peoples and cultures of europe units of analysis / cultural metaphors

Peoples and Cultures of Europe

units of analysis / cultural metaphors

“units of analysis” may include:

– one person (e.g., Paul Buffalo)

– the family (e.g., Strodtbeck, see later)

– the community– a region – a culture

•“Irish”•“Chinese”•“Mexicans”•“Bedouins”

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/Buffalo/pbwww.html

“units of analysis” may include:

– a nation (“national character studies”)

– the item or action itself (including “processes”)

– a “cultural metaphor”

(analogy, by means of cultural metaphors)

a cultural metaphor(analogy, by means of cultural metaphors)

as a

Unit of Analysis

• an important influence on American

interest in European Spanish

studies was an attempt to trace

Latin American influences back to

Spain

Susan Parman, Europe in the Anthropological Imagination, pp. 11 - 14

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth3635/cetexts.html#AnthropologicalImagination

• an important influence on American

interest in European Spanish

studies was an attempt to trace

Latin American influences back to

Spain

Susan Parman, Europe in the Anthropological Imagination, pp. 11 - 14

“units of analysis” may also include:

– a nation (“national character studies”)

– the item or action itself (including “processes”)

– a “cultural metaphor”

(analogy, by means of cultural metaphors)

Gannon’sEuropean Cultural Metaphors

include

Ch. 17. The Traditional British

House

Ch. 21. The Italian Opera

Ch. 22. Belgian Lace

Ch. 24. The Russian Ballet

Ch. 25. The Spanish Bullfight

Ch. 26. The Portuguese Bullfight

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/index.html#text


Gannon’s

European Cultural Metaphorsinclude

Ch. 6. The Turkish Coffehouse

Ch. 8. The Polish Village Church

Ch. 10. The German Symphony

Ch. 11. The Swedish Stuga

Ch. 12. Irish Conversations

Ch. 14. The Danish Christmas Luncheon

Ch. 15. French Wine . . .

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Ireland.html#title

www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Ireland.html#title

http://www.carn.com/IrishTales.htm

Gannon’s


Ch. 17. The Traditional British House






http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Britain.html#title

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Italy.html#title

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Belgium.html#title

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Russia.html#title

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Spain.html#title

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Portugal.html#title

Cultural Metaphors

• cultural metaphors can be derived for ethnic groups within and across nations

– e.g., Anishinabe (Chippewa; Ojibwa)– e.g., Rom (Gypsies)– e.g., Irish “Travellers”

• sometimes incorrectly called “Gypsies”

– e.g., Kurds (in Turkey)– e.g., Basques

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth3635/cetexts.html#BasqueHistory

Mark KurlanskyThe Basque History of the World.

NY: Penguin Books, 1999.(ISBN: 0140298517)

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth3635/cetexts.html#BasqueHistory

Cultural Metaphors

• unit of analysis is usually the nation

or national culture

• applies to a group, but not to every

individual within it

Cultural Metaphors


or national culture

– because a good amount of evidence

suggests that there are commonalities

across regional, racial, and ethnic groups

within each of them that can be captured

effectively by cultural metaphors

Cultural Metaphors


or national culture

– Understanding Global Cultures contains

28 metaphors

(13 of the 28 are from Europe)

– there are approximately 200 nations in the world • 193 according to The Times World Atlas

(2004)

Cultural Metaphors


or national culture

– Understanding Global Cultures contains

28 metaphors

(13 of the 28 are from Europe)

– REM: there are approximately 200 nations in the world • 193 according to The Times World Atlas

(2004)

Ken Livingston, mayor of London England,

indicated that there were over 300languages spoken in London.

(Following the terrorist attack of July 2005)

Communication

How many languages

are spoken in

St. Paul Minnesota ?

Communication

Culture Counts

and it counts quit a bit

Constructing Cultural Metaphors

• Florence Kluckholn and Fred Strodtbeck

• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede

• Cultural Metaphors include, in addition, the items on p. 11 of Gannon’s book . . .

Cultural Metaphors include . . .

