and negotiating relationships
 Exerting influence
 Self-positioning and identification

In literature, there are many examples of manipulation of identity for the purpose of social,
psychological or cultural repositioning. In a novel titled Ce qu'ils disent ou rien (What they
say or nothing), Annie Ernaux, a French novelist, tells the story of a fifteen-years old
teenage girl who finds it difficult to identify herself with the image conveyed by what her
parents and teachers say about her. The girl, who is aware of the arbitrary nature of codes
and signs, decides to create her own semiological system, which she does not even try to
share with others. The function of her signs is not to integrate herself to a group or to
establish social communication, but on the contrary, to express her desire to keep apart
and to marginalize herself.

1. Errors in coding and decoding

By presenting a few examples of cultural misunderstandings (sometimes abusively

referred to as "intercultural misunderstandings") we will attempt to demonstrate that
obstacles to communication do not arise so much from cultural characteristics as from
relational difficulties or from what is at stake in a given situation. An important role has
been given to errors in coding and therefore in decoding in communication, hence the
excessive development of education and training programmes based on the knowledge of
cultural characteristics. This approach through knowledge not only reinforces the process
of attribution (Heider, 1958), i.e. the process through which an individual makes sense of
his cultural environment through representations which enable him to understand and
have a degree of control over this environment by attributing the causes of events to
permanent and stable structures which cannot be observed directly and totally, but only
through certain visible manifestations. This approach reflects a desire to organize the
environment on permanent and coherent bases regardless of differences and variations.

However, just as the knowledge of words and language structures is not enough to ensure
communication, the knowledge of cultural characteristics and codes cannot guarantee
efficient communication. This point is attested by many examples.

One example is the case of a Brazilian (female) student, who, while travelling on a French
airline, tried to draw the attention of the (male) flight attendant by whistling, which is a
common practice in Brazil. The flight attendant did not respond, but later came to explain
40
to the student that whistling is used in France to call animals, not persons. The student
apologized, explaining that in Brazil it is acceptable to whistle to call a person, while
animals are called by their names.

Gestures are culturally determined to a very high degree and the failure to observe the
relevant code may not result in misunderstanding if the interlocutors take the trouble to
explain their respective codes, as the example shows. It is true that since the works of E.T.
Hall, in particular, non-verbal communication has been an important dimension of
intercultural communication, but the knowledge of non-verbal codes cannot altogether
reduce the risks of misunderstandings. A large number of handbooks aimed at business
managers or diplomats have been published, offering objective and explicit explanations of
implicit rules concerning non-verbal communication, or the degree of reliance upon the
context. According to such handbooks, Germans and Americans have a one-dimensional
conception of time (one does only one thing at the same time), while the French and the
Italians see it as multi-dimensional. While it is true that not everybody has the same
conception of time, can we accept such national, cultural or ethnic generalizations ? Do all
Italians, French people, Germans or Americans behave in the same way when it comes to
the management of time?

Besides, the impact of other factors has been overlooked. For example, the age /
generational factor is highly underestimated. Anyone cohabiting with a teenager can
observe that this age group makes a multi-dimensional use of time (i.e. they can do their
homework while eating, phoning friends, listening to music or even watching television).
This is a far cry from the advice given by our (French) parents, throughout our (French)
education : "do only one thing at a time if you want to do it well". Similarly, we can observe
a growing multi-dimensional use of time in the everyday activities of most people : jogging
while listening to music, driving while talking on the telephone, etc.

Also, we can hardly accept without certain reservations the typology of communication
based on the notion of context. According to certain authors, the Germans are supposed to
communicate without reference to an implied context, and they deliver an explicit and
detailed message. By contrast, the French are supposed to rely heavily upon the context
and as a result, the information they deliver is less specific and more flexible according to
the implied context / circumstances.

Guides and cultural handbooks take a static, formal and normalized approach to culture,
assuming that a good knowledge of cultural characteristics are supposed to guarantee
efficient communication. In fact, such an assumption amounts to a purely intrumental and
technical conception of culture. With the progress of globalization, there is growing
interaction and mixing between cultures, a process which is indeed encouraged by the
dominant liberal discourse. In such a context, one can reasonably question the relevance of
a culturalist approach, i.e. that considers culture as the determining factor in
communication. Such an approach seeks to identify the linguistic and non-linguistic
(paralinguistiques) means to ensure good communication, while overlooking the fact that
communication does not necessary have the same status everywhere or for all individuals.
41
This is not to deny the significance of the group, whether social, ethnic or cultural, or to
extol the individual instead; the point is that the individual should not be dissolved into the
group and reduced to a single dimension determined by his allegiance to a community.

Cultural misunderstandings arise from errors in the processes of coding or decoding of

cultural signs. In this sense they are superficial and may be cleared easily if the
interlocutors explain their meanings, or more precisely if they wish to do so, that is to say if
they wish to preserve the relationship that has been established, either temporarily or
durably. While misunderstandings may be cleared by a simple explanation, dysfunctions,
which affect the relationship, must be analysed following a pragmatic approach.

It is significant that culture is not a source of conflict when the interlocutors trust each
other and communication takes place in the context of a harmonious person-to-person or
group-to-group relationship. Culture in invoked essentially in the context of a conflictual or
disharmonious relationship. In a balanced and easy relationship, cultural elements are
perceived as potentially leading to divergences or differences, but a simple explanation is
enough to remove errors in interpretation. This is what we refer to as cultural
misunderstandings. In this case, cultural differences do not affect communication to the
point of causing the relationship to be discontinued. By contrast, we will use the notion of
cultural dysfunction to refer to situations in which relationships are conflictual and culture
or cultural characteristics are invoked to justify conflict and disharmony. The emphasis is
no longer on culture as a factor determining communication, but on an analysis of
communication in a situation of cultural diversity and of the manipulation of culture for
purposes of argumentation.

2. Impact of socio-cognitive mechanisms (prejudice, stereotyping, categorisation)

By the term socio-cognitive mechanisms, we refer to the prejudiced opinions, stereotypes

and categorisations, as well as the already mentioned processes of attribution. According to
E.M. Lipiansky, the process of categorisation has an impact on intercultural communication.
Several mechanisms are at work here: an effect of contrast, which tends to emphasize the
differences between cultures; a stereotyping effect, which means that foreigners are
perceived through stereotyped social representations of their cultures of origin,
encouraging the belief that all nationals of the same country fit those representations ; and
an effect of assimilation, which tends to increase the similarities between individuals of the
same country.

The fact that prejudice and stereotyped representations (whether of other or one's own
cultures) have a strongly detrimental impact on communication is today widely recognized.
The point I would like to stress is their signifying and communicational aspect. In the
movie Gadjo Dilo, film director Tony Gatlif shows an encounter between a Frenchman and
Romanian gypsies. When the Frenchman enters the village, the gypsies are distrusful and a
woman says: "He is going to steal our children from us". What is at work here is a
manipulation and a reversal of the stereotype developed in western countries about
gypsies.
42
The point at issue is not so much about developing an awareness of these processes, as
about finding ways to minimize their impact and setting up training programmes of
prevention. The interpretation of stereotypes may vary according to the circumstances,
according to the context, or according to the interlocutors. For example, an American
student of Mexican origin explains that due to the large number of Mexicans in the United
States, her ethnic origin, although easily identifiable, is not very conspicuous. When she
was in France, she was surprised to find that, while her Mexican origin was far more
noticeable, the perception she had of herself was far less problematic, as people usually
behaved very nicely to her. She thought that this was due to the fact that French people
have a positive perception of Mexico and Mexicans and of Latin America in general.

3. Discursive strategies

The analysis of incidents provides another possible method of analysis of

misunderstandings in communication. It is difficult to interpret the meaning of an offensive
remark, of an inappropriate gesture, or a failure to observe social conventions, and to
determine whether this remark or action was deliberate and calculated or whether it was
spontaneous and unpremeditated. But it is equally difficult to interpret references to
culture in communication. Making use of cultural misunderstandings may be a discursive
strategy. What is new is not so much the manipulation of cultural facts (this has always
existed), as its systematic and growing use.

The recognition and the study of the cultural dimension of communication are relatively
recent, but in my opinion, current theories are too often dominated by a determinist and
causal conception of culture. The transgression of codes and conventions has always been
used to convey meaning without using words, to impose a mode of relationship and to
position oneself. Therefore one should not confuse ignorance of the codes and their
deliberate transgression for the purpose of signifying and making a point / gaining some
advantage, whether symbolical or not.

An anecdote may help to understand how cultural characteristics may be used for purposes
of argumentation, and even, in this case, of manipulation. An African man took out an
insurance policy for his car specifying that he should be the only driver. In spite of that, he
lent his car to his brother, who had an accident. The insurance company therefore refused
to give him compensation on the basis that he knew he should not have allowed anybody
else to drive his car. The African man replied that he had admittedly lent his car, but his
brother "was just the same as himself, same father, same mother". The argument might
have been acceptable if analysed according to a culturalist approach, but its interpretation
may be different if we take into account the fact that this man had lived in France for
twenty years and so was probably aware of insurance regulations. The point is not
knowing the "truth" of the situation, but being aware of the possibility of an
instrumentalization of culture and avoiding simplistic and superficial cultural (or rather
culturalist) interpretations.

43
Communicating is not only exchanging information and meaning, it is also positioning
oneself / establishing one's position and negotiating one's identity, this negotiation being
either a prerequisite or the object of the communication. This is illustrated by the case of an
American student of Mexican origin who first lived with her family in a predominantly
Mexican area. Soon, her parents decided to move to another area where few Mexican
families lived, in an attempt to facilitate their social integration by minimizing visible
connections with the Mexican culture. At the same time, that student paradoxically admits
putting forward her Mexican ethnic identity in order to take advantage of affirmative action
quotas, particularly to get a place in a university. The use of cultural marking / stereotyping
depends on the circumstances and is clearly determined by the goal which is pursued,
whether symbolical or not. The same student also says that when she was a child, she
deliberately imitated a Mexican accent (although she could speak English without accent)
in order to avoid being assaulted by a gang of rough kids whom she had identified as being
of Mexican origin. Knowing how to play the identity game is indeed a component of
communication, a component which is particularly difficult to isolate and analyse in a
society characterised by cultural mixing.

There is indeed a discursive use of cultural facts, and those facts are presented differently
depending on the interlocutors, on the contexts and the situations. An individual may
reveal or conceal his identity by using fragments of cultural characteristics ; he or she may
confirm or contradict expectations of a cultural stereotype, he or she may, in the famous
phrase of Goffmann, "put his culture on the stage" ("mettre en scene sa culture"). As a
result, it is difficult to determine whether culture is the cause or the consequence of
dysfunctions or misunderstandings. Those communication problems are too often
attributed to so-called cultural differences without taking into consideration the nature of
what is at stake or the state of the relationship. The resort to culture has an argumentative
function.

The interlocutors select the relevant cultural information according to their objectives,
according to their mutual interactions. A culture is rarely used as a whole; rather, isolated
fragments are put forward according to circumstances.

Communication is a process of permanent readjustment and it does not require the

knowledge of cultural systems; what it does require is the acquisition of skills based on an
instrumental function of culture, that is to say on the strategic and manipulative uses of
culture. Individuals play with culture in the same way as they play on words.

