Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- 1 Approaching Intercultural Communication
- 2 The Genealogy of Intercultural Communication
- 3 Language and Culture
- 4 Nation and Culture
- 5 Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
- 6 Intercultural Communication in a Transnational World
- 7 Intercultural Communication at Work
- 8 Intercultural Communication for Sale
- 9 Intercultural Romance
- 10 Intercultural Communication in Education
- 11 Becoming an Intercultural Mediator
- References
- Index
4 - Nation and Culture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 December 2017
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- 1 Approaching Intercultural Communication
- 2 The Genealogy of Intercultural Communication
- 3 Language and Culture
- 4 Nation and Culture
- 5 Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
- 6 Intercultural Communication in a Transnational World
- 7 Intercultural Communication at Work
- 8 Intercultural Communication for Sale
- 9 Intercultural Romance
- 10 Intercultural Communication in Education
- 11 Becoming an Intercultural Mediator
- References
- Index
Summary
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
This chapter will enable you to:
• Understand the central role played by nationalism in intercultural communication as well as in the literature about intercultural communication, and to engage critically with methodological nationalism in intercultural communication.
• Familiarise yourself with the concept of ‘banal nationalism’ and use it to engage critically with the concepts of ‘cultural values’ and ‘cultural scripts’ and the intercultural communication advice literature.
STEREOTYPES
As most readers will be aware, intercultural communication advice is a well-established genre that fills shelves and sections in bookshops and your local library, and has, of course, an established presence on the Internet and in training workshops. On my bookshelf, for instance, I have titles such as Beyond Chocolate: Understanding Swiss Culture (Oertig-Davidson 2002), Don't They Know it's Friday? Cross-cultural Considerations for Business and Life in the Gulf (J. Williams 1998) and a few Xenophobe's Guides (Bilton 1999; Hunt and Taylor 2004; Yang 1999). These last are part of a ‘series that highlights the unique character and behaviour of nations’. The website lists the available Xenophobe's Guides by nationalities from ‘the Albanians’ to ‘the Welsh’ and in this way is typical of many websites that provide intercultural communication advice and that usually provide intercultural communication advice sorted into national categories. Reading such literature reminds me of those silly national stereotype jokes most of you will also be familiar with. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, I shall start with an example of such a joke; I imagine that most of you will easily be able to add your own favourite (best-loved or best-hated) examples from the genre. I will follow this with two examples which I am quoting from intercultural communication advice.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, an American and a Mexican are on a plane that is crashing because it is too heavy. They all throw their baggage from the plane but it is still too heavy. Realising that this calls for extreme heroism, the Englishman shouts, ‘God save the Queen!’ and jumps out. The Frenchman shouts, ‘Vive la France!’ and jumps out, too. Then the American shouts, ‘Remember the Alamo!’ and chucks out the Mexican.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Intercultural CommunicationA Critical Introduction, pp. 54 - 70Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2017