• religion

• early socialization and family structure

• small group behavior

• public behavior

• leisure pursuits and interests


• total Lifestyle

– work / leisure / home and time allocations to each of them

• aural space

– the degree to which members of a society react negatively to high noise levels

• roles and status of different members of a society


• holidays and ceremonies

• greeting behavior

• humor


• language

– oral and written communication


• non-oral communication

– body language

• kinesics (motion)

• proxemics (space)


• sports

– as a reflection of cultural values

• political structure of a society

• the educational system of a society


• traditions and the degree to which the established order is emphasized

• history of a society

– but only as it reflects cultural mind-sets, or the

manner in which its members think, feel, and act

– not a detailed history


• food and eating behavior


• social class structure

• rate of technological and cultural change

• organization of and perspective on work

– such as a society’s commitment to the work ethic, superior-subordinate relationships, and so on

• any other categories that are appropriate

A Four-Stage Model of Cross-Cultural Understanding

I. four-cell typology of process / goal orientation

II. more specificity

III. inclusion of other “etic” of culture-general dimensions along which specific cultures have been shown to vary

IV. cultural metaphors are employed for understanding a culture

they build on the “etic” understanding provided by the approaches used in the first three stages

Fig. 1.1. Process, Goals, and Expression of Emotions (p. 12)

Open Expression of Emotions and Feelings

Degree to which process must be emphasized before goals can be discussed

Lower Higher

Lower

Higher

Emics / Etics

emics– from “phonemics”– viewing a culture from the inside

etics– from “phonetics”– viewing a culture from the outside

more on the “emics” and “etics” later

“Four-Stage Model”

One variable of Gannon’s


is the degree to which process such as

effective communication and getting to

know one another in depth should

precede discussion of specific goals

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/PowerPoint/four-stage_model.ppt



Another variable of Gannon’s

“Four-Stage Model” is the degree to which a

culture fosters and encourages open

emotional expression




Another variable of Gannon’s

“Four-Stage Model” is the degree to

which a culture fosters and encourages

open emotional expression

Fig. 1.1. Process, Goals, and Expression of Emotions (p. 12)

Open Expression of Emotions and Feelings

Degree to which process must be emphasized before goals can be discussed

Lower Higher

Lower England, Ireland, and Scotland

United States and Germany

Higher China, Japan, and India

Mexico, Spain, and Italy

More on the “Four-Stage Model” later, time permitting


Cultural Metaphors

“Metaphors

are not stereotypes” – Martin J. Gannon

Why?

Geert Hofstede(1991)

• IBM study demonstrated that

national culture explained 50% of

the differences in attitudes in IBM’s

53 countries

“Given such studies, it seems that

culture influences between 25%

and 50% of our attitudes, whereas

other aspects of workforce

diversity, such as social class,

ethnicity, race, sex, and age,

account for the remainder of these

attitudinal differences.”

“Frequently, when a foreigner

violates a key cultural value, he or

she is not even aware of the

violation, and no one brings the

matter to his or her attention.”

– once a visitor makes a major mistake it is frequently impossible to rectify it

– and it may well take several months to realize that polite rejections really signify isolation and banishment








includingproxemicskenisics

“Even genuinely

small cultural mistakes can have

enormous consequences.”

“. . . knowing a country’s language,

although clearly helpful, is no

guarantee of understanding its

cultural mindset, and some of the

most difficult problems have been

created by individuals who have a

high level of fluency but a low level of

cultural understanding.”

“Moreover,

members of a culture tend to assume

that highly fluent visitors know the

customs and rules of behavior, and

these visitors are judged severely

when violations occur.”

Cultural Metaphors

• Understanding Global Cultures

describes a method for understanding

easily and quickly the cultural mind-

set of a nation and comparing it to

other nations . . .

Cultural Metaphors

• Understanding Global Cultures

describes a method for understanding

easily and quickly the cultural mind-

set of a nation and comparing it to

other nations . . .

metaphorical analysis

Cultural Metaphors

wherein

the unit of analysis isthe metaphor

Cultural Metaphors

• In essence the cultural metaphor involves identifying some phenomenon, activity, or institution of a nation’s culture that all or most of its members consider to be very important and with which they identify closely– the characteristics of the metaphor then

become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the society

Cultural Metaphors

• each metaphor is a guide or map that helps the foreigner understand quickly what members of a society consider very important

– but it is only a starting point against which we can compare our own experiences and through which we can start to understand the seeming contradictions pervasive in most, if not all, societies

Cultural Metaphors

• Gannon’s book describes

a dominant,

and perhaps the dominant,

metaphor for each society

– but other metaphors may also be

suitable

Gannon’s


Ch. 6. The Turkish Coffehouse

Ch. 8. The Polish Village Church

Ch. 10. The German Symphony

Ch. 11. The Swedish Stuga

Ch. 12. Irish Conversations

Ch. 14. The Danish Christmas Luncheon

Ch. 15. French Wine . . .