44
 Business Communication & Etiquette

A language is a system, used for communication, comprising a set of arbitrary symbols and
a set of rules by which the manipulation of these symbols is governed.

These symbols can be combined productively to convey new information, distinguishing

languages from other forms of communication.

Styles of communication

 Styles of communication vary according to the culture:

Culture
Context
Verbal communication
Non verbal communication

Process of communication

45
 Differences in codes, encodages & decodages
 Cultural preferences for some medias (ex. written vs. oral, verbal vs. non-verbal) for some
messages
 Style of retrospective increase is very cultural (people filter information from past
experience)
 Significant increase of the level of the sound
 Perceived distance increase
 Potential misunderstanding increase

The Most Common Languages in the World

APPROXIMATE COUNTRIES WITH

NUMBER OF SUBSTANTIAL
LANGUAGE
NATIVE SPEAKERS NUMBERS OF
(in the year 2000) NATIVE SPEAKERS

1. Mandarin Chinese 874,000,000 16

2. Hindi (India) 366,000,000 17

3. English 341,000,000 104

4. Spanish 322-358,000,000 43

Bengali (India and

5. 207,000,000 9
Bangladesh)

6. Portuguese 176,000,000 33

7. Russian 167,000,000 30

8. Japanese 125,000,000 26

9. German (standard) 100,000,000 40

10. Korean 78,000,000 31

11. French 77,000,000 53

12. Wu Chinese 77,000,000 1

13. Javanese 75,000,000 4

14. Yue Chinese 71,000,000 20

15. Telegu (India) 69,000,000 7

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

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NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION includes facial expressions, tones of voice, gestures, eye
contact, spatial arrangements, patterns of touch, expressive movement, cultural
differences, and other "nonverbal" acts.

Research suggests that nonverbal communication is more important in understanding

human behavior than words alone--the nonverbal "channels" seem to be more powerful
than what people say.

 Gestures and body positioning

 Eye contact
 Facial Expressiveness
 Conversation distance

Cultural differences

Cultures differ in the meaning of slang, even if people think they're speaking the same
language.
The role of the human face in emotions, cultural differences, attractiveness, identity, facial
mythology, etc.
The power of the voice (verbal + nonverbal) in interpersonal communication emphasizes
the way we interpret a speaker's voice in terms of accent, pronunciation, emotions,
honesty, sarcasm, charisma, uniqueness, lifestyle, and geographic origin.

 Pay attention to the expression of angry gestures, obscene gestures, friendly gestures,
warning gestures, secret gestures, and embarrassing gestures.
 This powerful form of nonverbal communication varies across cultural and national
boundaries.

Business Etiquette Around the World

 Greetings and Introductions

 Forms of Address
 Use of Business Cards
 Meetings and Appointments
 Business Lunch or Business Dinner
 Negotiating and Getting Job Done
 Entertainment and Gift Giving
 Email, Telephone, Letters and Memorandum Styles of Communication
The business communication supposes the knowledge of the rules of etiquette and
characteristics of the different countries languages.
47
International differences in gestures, and cultural differences in nonverbal communication
might be expected. Differences affect our ability to understand people from different
cultures.
English is recognised as the language of business. Language skills allow to better perceive
another culture. Internationalization of business depends on language skills of managers.

Language in Business

Verbal language:
Business letter
Memos
Emails

Non-verbal language:
Pay attention to the expression of:
 angry gestures
 obscene gestures
 friendly gestures
 warning gestures
 secret gestures, and embarrassing gestures, ect.
 The power of the voice (verbal + nonverbal)
 Dress code

Greetings and Introductions

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands?

In Germany, always shake hands, firmly but briefly.
In Japan you may greet with a hand shake, but the bow is the traditional Japanese greeting.
In Italy, Mexico, Latin America and in Spain, women may kiss on both cheeks after knowing
you awhile.

Forms of Address
Never use first names and don’t suggest to be called by yours.
Doctors, professors, engineers, lawyers and architects are always addressed by their
professional titles. In Germany, always use professional titles after Mr. or Mrs. In Mexico
use the professional title followed by last name, e.g. "Ingeniero Fernandez“, “Doctora
Gonzalez”.
Global Business Etiquette
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What is “etiquette”?

The English word “etiquette” comes from the French word “étiquette” meaning social
etiquette or professional protocol…
Etiquette is ethical and socially acceptable behavior regarding professional practice or action
among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other.

But etiquette isn’t recognized as one uniform set of standards around the globe.
For example, a hand gesture in one country may have the exact opposite meaning in
another culture!

Why are global etiquette and cultural differences important to us?

As global business continues to expand, the critical element of a successful business
outcome may be the appreciation and respect for cultural differences.
You will need to utilize your knowledge of cultural diversity and intercultural
communication during your international travels and overseas assignments.

Let’s see how much you know……

1. In all but one of the following countries it is expected that you bring a gift to a business
meeting. In which country is it NOT expected?
a) China
b) Japan
c) Czech Republic
d) Denmark
e) Bolivia

2. In Saudi Arabia, which is considered a popular gesture of friendship between men?

a) a high-five
b) holding hands while walking
c) a handshake
d) winking
e) a hug or kiss on the cheek
3. In Great Britain, tapping your nose indicates that something is:
a) confidential
b) smelly
c) inappropriate
d) very important
e) incredibly boring

49
 4. Which of the following is/are associated with death and should not be given as gifts in the
Chinese culture?
a) clocks
b) straw sandals
c) a handkerchief
d) all of the above

5. When treating a client to a business meal in China, the most appropriate tipping strategy
would be:
a) 15% tip
b) the more the better
c) 20% tip
d) no tip at all
e) 50% tip

6. When doing business in Iran, a woman should cover their:

a) Mouth
b) Feet
c) Eyes
d) Arms and Legs
e) Arms, Legs and Hair

Global Business etiquette

FRANCE, GERMANY, UK, RUSSIA, BRAZIL, INDIA, JAPAN, CHINA

Etiquette in France

France is known as a world center for culture.

The French are very proud of their long history and of their roles in world affairs.
The French go to great lengths to protect and maintain their culture.
For example, the Académie Française was established in the 1600’s to be the official
authority of the French language.
French is the official language. If you don’t speak French, it is very important that you
apologize for your lack of knowledge. However, most individuals in business do speak
English.
210 million people speak French. It is spoken in 55 countries, official in 30 counties.
It is a Romance language descendant of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire
Spoken as a first language by most people from France, Switzerland,
Wallonia in Belgium, Monaco, and Quebec in Canada, as well as minorities elsewhere.
50
From the 17th century to the mid 20th century, French served as the international
language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca among the
educated classes of Europe.
The dominant position of the French language has been overshadowed by English, since
the emergence of the USA as a major power.

Verbal aspects

 Academic language
 Diplomacy and respect
 Politeness
 Importance of graduation, titles
 Vertical relation

Non verbal aspects

 Movement of hand
 The significance of the smile
 Take distance
 Multiple listening

When speaking French, use the "vous" form until you are asked to use "tu."
French business culture is intensely hierarchical, so be sure to learn and use the titles of
everyone you plan to encounter. In many offices, first names are not used.
"Madame" is a basic title of courtesy for all women, as is "Monsieur" for men.
The French will sometimes introduce themselves by first saying their surname, followed by
their first name; if both sound like first names, be sure to ask.

The French appreciate conversation as an art form. They frequently interrupt each other,
not to be rude, but because argument is considered entertaining.
French eye contact is frequent and intense, don’t be intimidated!

Appearance

The French are very conscientious of their appearance. One should dress in well-tailored
conservative attire. Dark colors or patterned fabrics are preferred. Bright colors and glitzy
jewelry should be avoided.
French men do not loosen their ties or take off their jackets. Such behavior is considered
unprofessional.
51
Other Important French Cultural Trends

 Punctuality is treated casually

 French meals are to be enjoyed, not rushed through. Expect for a lunch or dinner to
last anywhere from two to three hours!
 Handshakes are brief and are accompanied by distinct eye contact, yet they aren’t as
firm as we’re used to. Always shake upon meeting and leaving.
 Education is very highly valued in France
 Gift giving as a business meeting is up to the foreigner’s discretion, however
suggested gifts are books and music, as they demonstrate interest in intellectual
pursuits.

Germany / Deutschland/

German (Deutsch ) is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English
and Dutch. It is spoken by approximately 100 million native speakers. German is the most
widely spoken first language in the European Union.
It is spoken in Germany (where it is the first language for more than 95% of the
population), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (65%). German is also spoken by the majority
of the populations of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.

Doing Business in Germany

First names are reserved for family members and close friends.
It's not uncommon for colleagues who have worked together for years not to know of each
other's first names.
For those without professional titles, or if you're unsure, use a courtesy title, followed by a
surname.
Mr. = "Herr"
Mrs. (or Ms.) = "Frau"

German business culture is extremely hierarchical, so be sure that you learn and use the
professional titles of those you expect to encounter.
Professionals of any kind will expect to be referred to as "Herr" or "Frau", followed by the
correct occupational title. An individual with a Ph.D. should be addressed as "Herr (or Frau)
Doctor Professor."

52
Eye contact
Germans will look you directly in the eye while talking.
Some Americans find it vaguely annoying or disconcerting.
From the German point of view, this is a sign of honesty and true interest in the
conversation. For Americans it can seem too intense and direct.

-Bob Dylan underscored the same potency in his lyrics:

“Your eyes said more to me that night than your lips would ever say.”

-There is even a Zulu saying: “The eye is an organ of aggression.”

Direct Eye Contact Cultures Nominal Eye Contact Cultures

Middle Eastern Korean
French Japanese
German East Indian
Dominant U.S. African

Posture
As eccentric as it sounds, the way people sit is often a reflection of important cultural
characteristics. In the United States, being casual and friendly is valued, and people often
demonstrate this through their manner of sitting.
The casual sitting position for males “includes a slump and leaning back and a type of
sprawl that occupies a lot of space. American males often, consciously or unconsciously, sit
with their feet up on their desk as a sign of being relaxed.

In Germany - lifestyles tend to be more formal, slouching is considered a sign of rudeness

and poor manners. German children are still taught to sit and stand up straight, which is a
sign of good character.
Slouching is seen as a sign of a poor upbringing. Germans are also made uncomfortable by
bold hand gestures.

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 The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is comprised of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern
Ireland. It is important not only to be aware of these geographical distinctions, but also the strong
sense of identity and nationalism felt by the populations of these four nations.

Language/s in the UK
The United Kingdom does not have a constitutionally defined official language. English is the
main language (being spoken monolingually by more than 70% of the UK population) and is
thus the de facto official language.
Other native languages to the Isles include Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, Cornish, Gaelic and British
Sign Language.
Immigrants have naturally brought many foreign languages from across the globe.

British Etiquette and Customs

Meeting and Greeting

 The handshake is the common form of greeting.
 The British might seem a little stiff and formal at first.
 Avoid prolonged eye contact as it makes people feel uncomfortable.
 There is still some protocol to follow when introducing people in a business or more
formal social situation. This is often a class distinction, with the 'upper class' holding on
to the long-standing traditions:
 Introduce a younger person to an older person.
 Introduce a person of lower status to a person of higher status.
 When two people are of similar age and rank, introduce the one you know better to the
other person.

Gift Giving Etiquette

 The British exchange gifts between family members and close friends for birthdays and
Christmas.
 The gift need not be expensive, but it should usually demonstrate an attempt to find
something that related to the recipient’s interests.
 If invited to someone's home, it is normal to take along a box of good chocolates, a good
bottle of wine or flowers.
 Gifts are opened when received.

Dining Etiquette
 Unlike many European cultures, the British enjoy entertaining people in their homes.
 Although the British value punctuality, you may arrive 10-15 minutes later than invited to
dinner. However, if going to a restaurant be on time.
 Table manners are Continental, i.e. the fork is held in the left hand and the knife in the
right while eating.
 The fork is held tines down so food is scooped on to the back of the fork. This is a skill
that takes time to master.
 Remain standing until invited to sit down. You may be shown to a particular seat.

54
  Do not rest your elbows on the table.
 If you have not finished eating, cross your knife and fork on your plate with the fork over
the knife.
 Indicate you have finished eating by laying your knife and fork parallel across the right
side of your plate.
 Toasts are given at formal meals.
 When in a pub, it is common practice to pay for a round of drinks for everyone in your
group.
 If invited to a meal at a restaurant, the person extending the invitation usually pays. Do
not argue about the check; simply reciprocate at a later time.

Business Etiquette and Protocol

Greetings
 A firm handshake is the norm; there are no issues over gender in the UK.
 People shake upon meeting and leaving.
 Maintain eye contact during the greeting but avoid anything prolonged.
 Most people use the courtesy titles or Mr, Mrs or Miss and their surname.
 Wait until invited before moving to a first-name basis. People under the age of 35 may
make this move more rapidly than older British.
 Business cards are exchanged at the initial introduction without formal ritual.
 The business card may be put away with only a cursory glance so don’t be offended if not
much attention is paid to it.

The British Communication Style

The British have an interesting mix of communication styles encompassing both

understatement and direct communication. Many older businesspeople or those from the 'upper
class' rely heavily upon formal use of established protocol. Most British are masters of
understatement and do not use effusive language. If anything, they have a marked tendency to
use ‘qualifiers’ such as 'perhaps', ‘possibly’ or 'it could be'.

When communicating with people they see as equal to themselves in rank or class, the British
are direct, but modest. If communicating with someone they know well, their style may be more
informal, although they will still be reserved.

The Stiff Upper Lip

The British have been historically known for their stiff upper lip and “blitz spirit” as
demonstrated during the German bombings of World War II. This ‘grin and bear’ attitude in the
face of adversity or embarrassment lives on today.
As a nation, the Brits tend not to use superlatives and may not appear terribly animated when
they speak. This does not mean that they do not have strong emotions; merely that they do not
choose to put them on public display.
They are generally not very openly demonstrative, and, unless you know someone well, may not
appreciate it if you put your arm around their shoulder. Kissing is most often reserved for family
55
members in the privacy of home, rather than in public. You'll see that the British prefer to
maintain a few feet of distance between themselves and the person to whom they are speaking. If
you have insulted someone, their facial expression may not change.
The British are very reserved and private people. Privacy is extremely important. The British will
not necessarily give you a tour of their home and, in fact, may keep most doors closed. They
expect others to respect their privacy. This extends to not asking personal questions. Even close
friends do not ask pointedly personal questions, particularly pertaining to one’s financial
situation or relationships.

Russia

Russian (russkiy yazyk) is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia.

Spoken in: Russia, former Soviet republics, Mongolia, Svalbard and

Israel.
Total speakers: primary language: about 145 million
secondary language: 110 million

Language family: Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, East Slavic, Russian

Writing system: Cyrillic alphabet

Official language of: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, United Nations,
Crimea, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Gagauzia.

 The closest relatives are Ukrainian and Belarusian.

 Official recognition and legality: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania (1/10), Finland (0.6%)
 Old generations in Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania
and Albania
 It was taught in some Asian countries: Laos, Vietnam and Mongolia
 Israel: press and web site
 North America and Western Europe

Education in Russian: 75% in Belarus, 41% in Kazakhstan, 25% in Ukraine, 23% in

Kyrgyzstan, 21% in Moldova, 7% in Azerbaijan, 5% in Georgia and 2% in Armenia and
Tajikistan.

In Russia
 Close distance

56
  High tone of voice
 Very expressive
 Direct
Between family, good friends and colleagues, and sometime subordinates, the Christian
name is modified to a "pet" name >
e.g. Alexander = Sasha; Ludmila = Mila, Vladimir = Vova, Evgueniy = Geniya.
In formal situations, "vy" is used, "ty" is used between friends, etc.

It is appropriate, when meeting someone, to simply state your family name without any
additional greeting.
Learn the titles of everyone you plan to encounter, as these distinctions are very
important in this culture.
Russians have three names. The first name is a given name, while the last name is the
father's family name. The middle name is known as a patronymic; for a man, it ends with
the suffixes "vich" or ovich" meaning "son of." For a woman, the patronymic ends with "a"
or "ova" which means "daughter of."

Russian Non-verbal language

A firm handshake is the common form of greeting & parting
Open greeting with good eye contact
Friendly gestures

Clothes:
Strict, elegant, bright colours (skirts for women).
Russia is still a country of formality—for men a shirt, tie, jacket, etc in darker, conservative
tones is still the required uniform for offices and at formal occasions.
Russian women, especially younger ones, dress very fashionably, although in some
instances somewhat more provocatively.

Russians are formal with all new contacts and especially so with foreigners
Once the newcomer is accepted – affection (hugging, or be verbal with extreme
complimentary toasts and speeches about the chosen person(s).
Although Russian businesses are becoming more like those in West, decision making still
reflects old style: top down.

Russian culture
Autocratic management style

57
Generally, women are not regarded or treated as equals to men and most hold lower level
jobs compared to men. Russian women are often described as "The neck of Russia".
Supporting the head and brains (men) but determine where the head looks!!

Flowers are very popular gifts for men & women—large bouquets are presented for all
kinds of celebrations, including birthdays, jubilees, name days for women (Vera, Luba,
Nadia, etc).
The count of flowers is important—an even number is unlucky (for funerals); odd numbers
of flowers should be given for all other occasions.

Recommendations
Avoid shaking hands across a doorway - bad luck.
For most Russians the personal relationship comes first & then the business relationship.
This would include participating in office celebrations for birthdays, jubilees etc., where
staff sits around and talk, drink & toast.
Also, Russians like to entertain at home. If invited, this would be an ideal opportunity to
build a relationship. The guest should take a small gift of flowers, food or alcohol.

Brazil
Appearance
Brazilians pride themselves on their attire
- 3-piece suits means “executive”, whereas 2-piece suits are associated with office
workers
- Women are to dress conservative
- Elegant and feminine suits and dresses
- Always have manicured nails
- Avoid wearing the combination of green and yellow in any fashion (colours of the
Brazilian flag)

Behavior
Greeting
Men shake hands and keep eye contact
Friends will give hugs or slap each other’s backs
Women kiss each other on the cheeks, starting from left and alternate
If a woman wishes to shake hands with a man, she must extend her hand first

Gestures
The “OK” symbol is a RUDE gesture and should never be used
To express appreciation, one may pinch their earlobe with thumb and forefinger
58
To say good luck, one uses the gesture “The Fig”
The OK gesture
In the United States -emblematic of the word ‘okay’;
in Japan (and Korea) it traditionally signifies ‘money’ (okane);
among Arabs this gesture is usually accompanied by a baring of teeth, signifying extreme
hostility.”
To a Tunisian, the gesture means, “I’ll kill you.”
In some Latino cultures the circle with the thumb and index finger is “an obscene gesture.”
Behavior (cont.)
Gift Giving
Gifts are not required at the first business meeting.Instead, buy lunch or dinner. Never give
purple flowers for they are used extensively at funerals. Gifts are opened when received

Dining
Midday is the main time for a meal unless it is a formal entertainment
“Dress to impress”; casual clothing is considered more formal in Brazil than in other
countries

Business Etiquette

Never start into business discussion before the host does; meetings begin with casual chat
One may talk about football, family, or children
Don’t bring up the topics Argentina, politics, poverty, religion, or the Rain Forest
Prefer face-to-face meetings
Communication is informal
It is acceptable to interrupt someone who is speaking

Forms of address
Forms of address should include titles such as “Doctor,” or “Professor,” or the term Senhor
or Senhora may be used before the surname when a title is unknown or absent.
Brazilians may even introduce themselves using their titles and their first names such as
“I’m Dr. Agusto.

Etiquette in
India

59
Appearance

- Formal Business
Men – suit and tie (jacket can be removed in the summer)
Women – conservative dresses or pantsuits
- Casual Business
Men – short-sleeved shirts and long pants (shorts only when exercising)
Women – must keep upper arms, chest, back, and legs covered at all times
Use of leather products may be offensive

Behavior
Never touch someone else’s head. The head is considered the seat of the soul.
Be careful with your feet. Feet are considered unclean. If your shoes or feet touch another
person, apologize.
If you receive a wrapped gift, set it aside until the giver leaves. Gifts are not opened in the
presence of the giver.
Business lunches are more popular than dinners. Keep in mind, Hindus do not eat beef and
Muslims do not eat pork.

Communications
The official languages are English and Hindi. English is widely used in business, politics and
education. Do not thank your hosts at the end of a meal. "Thank you" is considered a form
of payment and insults your hosts.
The word "no" is considered particulary harsh in India. Refusing a request in a more
evasive manner is both common and polite. Never directly refuse an invitation.
Instead, use non-verbal cues and indirect communication to voice your disagreement.

- Indian Working Practices

Indians appreciate punctuality but may not reciprocate it. Try to be flexible.
Make business appointments in the late morning or early afternoon, ideally between the
hours of 11am and 4pm.
Deadlines should not be rushed! Making decisions is often a slow and thoughtful process in
Indian culture. Showing impatience is seen as rude and disrespectful.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do wait for a female business colleague to initiate the greeting. Indian men do not generally
shake hands with women out of respect.
Do use titles whenever possible, such as “Professor” or “Doctor”. If the person doesn’t have
an official title, use “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Miss” and their last name.
60
Don’t refuse any food or drink offered to you during business meetings.

Forms of address
The traditional Indian greeting is the namaste where one presses the hands together below
the chin near the heart as in prayer, and bows slightly toward the other person.
The use of first names in addressing someone should be avoided.
Among Hindus it is customary to add the suffix “ji” to names as a mark of respect.
For instance, Ravi in polite speech becomes Raviji. Here, Ravi is the first name, but by
adding the suffix “ji,” you are addressing the person with respect and, in this instance, use
of the first name would not be improper.
Japan

Appearance
It is important to “Dress to Impress”. Men should wear dark conservative attire/business
suits. Women should dress conservatively, minimal accessories and low heels, but no pants,
Japanese men find it offensive.

Communication
- Customary meeting is a bow
- May receive handshake
- Must complete meishi (business cards) exchange process before business meeting can
start
- The Japanese prefer not to use the word “no”

Smiles can express either joy or pleasure, be careful! Allow host to sit in silence if need be
First names are reserved for family and close friends. Don't invite others to call you by
your first name. Even if you are on a first name basis with a Japanese colleague, it may be
appropriate to use his or her last name in the presence of colleagues, to avoid causing any
embarrassment.