Gannon’s


Ch. 17. The Traditional British House








• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede




– note that each society has a dominant

cultural orientation that can be

described in terms of six dimensions

Florence Kluckholn and Fred Strodtbeck

1. “What do members of a society assume about the nature of people, that is, are people good, bad, or a mixture?”

• These kinds of beliefs are sometimes called

“existential postulates”


2. “What do members of a society assume

about the relationship between a person

and nature, that is, should we live in

harmony with it or subjugate it?”

• These kinds of beliefs are sometimes called

“normative postulates”


3. “What do members of a society assume

about the relationship between people,

that is, should a person act in an

individual manner or consider the group

before taking action?”

• individualism vs. collectivism (groupism) in

terms of such issues as making decisions,

conformity, and so forth


4. “What is the primary mode of activity in

a given society, that is, being, or

accepting the status quo, enjoying the

current situation, and going with the

flow of things;

or doing, that is, changing things to

make them better, setting specific

goals and accomplishing them within

specific schedules, and so forth?”


5. “What is the conception of space in a given society,

that is, is it considered private, in that meetings

are held in private, people do not get too close to

one another physically, and so on;

or public, that is, having everyone participate in

meetings and decision making, allowing

emotions to be expressed publicly, and having

people stand in close proximity to one another?”


6. “What is the society’s dominant

temporal orientation”

past

present

and / or future?


• Kluckholn and Strodtbeck note that each society has a dominant cultural orientation that can be described in terms of these six dimensions

• but that other, weaker orientations may also exist simultaneously in its different geographical regions and racial and ethnic groups



• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede



• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede• made many discoveries in how

people learn language

• analyzed the levels of learning

Edward T. Hall

1. “Context,

or the amount of information that must

be explicitly stated if a message or

communication is to be successful”

Edward T. Hall

2. “Space,

or the ways of communicating through

specific handling of personal space”

e.g., North Americans tend to keep more

space between them while communicating

than do South Americans

Edward T. Hall

3. Time, which is either

monochronic

(scheduling and completing one activity at a time)

or polychronic(not distinguishing between activities and completing them simultaneously – “multitasking”)

Edward T. Hall

4. “Information flow,

which is the structure and speed of

messages between individuals and / or

organizations”



• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede

Geert Hofstede

– prominent organizational psychologist

– research is based on a large questionnaire survey of IBM employees and managers working in 53 different countries

– especially significant because the type of organization is held constant

Geert Hofstede

1. Power distance

or the degree to which members of a

society automatically accept a

hierarchical or unequal distribution of

power in organizations and the society

Geert Hofstede

2. Uncertainty avoidance


given society deal with the uncertainty

and risk of everyday life and prefer to

work with long-term acquaintances and

friends rather than with strangers

Geert Hofstede

3. Individualism

or the degree to which an individual perceives him- or her-self to be separate from a group and free from group pressure to conform

Geert Hofstede

4. Masculinity

or the degree to which a society looks

favorably on aggressive and materialistic

behavior

Geert Hofstede

5. Time horizon(short term to long term)


culture are willing to defer present

gratification in order to achieve long-

term goals

criticisms of the “three-dimensional approaches” developed by

Kluckholn and Strodtbeck, Hall, and Hofstende include

– leave out many features of the cultural mind-sets that are activated in daily cultural activities

– neglect the institutions molding these mind-sets

– are instructive, but are “somewhat lifeless and narrow”

– leave out many facets of behavior



• Edward T. Hall

• Geert Hofstede


peoples and cultures of europe units of analysis / cultural metaphors

Documents

unit of analysis slide

cultural metaphor analogy

european spanish studies

irish travellers

spain susan parman

latin american influences

rom gypsies

italian operathe italian