Use courtesy titles such as "Mr.", "Ms.", or the suffix "san", in addition to last names.
"San", an honorific morpheme attached to a person's last name, is a sign of respect
It is sometimes easy to translate the honorific suffix to other languages, for example, "Mr.
Hasegawa" for Hasegawa-san.
The Japanese often use professional titles in the place of actual names, as an
acknowledgment of a person's status.

61
 Etiquette in
China

‘Face’
Don’t forget the importance of ‘face’ (‘mianze’) > giving face, saving face.
Causing embarrassment or loss of composure, even unintentionally, can cause difficulties.
Chinese won’t say ‘no’ (which might mean a loss of face for both parties). Ambivalent
answers such as “perhaps”, “I’m not sure”, “we’ll see” probably mean “no”.
Don’t ever lose your cool (despite the heat in summer!) Be patient, accept delays and
difficulties with good grace. Do not stress deadlines.

Importance of business cards and the correct etiquette associated with them: Two hands,
always linger and admire! Put your Chinese name on the card.

Forms of address
Chinese usually greet the most senior person first and use titles that clearly reflect their
cultural emphasis on hierarchy.
The order of Chinese personal names is reversed from that in the West.
The Chinese place their family name (surname) first and their given name last.
For example, in the name Wang Jintao, Wang is the family name and Jintao is the given
name; thus, in English, the proper form of address would be Mr. Wang.

A slight bow and a brief shake of the hand is most appropriate

Etiquette and meals

In China, people will normally enter a room in order of seniority. The Chinese will expect
the same. Identifying the ultimate decision-maker is not always easy. At a meal, the key
person (host?) will sit facing the door (and will pick up the bill.
The leader of the foreign delegation will sit on the right of him/her. Until you know who the
‘leader’ is, treat everyone with equal respect.

Meals
When eating, there are no obvious table manners. You can eat anything in any order, you
can use plate or bowl more-or-less interchangeably.
Try anything once. If you don’t like it, leave it on the plate. Often food is much more tasty
than it looks!
When you’ve had enough, say “chi bao le”

62
Chinese
A little Chinese goes A LONG WAY!
Learn to say
- Hello: Ni Hao (knee how) and
- I’m full: Chi bao le
- Thank you: Xie Xie (sheer-sheer)

Final tips
Remember that building up personal relationships (guanxi) in China is more important
than signing contracts. Get to know personal details about Chinese colleagues, family,
children’s names etc. The occasional e-mail about non-work things between trips can
smooth things along. Several trips to China may be necessary to build up the relationship.

The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language

“You can buy in any language, but to sell you have to speak their language”
Just because someone speaks English, one should remember it never is spoken nor
understood quite same way.

Passport to Success
If you have to work abroad…..
- Learn the language, the culture, the business protocol and professional practices of
your host country.
- Respect for the local customs and cultural sensitivity will ensure your success.

Key Things to Remember

- Dress appropriately and conservatively
- Show respect
- Prepare business cards and consider having them printed in local languages as well
as English.
- Before traveling, learn key phrases and words: Please, Thank You, etc.
- If in doubt, always do research about the culture to know customs and avoid
inappropriate or rude behavior.

I hope you’ve learned a little about global etiquette!

63
 Language and Culture
THE SYNERGY OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Language and culture are the indispensable components of intercultural communication.

Developed in the early 20th century, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that language defines your
perceptions of the world.
Salzmann: “those aspects of culture that are important for the members of a society are
correspondingly highlighted in the vocabulary.”
Language shapes the way in which we view our world and how others perceive us.

Symbols and signs

At the most basic level, language is a set of shared symbols or signs that a cooperative group of
people has mutually agreed to use to help them create meaning.
The relationship between the selected sign and the agreed meaning is quite often arbitrary.

Example 1
Varied symbols used by different cultures to identify a familiar household pet:
In Finland = kissa,
in Germany =katze
Swahili =paka.
Japanese=neko
in Spanish-speaking countries gato
In the English language = cat
In Macedonian = мачка
 none of the words has any relation to the actual characteristics of a cat.

These differences in symbols also extend to how people of a cultural group hear natural sounds:
 in the United States pigs are heard to make an “oink, oink” sound, the Japanese hear the
sound as “bu–bu.”
 When you applaud an outstanding performance in the United States, the sound is “clap-
clap,” but in Japan it’s “pachi-pachi.”

Culture specific terms

There are thousands of ’culture-bound‘ terms, deeply rooted in culture, which the translator has
to deal with.
Do you know that the Eskimos have seven different expressions / lexicons for the word – snow?
Can you differentiate the following: ‘wet snow’, ‘packed snow’, ‘powder snow’, ‘fine snow’, ‘dry
snow’, soft snow’.
The Marshalese Islanders don’t have to worry about ‘snow’, but they have 60 terms for parts of
the coconut and coconut tree.

64
Cross-cultural misunderstanding
Someone, new in the United States, from a certain culture, refused to eat “hot dog”.
The north-Indians have many words like, roti, chapati, puri, parotha, tanduri, naan, phulka,
kachauri, etc.
These words do not have an English parallel. The word that comes closest is “Bread”, but again
this is another variety, generally from the bakery - not homemade.

Culture-language synergy
The culture-language synergy is easily illustrated by comparing a food staple from the United
States with one from Japan.
In the United States “rice” refers to the grain regardless of context
“beef”- the Japanese use only the traditional word gyuniku or the adopted English of bifu or
bifuteki.

TRANSLATION

A translator’s task is to convert written text from one language into another.

Types of texts can vary widely:

 official government documents,
 international contracts,
 scientific papers,
 novels and poetry.

CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS IN INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION

Language variations in grammar, sentence structure, and cultural differences encompassing
humor, irony, sarcasm, make this a daunting task.
Often, there is no single word equivalency or the word may have a different meaning in another
language.
Football, for instance, means something quite different in Europe and South America than in the
United States or Canada.
In the United States, “discuss” =a desire to talk over a topic in a mutually agreeable,friendly
manner, but in Spanish, “discusión” implies a more intense, disagreeing attitude.

LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

Knowledge of a second language will help you function more effectively as you move from
culture to culture. It will increase your intercultural understanding and competence,
and also provide a greater awareness of cultural influences in general.
One way of enhancing your intercultural communication competency is to study another
language.

65
Humor, Translation, and Bilingual Issues

Problems in Translating Jokes

Jokes - cultural and social facts, shared beliefs and attitudes, pragmatic bases of communication.
We share our humour with those who have shared our history and who understand our ways of
interpreting the experience.
There is a fund of common knowledge and recollection, upon which all jokes draw with
instantaneous effect.

Examples>
1. Translation in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction

VINCENT: You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris?
JULES: They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
VINCENT: No man; they’ve got the metric system; they don’t know what the Quarter Pounder is!
JULES: So what do they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese? /*a quarter of a pound (113.4 g)/
VINCENT: They call it a Royale with cheese.
JULES: Royale with cheese.
VINCENT: That’s right.
JULES: What do they call a Big Mac?
VINCENT: A Big Mac’s a Big Mac only they call it Le Big Mac
JULES: Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?
VINCENT: I don’t know. I never went to a Burger King. You know what they put on French
Fries instead of Ketchup?
JULES: What?
VINCENT: Mayonnaise.

2. Untranslatable Canadian Joke

“Je suis allé dans un magazin ‘Newfie’ et j’ai demandé un robe de chambre.
Le ‘Newfie’ m’a demandé: “Quelle grandeur la chambre?”
La robe de chambre - peignoir
Chambre – room, bedroom

3. An English Sick Joke in France

“Mummy, Mummy, is it still a long way to France?”
“Shut up and keep swimming!”
Translation > FR
“Maman, Maman, est-ce que l’Angleterre est loin?”
“Tais-toi et continue à nager!”

66
Discussion
Notice that in the translation, “England” is substituted for “France.”
As one of Delia Chiaro’s French colleagues pointed out to her, “Why would someone French
want to go to England?” (Chiaro [2008]: 587)

4. German Humor
Between 1931 and 1936 The Jack Pearl Show was on radio. Baron von Munchausen was the
central figure in a running skit. The Baron spoke with a strong German accent that contrasted
with the ordinary language of Charlie (Sharlie).

BARON: Und dere in frundt of me wuz a green elephant.

/And there in front of me was a green elephant/
SHARLIE: Now wait a minute, Baron; do you mean to tell me you actually saw a green elephant?
BARON: (with great indignation) Vas you dere, Sharlie?

5. Irish and Jewish Humor

“Irish humor, like Jewish humor, contains much wordplay, and like Jewish humor, much of Irish
wordplay is bilingual and/or bicultural, relating to both the Gaelic/Celtic and to the English
language and culture.”
Many Irish, like many Jews, “are trying to reestablish their roots, and it is the humor in Irish
written and oral literature that is helping them to do so.”(D. Nilsen, Humor in Irish Literature
xv)

An Irish Joke in Italy

- What do they write on the bottom of Guinness bottles in Ireland?
- Open at other end.

TRANSLATION:
- Che cosa scrivono sul fondo delle lattine di Coca Cola che si trovano nei distributori di
bibite nelle caserme dei carabinieri?
- Aprire dall’altro lato.

Discussion
The Irish are the butt of English stupidity jokes, so a different stupidity group needs to be used
in Italian. In Italy, the stupidity group is not ethnic, but is professional—the carabinieri (one of
Italy’s police forces). Also, there is no national drink in Italy. Furthermore, Italians consume
alcohol usually at meals and from glasses, not bottles. So “Coca Cola” is used instead of
Guinness. Finally, Italians see a bottle as having a top and a bottom, so “bottle” had to change to
“can.” (Chiaro [2008]: 583)

67
7. ITALIAN JOKES
- What’s black and white and red all over?
- A newspaper.

TRANSLATION:
- Che cosa è nero, bianco e rossa ovunque?
A. L’Unità, or (a Communist newspaper)
B. Una zebra con l’abronzatura (a zebra with a sunburn)

NOTE: The first “red” retains the “read” association, while the second “red” does not.

Neither of these translations encapsulate the semantic ambivalence attached to the words
“red/read.” “Nevertheless, solution A does capture the ‘read’ element of the original riddle coupled
with the metaphorical value of the colour term ‘red’ attached to a popular left wing newspaper
L’Unità.”
Since this is a children’s riddle, the first answer is inappropriate because children wouldn’t know
about L’Unità. Furthermore the second answer has the kind of silliness that would be found in a
children’s riddle. (Chiaro [2008]: 580)

8. Russian Humor

Russian immigrant Yakov Smirnoff entertained Americans through the cold war and beyond with
such jokes as,

“I have a Russian Express Card. It says, ‘Don’t Leave Home!’” and

“One of the biggest differences between America and Russia is that in America you can always find a
party, but in Russia, the party always finds you.”

“The editors of a Soviet newspaper were arrested and possibly executed because they published
Stalin’s name as “Sralin,” which in Cyrillic means “shit.”

Was this a Freudian slip…

Or an accident…
Or an insult?

Further Reading
Communication between Cultures
CHAPTER 8 - Verbal Messages: Exchanging Ideas Through Language

68
 Coping with Culture-Specific Items

Cultural translation – is a complex creative process. Questions regarding whether or

not translations can account for culture or to what extent culture is relevant are very much at
the centre of the debate.

The two extreme views are that either everything can be translated witho ut loss or that
nothing can be translated without loss, as in the Italian expression traduttore /traditore /
‘translator/traitor’. These viewpoints are, in fact, both correct, and can be sensibly discussed.

The lecture will deal with some of the difficulties in the area of culture-specific concepts that
translators /interpreters have to overcome when translating.

Culture and intercultural competence and awareness that rise out of experience of culture, are
far more complex phenomena than it may seem to the translator.

Hence, it is extremely important for the translator /interpreter to be keenly aware of the
differences existing between the source culture and the target culture (and the language into
which the original text is to be rendered).

Difficulties in the area of culture-specific concepts that both translators and travel writers
have to overcome. The main concern - words and phrases that are so heavily and exclusively
grounded in one culture that they are almost impossible to translate into the term s of another.

There was a long debate: when to paraphrase, when to use the nearest local equivalent, when
to coin a new word by translating literally, and when to transcribe.

All these “untranslatable” cultural-bound words and phrases continued to fascinate

translators and translation theorists. They focus on translating methods and strategies for
dealing with the cultural gaps.

Culturally Specific Items

‘Culturally specific items’ (CSI) are linguistically represented items that pose a problem in
translation because they do not exist in the target culture or have a different value as a result
of factors such as ideology, usage, frequency, and so on (Aixelá, 1996: 57).

Javier Franco Aixelá breaks down the strategies available for translating these items into the
two main categories:

-conservation and substitution, with subclassifications on a scale from a lesser to a greater

degree of intercultural manipulation.
69
Conservation:

 Repetition. Keep as much as possible of the original reference.

 Orthographic adaptation (Transliteration or transcription).
 Linguistic (non-cultural) translation. Use a denotatively very close reference, but
one that still belongs to the culture of the source text. (E.g: dollar > долар)
 Extra-textual gloss. One of above strategies, plus addition of information in form of
footnote, brackets etc., to offer extra explanation on the meaning of the CSI .
 (E.g.: Arnold Rothstein > Famous gangster of the years 1920)
 Intra-textual gloss:addition of information in main body of text. the translator leaves
the explanation blended with the text, so as not to disturb the reader’s attention. (e.g.:
St. Mark > Hotel St. Mark )
Substitution:

 Synonymy (usually used on stylistic grounds to avoid repetition).

 Limited universalisation, i.e., a less specific reference. (Use of another CSI from
source culture to replace the more incomprehensible one in ST) →five grant > five
thousand dollars
 Absolute universalisation, i.e., a neutral reference. Replacing CSI with a neutral
reference, thus removing any exoticism. E.g. corned beef → slices of ham
 Naturalisation. (Replacing CSI with a CSI from the target culture). E.g. pots of
earthenware or tin→грниња, или котлиња
 Deletion (usually for reasons of perceived irrelevance or unacceptability). E.g. black
Cadillac sedan → црн кадилак
 Autonomous creation of a non-existent cultural reference. (Adding a cultural
reference to TT that is not present in ST).

The choice of strategy is guided by many different factors:

 the type and breadth of the intercultural gap,

 the function of the item in the source text,
 issues of coherence within the target text.

Example:

“Britain’s new super class”

70
In the United Kingdom, the "upper class" traditionally comprised the aristocracy of "noble"
families with hereditary titles. The vast majority of aristocratic families originated in the
merchant class, and were ennobled between the 14th and 19th century. Since World War II, the
term has come to encompass rich and powerful members of the managerial and professional
classes as well.

Britain has a new upper class: the "super class", a highly-paid elite, which is built on old
professions and institutions.

Being British, they have a solid base in tradition, whether in Oxbridge, Clubland, the Inns of
Court, the House of Lords, or the City of London with its medieval Corporation and Lord Mayor.

On the other hand, the super class is a new phenomenon originating from the reforms that were a
product of Thatcherism in the 1980s. Like the Victorian factory owners and hereditary peers, this
class has come to believe in the justice of its wealth and status.

The lives of the new class revolve around Harrods and Kensington; the best public schools;
modern art; the Royal Opera; and the high-life in London, where much of the super class is
concentrated. For instance, half to two thirds of all solicitors and barristers in England and
Wales work in London, as do 85 percent of all QCs.

This concentration in London has two main effects. First, most of the elite’s economic weight is
exerted at the heart of the nation, ensuring it strong clout (influence) with Whitehall - regardless
of whether the government is Tory or New Labour. Secondly, it enables the super class to
separate itself from most of the country.

The source text to be translated had been adapted from a broadsheet newspaper article, and
provides a good sample of British cultural references with subject areas ranging from :

 politics (e.g. "House of Lords", "Tory")

 law (e.g. "QCs", "barrister"),
 education (e.g. "public school", "Oxbridge"),
 history (e.g. "Victorian", " Thatcherism ")
 geographical terms (e.g. "the City of London", "Kensington").
 social culture & habits : Clubhouse

71
Coping with culturally specific items

CSI – Source text/speech Translator’s strategy

English –UK Substitution – Naturalisation >MK

Maуor Градоначалник

Dean Декан

Chancellor of the Exchequer Mинистер за финансии

Secretary of state for business, Mинистер за економија

enterprise, and regulatory
reform

Whip Kоординатор на пратеничка група

Clubland боемски клубови (лондонска шема)

(London's social scene)
English – USA MK

Secretary of state Министер за надворешни работи

(државен секретар)

Attorney General Министер за правда

English –UK Substitution –Synonymy >MK

House of Lords Горен дом

Lord Chancellor Лорд-канцелар

Leader of the House of Lords Координатор со Горниот дом

(ја застапува владата во Горниот дом)
Police constable Полицаец
(најнизок чин во полиција)

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 English –UK Conservation: creation of a non-existent cultural
reference (Adding a cultural reference) >MK

Corporation - a group of people Корпорација на Лондонско Сити = градски

elected to govern a city, town, or совет
borough: the City of London
Corporation
Lord Mayor Лорд-мајор = градоначалник , претседател на
општина
Oxbridge Оксфорд и Кембриџ

English –UK Conservation: Repetition & specification by

completion – extra gloss

Tory Тори(евец) – Конзервативец

Kensington Кенсингтон
(a fashionable residential district in
central London)
Harrods Херодс, стоковна куќа

City of London Сити или Лондонско Сити

(the part of London situated within the
ancient boundaries )

Whitehall Вајтхол – Британската влада

(street in Westminster, London -
allusive reference to the British
government)

English –UK Substitution –Limited universalisation >MK

QC (Queen’s Counsel) Крунски (кралски) адвокат

- a senior barrister appointed on the
recommendation of the Lord Chancellor

magistrate Судија-поротник
(во општински кривичен суд - за ситни
прекршоци)
solicitor правен застапник

barrister парничар (адвокат)

Inns of Court (each of the four legal Адвокатска комора

professional associations for barristers in
England and Wales)

73
Consideration of clients’ source-culture knowledge

Many transferred items seem problematic because their relatively exotic nature could give
them undue communicative weight in the TL.

For example, in the source text the item "barristers" appears in a sentence which provides an
example of the high number of top professionals working in London:

"For instance, half to two thirds of all solicitors and barristers in England and Wales work in
London [...]".

In the source text, this sentence primarily serves illustrative purposes.

Any translation focusing a client’s attention on the foreign concept of barrister would
therefore seem inappropriate.

Lack of source-culture knowledge

Indeed, as Viaggio points out with reference to translation students, "the institution cannot
hope to ‘teach’ all the knowledge of the world" (1992: 310).

We should aim to equip students with the skills needed to identify relevant reference sources
about their own culture (and foreign one) to exploit them adequately for communication in the
foreign language.

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APPENDIX – further reading

Innocent gestures can translate poorly

- traveler warns a cultural minefield awaits the untutored globe-trotter

By William Ecenbarger
Special to The Los Angeles Times April 17, 2008

In Sydney, Australia, I simply hailed a taxi, opened the door and jumped in the back seat. The driver
narrowed his eyes. "Where to, mate?" he asked in a voice that could chill a refrigerator.

In Marrakech, Morocco, I crossed my legs during an interview with a government official.

Immediately, a hush fell over the room.

In a restaurant in Mumbai, India, all I did was reach for the naan (flatbread). A diner at the next
table shot me a look that stuck 2 inches out my back.

It took years before I realized what I'd done. It turns out that in each case I had, unwittingly,
committed a faux pas. To varying degrees, I had offended my hosts. My only comfort is my
ignorance. I take solace in Oscar Wilde's observation that a gentleman is someone who never gives
offense -- unintentionally.

And after nearly 25 years of travel on six continents, I have learned the hard way that getting
through customs is a lot more difficult than just filling out a declaration form. It means navigating a
series of cultural booby traps. It means understanding that although people everywhere are the
same biologically, they can be worlds apart in their habits and traditions.

Here's my advice for anyone visiting another country: Eat, drink -- and be wary.

My Australian taxi driver was offended because I sat in the back seat rather than up front next to
him. His attitude is not uncommon, according to "Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands," a book on business
behavior, and stems from Australians' disdain of class distinctions.

My interview with the Moroccan bureaucrat was cut short because in crossing my legs I had
showed him the sole of one of my shoes, a grave affront to Muslims, who see the foot as unclean.

Reaching for the bread in Mumbai? There's nothing wrong with this per se, but I did it with my left
hand. Indians eat with their hands, in particular their right; their left hands are reserved for other
matters, including after-toilet cleansing, and are therefore unacceptable for use at the dining table.

When I curled my thumb and index finger into a circle and pointed the other three fingers upward,
my intention was to tell the Brazilian hotel clerk that everything had been "OK." That would have
worked fine at home in the U.S., but in Brazil it's considered vulgar.

75
The OK sign is not OK in many other places too, including most of the rest of Latin America, plus
Germany, Malta, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey, Russia and the Middle East.

There are many hand gestures that don't travel well.

The "V" for victory sign was immortalized by Winston Churchill in the early, dark days of World
War II, and the proper form is with the palm facing outward. A simple twist of the wrist puts you in
dangerous cultural waters. Throughout much of Her Majesty's realm, the palm-in V sign is the
equivalent of the more infamous middle-digit salute.

During the Middle Ages, it was thought that French soldiers would permanently disarm English
bowmen by cutting off their middle and index fingers, the ones they used to draw the bowstring.
Consequently, the English were said to celebrate battlefield victories and taunt the French by
displaying these two digits intact.

Even though the "thumbs up" (meaning everything is fine) has worldwide acceptance among many
pilots, it can get you in big trouble outside the cockpit.

If you're hitchhiking in Nigeria, for example, your upraised thumb may be interpreted as a take-
this-and-shove-it insult to passing motorists. The rule of thumb there is, don't do it.

Sometimes I think the solution is to tie my hands behind my back, but there are countless other
ways to offend while traveling. The entire area of food and drink is a cultural minefield.

In Asia, for example, you would never leave your chopsticks upright in your food. As Chin-ning Chu,
author of "The Asian Mind Game," advises, "In the ceremony to honor the dead, many Asians offer
food to their deceased ancestors by placing incense in the bowl and burning it as a way to carry the
food to the other world.

"It is a common Asian superstition that to place your chopsticks in such a way is bad luck and
means that this meal is for the dead rather than the living."

When drinking with others in Prague, Czech Republic, before the first sip, the Czechs deem it
important to look your companions in the eye and lightly clink glasses. But less than 300 miles
away in Budapest, Hungary, however, that identical gesture can get you deep in goulash. The clink
is considered unpatriotic because it was once the signal for a coup.

If you show up with flowers at Asian homes, you'll probably be welcomed warmly. Unless, of
course, you take white chrysanthemums (they're used only for funerals) or you offer an odd
number (considered unlucky in some cultures).

Travel won't broaden you unless your mind is broad to begin with. After all, a foreign country isn't
designed to make the traveler comfortable; it's designed to make its own people comfortable.

-Article Ends-

76
 Cultural Translation: Culturally oriented translation theory
Tatjana Panova Ignjatovic

Linguistic peculiarities and cultural differences are the elements that are most difficult to convey
through translation. While local setting can be retained easily enough and methods can be found to explain
cultural references, the way the story is told can present serious challenges to the translator. Hence, it is
extremely important for the translator /interpreter to be keenly aware of the differences existing between
the source culture and the target culture (and the language into which the original text is to be rendered).
Cultural knowledge and cultural differences have been a major focus of translator training and
translation theory. The main concern has traditionally been with words and phrases that are so heavily and
exclusively grounded in one culture that they are almost impossible to translate into the terms – verbal or
otherwise – of another. Long debate have been held over when to paraphrase, when to use the nearest local
equivalent, when to coin a new word by translating literally, and when to transcribe. All these
“untranslatable” cultural-bound words and phrases continued to fascinate translators and translation
theorists.
So, the lecture will mainly focus on the theories regarding cultural translation and on translating methods and
strategies for dealing with the cultural gaps.

As the cultures come together under the global communication umbrella, the words ‘culture’ and
‘translation’ are being increasingly linked. Questions regarding whether or not translations can account for
culture or to what extent culture is relevant are very much at the centre of the debate. The two extreme views
are that either everything can be translated without loss or that nothing can be translated without loss, as in
the Italian expression traduttore /traditore / ‘translator/traitor’. These viewpoints are, in fact, both correct,
and can be sensibly discussed.

Cultural approaches to translation

The expansion of translation research in the 1960s and 1970s coincides with an increased awareness
that it represents an emerging academic discipline. Early theorists like J.C. Catfrod (A Linguistic Theory of
Translation, 1965) feel that translation studies do not deserve the institutional autonomy of linguistics
because they are a site not of theorizing about language but of applying linguistic theories (Venuti, 2004:150).
It was E. A. Nida who first called his theoretical work a “science” of translation, giving the topic a scholarly
coherence and legitimacy that it had thus far lacked (Venuti, 2004:150).

Georges Mounin (1963) Les problemes theoriques de la traduction

The first theory developed in this field was introduced by Mounin in 1963 who underlined the importance of
the signification of a lexical item claiming that only if this notion is considered will the translated item fulfill
its function correctly. The problem with this theory is that all the cultural elements do not involve just the
items, what a translator should do in the case of cultural implications which are implied in the background
knowledge of SL readers?

Eugene A. Nida (1964) “The Principles of Correspondence”

The notion of culture is essential to considering the implications for translation and, despite the differences in
opinion as to whether language is part of culture or not, the two notions of culture and language appear to be

77
inseparable. In 1964, Nida discussed the problems of correspondence in translation, conferred equal
importance to both linguistic and cultural differences between the SL and the TL and concluded that
differences between cultures may cause more severe complications for the translator than do differences in
language structure. It is further explained that parallels in culture often provide a common understanding
despite significant formal shifts in the translation. According to him cultural implications for translation are
thus of significant importance as well as lexical concerns.

Nida's definitions of formal and dynamic equivalence in 1964 consider cultural implications for translation.
Formal equivalence ‘focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content’. He calls this type of
translation a "gloss translation" 31, which aims to allow the reader to understand as much of the SL context as
possible (Bassnett, 2002:33). Dynamic equivalence (later replaced by the term ‘functional’ equivalence) is
based on the principle of equivalent effect, i.e. the relationship between receivers and the SL message
(Bassnett, 2002:33).
Therefore, according to him, a gloss translation mostly typifies formal equivalence where form and content
are reproduced as faithfully as possible and the TL reader is able to "understand as much as he can of the
customs, manner of thought, and means of expression" of the SL context. Nida’s theory emphasizes not formal
correspondence. The surface manifestation does not really matter to Nida; changes in the text, the words, the
metaphors are allowed as along as the target language text functions in the same manner as the source text
(Gentzler, 1993:54).

Itamar Even-Zohar (1978) & Gideon Toury (1980)

It can be said that the first concept in cultural translation studies was cultural turn that in 1978 was presaged
by the work on Polysystems and translation norms by Even-Zohar and in 1980 by Toury.
They dismiss the linguistic kinds of theories of translation and refer to them as having moved from word to
text as a unit but not beyond. They themselves go beyond language and focus on the interaction between
translation and culture, on the way culture impacts and constraints translation and on the larger issues of
context, history and convention.

The ‘polysystem’ paradigm

The idea that translation should be viewed as one specific instance of the more general phenomenon of inter-
systemic transfer was developed by the ‘polysystem’ paradigm (Even Zohar 1978a, 1978b; Toury 1980,
1986), which sought a general model to understand, analyse and describe the functioning and evolution of
literary systems.
Basically, this theory provided a new insight into translation, focusing on the translated text as an entity that
exists within the target polysystem in its own right. (Even-Zohar, Itamar, 1990: 1-6)
Even-Zohar’s and Toury’s system theory work has helped translation studies break down certain conceptual
barriers and find a method for better describing translations (Gentzler, 1993:138).

Translation is culture-dependent and therefore relative. Different cultures delineate and organize the field of
translation in different ways. Norms are among prime instruments that cultures use to define and delimit the
field of translation, because they mark the boundary between what is accepted as legitimate (or ‘proper’)
translation and what is not.
Where does all this leave equivalence? In the traditional approach, equivalence defined translation. Only a
target text which possessed a sufficient amount of equivalence, of the right kind, could be a translation.

31
A gloss (from Koine Greek γλώσσα glossa, meaning 'tongue') is a note made in the margins or between the
lines of a book, in which the meaning of the text in its original language is explained, sometimes in another
language. As such, glosses can vary in thoroughness and complexity, from simple marginal notations of words
one reader found difficult or obscure, to entire interlinear translations of the original text and cross
references to similar passages.

78
The literature of equivalence formulates linguistic and textual models and often prescribes a specific
translation practice (pragmatic, functional, communicative). The target orientation, in contrast, focuses on
actual translations and submits them to detailed description and explanation (Venuti, 2004: 149-150).

Polysystems and descriptive translation studies have been the first group of scholars to begin to move the
cultural study of translation. They explored the cultural systems that controlled translation and their impact
on the norms and practices of actual translation work. One of the main assumptions was, and remains today,
that translation is always controlled by the target culture; rather than arguing over the correct type of
equivalence to strive for and how to achieve it, they insisted that the belief structure, value systems, literary
and linguistic conventions, moral norms, and political expediencies of the target culture always shape the
translations in powerful ways, in the process shaping translators’ notions of “equivalence” as well. This
“relativistic” view is typical of the cultural turn translation studies has taken over the past three decades or
so: away from universal forms and norms to culturally contingent ones; away from prescriptions designed to
control translators, to descriptions of the ways in which target cultures control specific ones (Robinson,
2003:195-196).

Cultural Turn32

Therefore, the move from translation as a text to translation as culture and politics is what they call a Cultural
Turn in translation studies and became the ground for a metaphor adopted by Bassnett and Lefevere in 1990.
In fact Cultural Turn is the metaphor adopted by Cultural Studies oriented translation theories to refer to the
analysis of translation in its cultural, political, and ideological context.
Since 1990, the turn has extended to incorporate a whole range of approaches from cultural studies and is a
true indicator of the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary translation studies. As the result of this so
called Cultural Turn, cultural studies has taken an increasingly keen interest in translation.

Interdisciplinary approach

One consequence of this has been bringing together scholars from different disciplines. It is here important to
mention that these cultural theorists have kept their own ideology and agendas that drive their own criticism.
These cultural approaches have widened the horizons of translation studies with new insights, but at the
same there has been a strong element of conflict among them. It is good to mention that the existence of such
differences of perspectives is inevitable.

Hans J. Vermeer

In the mid-1980s Vermeer introduced one of the most influential theories within the realm of Translation
Studies: the skopos theory33 . It is entered into translation theory as a technical term for the purpose of
translation and of action of translating.
In his worthwhile article entitled “Skopos and Commission in Translational Action”, written in 1989, Vermeer
sees translation primarily as a type of action. Taking into account the fact that translation is a cultural
interaction, Vermeer’s approach can be defined in a broader sense: Translation is a multicultural event.

The Skopos theory focuses above all on the purpose of translation, which determines the translation method
and strategies that are to be employed in order to produce a functionally adequate result.
The result is TT, which Vermeer calls translatum. Therefore, knowing why SL is to be translated and what the
function of TT will be are crucial for the translator.

32
The ‘cultural turn’ in translation studies is a term coined by Mary Snell-Hornby and taken up by Bassnett and
Lefevere in their 1990 collection of essays to describe the major shift in emphasis from formalism to broader issues
of context, history and convention. They argued that translations should always be considered in relation to the
cultural environment of both the source text and the target text.
33
derived from the Greek word “ο σκοπός” for ‘aim’ or ‘purpose’.
79
 Katharina Reiss & Hans Vermeer

In 1984, K. Reiss and Vermeer in their book ‘Groundwork for a General Theory of Translation’ concentrated
on the basic underlying ‘rules’ of this theory which involve:
1. A translatum (or TT) is determined by its skopos,
2. A TT is an offer of information in a target culture and TL considering an offer of information in a source
culture and SL.
This relates the ST and TT to their function in their respective linguistic and cultural context. The translator is
once again the key player in the process of intercultural communication and production of
the translatum because of the purpose of the translation. (Munday,2001:73).

Peter Newmark

In 1988 Newmark defined culture as "the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community
that uses a particular language as its means of expression", thus acknowledging that each language group has
its own culturally specific features.
He also introduced ‘Cultural word’ which the readership is unlikely to understand and the translation
strategies for this kind of concept depend on the particular text-type, requirements of the readership and
client and importance of the cultural word in the text.

Peter Newmark also categorized the cultural words as follows:

1) Ecology: flora, fauna, hills, winds, plains
2) Material Culture: food, clothes, houses and towns, transport
3) Social Culture: work and leisure
4) Organizations, Customs, Activities, Procedures
Concepts:
• Political and administrative
• Religious
• artistic
5) Gestures and Habits (Newmark, 95)

He introduced contextual factors for translation process which include:

1- Purpose of text
2- Motivation and cultural, technical and linguistic level of readership
3- Importance of referent in SL text
4- Setting (does recognized translation exist?)
5- Recency of word/referent
6- Future of referent. (Newmark,103)

He further clearly stated that operationally he does not regard language as a component or feature of culture
in direct opposition to the view taken by Vermeer who stated that "language is part of a culture" (1989:222).
According to Newmark, Vermeer's stance would imply the impossibility to translate whereas for the latter,
translating the source language (SL) into a suitable form of TL is part of the translator's role in transcultural
communication.

Translating cultural words and notions

Language and culture may thus be seen as being closely related and both aspects must be considered for
translation. Nord (1991) even uses the term linguaculture, in order to show the tight connection between
these concepts. When considering the translation of cultural words and notions, Newmark proposed two
opposing methods: transference and componential analysis. According to him transference gives "local
colour," keeping cultural names and concepts.

80
Although placing the emphasis on culture, meaningful to initiated readers, he claimed this method may cause
problems for the general readership and limit the comprehension of certain aspects. The importance of the
translation process in communication led Newmark to propose componential analysis which he described as
being "the most accurate translation procedure, which excludes the culture and highlights the message".

Newmark also stated the relevance of componential analysis in translation as a flexible but orderly method of
bridging the numerous lexical gaps, both linguistic and cultural, between one language and another:

Translation procedures

Peter Newmark, proposes different translation procedures (1988:82-91):

- Transference, which is the process of transferring a source language word to a target language text. Harvey
(2000:5) called it transcription.
- Naturalization, technique which consists of adapting the source language word first to the normal
pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the target language.
- Cultural equivalent, i.e. replacing a cultural word in the source culture with a target language one.
- Functional equivalent, requiring the use of a culture-neutral word.
- Descriptive equivalent, which supposes that the meaning of the culture-bound term is explained in several
words.
- Componential analysis: “comparing a source language word with a target language word which has a similar
meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then their
differing sense components” (1988:114).
- Synonymy provides a near target language equivalent.
- Through-translation, implying literal translation of common collocations, names of organizations and
components of compounds. It is also called calque or loan translation.
- Shifts or transpositions, technique which involves a change in the grammar, for instance the change from
singular to plural or the change of a source language noun group to a target language noun etc.
- Modulation, which occurs when the translator transmits the source text message in the target text in
conformity with the current norms of the target language.
- Compensation, a technique which is used when confronting a loss of meaning, sound effect, pragmatic effect
or metaphor in one part of a sentence. The word or concept is compensated in another part.
- Paraphrase: the meaning of the culture-bound term is explained.
- Couplets occur when the translator combines two different procedures.
- Notes, which are additional information in a translation. They may appear in the form of footnotes. Some
theorists consider that too many footnotes in a translation are inappropriate with regard to appearance, but
they can explain for the target audience many of the source text contents.

Translation as ideology

In the late 1980s and 1990s several new trends in culturally oriented translation theory have expanded upon
and to some extent displaced descriptive translation studies. In particular, feminist and postcolonial
approaches to translation have had a major impact on the field.
Jeremy Munday, in Introducing Translation Studies (2001:127-141), presents three areas where cultural
studies have influenced translation studies in the 1990’s:
 translation as rewriting (development of systems theory),

81
  translation as gender
 translation as postcolonialism.

Postcolonialism

In 1993, the Bengali critic and translator Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak was the one who introduced
postcolonialism. Post-colonialism is one of the most thriving points of contact between Cultural Studies and
Translation Studies. It can be defined as a broad cultural approach to the study of power relations between
different groups, cultures or peoples in which language, literature and translation may play a role.
Spivak’s work is indicative of how cultural studies and especially post-colonialism has over the past decades
focused on issues of translation, the translational and colonization. The linking of colonization and translation
is accompanied by the argument that translation has played an active role in the colonization process and in
disseminating an ideologically motivated image of colonized people. The metaphor has been used of the
colony as an imitative and inferior translational copy whose suppressed identity has been overwritten by the
colonizer.

Sherry Simon (1996) Gender in translation: Cultural identity and the politics of transmission

In 1996, Simon mentioned that cultural studies brings to translation an understanding of the complexities
of gender and culture and it allows us to situate linguistic transfer. Sherry Simon thus links gender and
cultural studies to postcolonialism, following Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. She sees a language of sexism in
translation studies, with its image of dominance, fidelity, faithfulness and betrayal and how the translations
are affected by the women’s ideologies.

According to her feminist translators openly advocate and implement strategies (linguistic or otherwise) to
foreground the feminist in the translated text. It may seem worthy to mention that the opposite of translation
project occurs when gender-marked works are translated in such a way that their distinctive characteristics
are affected.

Both gender studies and postcolonial theory focus on questions of domination, submission and resistance.
While postcolonial approaches to translation have tended to analyse the power structures controlling
translation and call for more resistance to those structures, feminist approaches have been more oriented
towards resistance than to analysis (Robinson, 2003:198).

In 1992, Lawrence Venuti mentioned the effective powers controlling translation. He believed that in addition
to governments and other politically motivated institutions which may decide to censor or promote certain
works, there are groups and social institutions which would include various players in the publication as a
whole. These are the publishers and editors who choose the works and commission the translations, pay the
translators and often dictate the translation method. They also include the literary agents, marketing and
sales teams and reviewers. Each of theses players has a particular position and role within the dominant
cultural and political agenda of their time and place. Power play is an important theme for cultural
commentators and translation scholars. In both theory and practice of translation, power resides in the
deployment of language as an ideological weapon for excluding or including a reader, a value system, a set of
beliefs, or even an entire culture. He noted that translation studies needs to take into account the value-
driven nature of the sociocultural framework.

Mona Baker, In Other Words, 1992

In 1992, Mona Baker (UK) stated that SL word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target
culture. It can be abstract or concrete. It may be a religious belief, a social custom or even a type of food.
In her book, In Other Words, she argued about the common non-equivalents to which a translator comes
across while translating from SL into TL, while both languages have their distinguished specific culture.

82
She put them in the following order:
a) Culture specific concepts
b) The SL concept which is not lexicalized in TL
c) The SL word which is semantically complex
d) The source and target languages make different distinction in meaning
e) The TL lacks a superordinate
f) The TL lacks a specific term (hyponym)
g) Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective
h) Differences in expressive meaning
i) Differences in form
j) Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms
k) The use of loan words in the source text

Mona Baker also believed that it is necessary for translator to have knowledge about semantics and lexical
sets. Because in this case:
- S/he would appreciate the “value” of the word in a given system knowledge and the difference of structures
in SL and TL. This allows the translator to assess the value of a given item in a lexical set.
-S/he can develop strategies for dealing with non-equivalence semantic field. These techniques are arranged
hierarchically from general (superordinate) to specific (hyponym).

Coulthard, 1992

In 1992, Coulthard highlighted the importance of defining the ideal reader for whom the author attributes
knowledge of certain facts, memory of certain experiences, plus certain opinions, preferences and prejudices
and a certain level of linguistic competence. When considering such aspects, the extent to which the author
may be influenced by such notions which depend on his own sense of belonging to a specific socio-cultural
group should not be forgotten.

Coulthard stated that once the ideal ST readership has been determined, considerations must be made
concerning the TT. He said that the translator's first and major difficulty is the construction of a new ideal
reader who, even if he has the same academic, professional and intellectual level as the original reader, will
have significantly different textual expectations and cultural knowledge.

Applied to the criteria used to determine the ideal ST reader it may be noted that few conditions are
successfully met by the potential ideal TT reader. Indeed, the historical and cultural facts are unlikely to be
known in detail along with the specific cultural situations described.
Furthermore, despite considering the level of linguistic competence to be roughly equal for the ST and TT
reader, certain differences may possibly be noted in response to the use of culturally specific lexis which must
be considered when translating.

Although certain opinions, preferences and prejudices may be instinctively transposed by the TT reader who
may link them to his own experience, it must be remembered that these do not match the social situation
experience of the ST reader. Therefore, Coulthard mainly stated that the core social and cultural aspects
remain problematic when considering the cultural implications for translation.

Lawrence Venuti, 1995

Like the other cultural theorists, the American translation scholar Lawrence Venuti in 1995 insisted that the
scope of translation studies needs to be broadened to take the account of the value-driven nature of
sociocultural framework. He used the term invisibility to describe the translator situation and activity in
Anglo-American culture.

83
He said that this invisibility is produced by:
1- The way the translators themselves tend to translate fluently into English, to produce an idiomatic and
readable TT, thus creating illusion of transparency.
2- The way the translated texts are typically read in the target culture:

“A translated text, whether prose or poetry or non-fiction, is judged acceptable by most publishers, reviewers
and readers when it reads fluently, when the absence of any linguistic or stylistic peculiarities makes it seem
transparent, giving the appearance that it reflects the foreign writer’s personality or intention or the essential
meaning the foreign text - the appearance, in other words, that the translation is not in fact a translation, but
the original.”(Venuti, 1995)

Venuti discussed invisibility hand in hand with two types of translating strategies: domestication
and foreignization. He considered domestication as dominating Anglo-American (TL) translation culture.
Postcolonialists were alert to the cultural effects of the differential in power relation between colony and ex-
colony, so Venuti bemoaned the phenomenon of domestication since it involves reduction of the foreign text
to the target language cultural values.

Domestication- This entails translating in a transparent, fluent, invisible style in order to minimize the
foreignness of the TT. Venuti believed that a translator should leave the reader in peace, as much as possible,
and he should move the author toward him.

Foregnization, on the other hand, entails choosing a foreign text and developing a translation method along
lines which excluded by dominant cultural values in target language. Venuti considers the foreignizing
method to be an ethno deviant pressure on target language cultural values to register the linguistic and
cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad.
According to him it is highly desirable in an effort to restrain the ethnocentric violence -translation.
The foreignizing method of translating, a strategy Venuti also termed ‘resistancy’ , is a non-fluent or
estranging translation style (designed to make visible the persistence of translator) by highlighting the
foreign identity of ST and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target culture. (Venuti,
2000:334)

In his later book ‘The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference’, Venuti insisted on foreignizing
or, as he also called it, “minoritizing” translation, to cultivate a varied and heterogeneous discourse. As far as
language is concerned, the minoritizing or foriegnizing method of Venuti’s translation comes through in the
deliberate inclusion of foreignizing elements in a bid to make the translator visible and to make the reader
realize that he is reading a translation of the work from a foreign culture. Foreignization is closely adherent to
the ST structure and syntax. Venuti also said that the terms may change meaning across time and location.

In order to support his arguments regarding the notion of minorizing translation along with resisting
translation, Venuti gives a coherent example, namely, his own translation of the 19th century Italian writer
Tarchetti’s novel Fosca. Venuti’s foreignizing strategy includes using archaic words and mixing Britishisms
with the contemporary American language. In addition to that, by employing paratextual materials (i.e. an
introduction), Venuti aimed at showing right from the start what his intention was to the reader/s.

The prevailing opinion regarding the fluency in a translated work has been one of the most fundamental
aspects of Venuti’s approach to translation: “The more fluent the translation, the more invisible the
translator, and, presumably, the more visible the writer or meaning of the foreign text” (1994: 16). Venuti’s
statement also reflects how the scholar himself puts emphasis on the significance of the foreign text; thereby
he, in the words of Susan Bassnett, “calls for translator-centred translation, insisting that the translator
should inscribe him/herself visibly into the text.” (1998: 25).

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 Theo Hermans, Translations in Systems, 1999

In 1999 Hermans stated that Culture refers to all socially conditioned aspects of human life. According to him,
translation can and should be recognized as a social phenomenon, a cultural practice. He said that we bring to
translation both cognitive and normative expectations, which are continually being negotiated, confirmed,
adjusted, and modified by practicing translators and by all who deal with translation.
These expectations result from the communication within the translation system, for instance, between
actual translations and statements about translation, and between the translation system and other social
systems.

Hervey and Higgins

Regarding cultural translation Hervey and Higgins believed in cultural translation rather than literal one.
According to them accepting literal translation means that there is no cultural translation operation. But
obviously there are some obstacles bigger than linguistic ones. They are cultural obstacles and here a
transposition in culture is needed. (Hervey & Higgins, 1986:29).

According to Hervey & Higgins cultural transposition has a scale of degrees which are toward the choice of
features indigenous to target language and culture, rather than features which are rooted in source culture.
The result here is foreign features reduced in target text and it is to some extent naturalized. The scale is from
an extreme which is mostly based on source culture (exoticism) to the other extreme which is mostly based
on target culture (cultural transplantation):

Exoticism< Calque< Cultural Borrowing< Communicative Translation< cultural transplantation

1) Exoticism
The degree of adaptation is very low here. The translation carries the cultural features and grammar of SL to
TL. It is very close to transference.
2) Calque
Calque includes TL words but in SL structure therefore while it is unidiomatic to target reader but it is
familiar to a large extent.
3) Cultural Borrowing
It is to transfer the ST expression verbatim into the TT. No adaptation of SL expression into TL forms. After a
time they usually become a standard in TL terms. Cultural borrowing is very frequent in history, legal, social,
political texts; for example, “La langue” and “La parole” in linguistics.
4) Communicative Translation
Communicative translation is usually adopted for culture specific clichés such as idioms, proverbs, fixed
expressions, etc. In such cases the translator substitutes SL word with an existing concept in target culture. In
cultural substitution the propositional meaning is not the same but it has similar impact on target reader. The
literal translation here may sound comic. The degree of using this strategy sometimes depends on the license
which is given to the translator by commissioners and also the purpose of translation.
5) Cultural Transplantation
The whole text is rewritten in target culture. The TL word is not a literal equivalent but has similar cultural
connotations to some extent. It is another type of extreme but toward target culture and the whole concept is
transplanted in TL. A normal translation should avoid both exoticism and cultural transplantation.

Nico Wiersema, 2004

In 2004, Nico Wiersema in his essay “Globalization and Translation” stated that globalization is linked to
English being a lingua franca; the language is said to be used at conferences (interpreting) and seen as the
main language in the new technologies. The use of English as a global language is an important trend in world
communication.

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Globalisation is also linked to the field of Translation Studies. Furthermore, globalisation is placed in the
context of changes in economics, science, technology, and society. Globalisation and technology are very
helpful to translators in that translators have more access to online information, such as dictionaries of
lesser-known languages. According to Wiersema such comments can be extended to the readers of
translations. Should the target text be challenging for a reader, the internet can help him understand foreign
elements in the text. Thus the text can be written in a more foreignising / exoticising manner.

He mentioned a relatively new trend wherein culturally bound elements (some, one might say,
untranslatable), are not translated. He believed that this trend contributes to learning and understanding
foreign cultures. Context explains culture, and adopting (not necessarily adapting) a selection of words
enriches the target text, makes it more exotic and thus more interesting for those who want to learn more
about the culture in question. Eventually, these new words may find their way into target language
dictionaries. Translators will then have contributed to enriching their own languages with loan words from
the source language (esp. English).

According to him, the translator has three options for the translation of cultural elements:
1- Adopting the foreign word without any explanation.
2- Adopting the foreign word with extensive explanations.
3- Rewriting the text to make it more comprehensible to the target-language audience.

According to Nico Wiersema, cultures are getting closer and closer and this is something that he believed
translators need to take into account. In the end it all depends on what the translator, or more often, the
publisher wants to achieve with a certain translation.
In his opinion by entering SL cultural elements:
a- The text will be read more fluently (no stops)
b- The text remains more exotic, more foreign
c- The translator is closer to the source culture
d- The reader of the target texts gets a more genuine image of the source culture.

Culturally specific items are linguistically represented items that pose a problem in translation because
they do not exist in the target culture or have a different value as a result of factors such as ideology, usage,
frequency, and so on (Aixelá,1996: 57).

Javier Franco Aixelá breaks down the strategies available for translating these items into the two main
categories of conservation and substitution, with sub-classifications on a scale from a lesser to a greater
degree of intercultural manipulation.

• Conservation:
 Repetition. Keep as much as possible of the original reference.
 Orthographic adaptation (usually used when the original word is in a different alphabet).
 Linguistic (non-cultural) translation. Use a denotatively very close reference, but one that still
belongs to the culture of the source text.
 Extra-textual gloss.
 Intra-textual gloss.

• Substitution:

 Synonymy (usually used on stylistic grounds to avoid repetition).

 Limited universalisation, i.e., a less specific reference.
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  Absolute universalisation, i.e., a neutral reference.
 Naturalisation.
 Deletion (usually for reasons of perceived irrelevance or unacceptability).
 Autonomous creation of a non-existent cultural reference.

When a culture specific item is left in its untranslated state in isolation, it operates as a “space of
translation”—a palpable written trace of the foreign for the reader and an indicator that the text was written
elsewhere, where the language and mores are different. Even though the word is invariably explained, its
distinctness remains intact and can be made even more conspicuous by being italicised.

And according to Aixelá, the resulting increased exoticism or archaism of the word reminds us of one of the
paradoxes of translation and one of the great pitfalls of the traditional notion of equivalence: that something
absolutely identical can be absolutely different in its collective reception (61).

The choice of strategy is guided by many different factors. In addition to variables beyond the text, such as the
publisher’s aims or readers’ expectations, and variables surrounding the text, such as previous translations of
the same genre, author or text, are various factors within the text, including the type and breadth of the
intercultural gap, the function of the item in the source text and issues of coherence within the target text. The
crucial factor, however, according to Aixelá, in the degree of manipulation of culturally specific items is the
extent to which the receiving pole decides to accept the restrictions posed by the source text (76-77).

Concluding remarks

Cultural knowledge and differences have represented a major focus of translation scholars. For a very long
time, translation has been associated only with language. Different translation scholars offer various ways in
which translation problems could be solved so that the receiving audience may perceive the culture and the
otherness of another world. Finally, to a certain degree and losing a part of the otherness of the source
culture, culture can be translated by using some translation methods like the so-called equivalence, according
to the functionalist theories.
The definitions on cultural translation appearing in the 1960s-1970s cover in general the same guidelines.
First, there is a change of expression from one language to another one. Second, most of the theorists are for
the primacy of rendering the message and its meaning in the target culture. Third, the translator is obliged to
find the closest equivalent in the target language.

If we think of Cicero’s words, in De optimo genere oratorum, who makes the firsts remarks on translation, he
distinguishes two ways of translating:
 ut interpretes (in other words, literal translation)
 ut orator, a kind of translation that he prefers, being a form of creation.

In this context, the translator is associated to a writer.

Micaela Munoz-Calvo, from the University of Zaraoza, Spain, affirms that translators need “cultural literacy,
communicative language competences and cross-cultural competencies as well” (2010:2-3), because they
must interpret “socio-cultural meaning in cross-cultural encounters, contributing to the transfer of
knowledge across cultures and to cultural development as well” (ibidem).

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Obviously, the so-called ’Holy Grail‘(Santoyo, 2010:14) of translation is the creation of an equivalent text.
That is why the concept of equivalence in terms of translating culture, i.e. what differentiates and identifies
us, becomes a crucial problem.

There are thousands of culture-bound terms, deeply rooted in culture, which the translator has to deal with. 34
That is why there have been many voices which claimed either for the possibility or for the impossibility of
translation. Claims on either side have always existed. The myth of the Tower of Babel has been interpreted
as either the beginning of translation or as a warning that translation is doomed to failure, according to the
radical positions of the Church that the Word of God should be read only in the original.

Any remark on the translation of cultural elements must take into account the fact that translation has always
offered many possibilities of confronting different cultural realities. Hence, questions about the areas of
cultural production, the processes of cultural transfer, the negotiation of differences, but also questions about
untranslatability, incompatibility, in order to arrive to the well-known problem of traduttore-traditore.

According to the great amount of translation strategies and methods offered by scholars, the translation of
culture is, to a certain degree of acceptability, possible. It is the case of functionalist theories, for example,
because from a pure linguistic position, not only the translation of culture but even the translation of each
word becomes impossible. Finally, translation is part of culture, or it is culture. And its very existence proves
the possibility of entering a different world, a different vision and community through a translator’s genuine
work.

REFERENCES

Aixelá, Javier Franco (1996). “Culture-specific Items in Translation,” in Translation, Power,Subversion. Eds.
Alvarez Rodríguez, Román and M. Carmen Africa Vidal. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 52-78.

Baker, Mona (ed.) (1998). Routledge Enciclopedia to Translation Studies

Bassnett, Susan and Lefevere, André (1990). Translation, History, and Culture. London: Pinter Publishers.

Bassnett, Susan (2002). Translation Studies (third edition). London &New York: Routledge

Even-Zohar, Itamar (1990). "Introduction to Polysystem Studies", Poetics Today 11:1 (1990), pp. 1-6.

Gentzler, Edwin. (1993) Contemporary Translation Theories. London &New York: Routledge

Hervey, S., & Higgins, I. (1992). Thinking Translation. London & New York: Routledge.

Katan, David (1999.) Translating Cultures. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing

34
The Eskimos have seven different expressions / lexicons for the word – snow. Can you differentiate the following:
‘wet snow’, ‘packed snow’, ‘powder snow’, ‘fine snow’, ‘dry snow’, soft snow’? The Marshalese Islanders do not
have to worry about ‘snow’, but they have sixty terms for parts of the coconut and coconut tree. The north-Indians
have many words like, roti, chapati, puri, parotha, tanduri, naan, phulka, kachauri, etc. These words do not have an
English parallel. The word that comes closest is “Bread”, but again this is another variety, generally from the bakery
- not homemade.
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Munday, Jeremy (2001). Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications. London&New York:
Routledge and Taylor &Francis Group

Muñoz-Calvo, M., & Buesa-Gomez, C. (Eds.) (2010). Translation and cultural identity: Selected essays on
translation and cross-cultural communication. London: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Newmark, Peter (1988). A textbook of translation. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall

Robinson, Douglas (2003). Becoming a translator: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation,
Routledge

Santoyo J.-C. (2010). “Translation and cultural identity: Competence and performance of the
author-translator”, in M. Muñoz-Calvo & C. Buesa-Gomez (Eds.), Translation and cultural
identity: Selected essays on translation and cross-cultural communication (pp. 13-32).
London: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Venuti, Lawrence (ed.) (2004). The Translation Studies Reader (2nd ed.). London &New York: Routledge

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