As defined in the book right away, intercultural communication ethics "protects and promotes the 'good' of a particular culture, understanding culture as the shaping force behind persons and communities" (155). It continues to state that it shapes individuals and communities. Two key concepts that are prevalent are culture sock and the inarticulate.
One important aspect of intercultural communication ethics is culture shock. Culture shock "occurs when we enter a new environment or culture, one in which we encounter the unfamiliar" (157). A popular example would be if a student studies abroad in a different country. Their mentality when seeing a cultural change might be uneasy and difficult to take in at first. Culture shock doesn't just relate to geographical differences. It also can be prevalent in your first day of a new job. It's important to know that willingness learn is key if one were to experience culture shock. We're so comfortable with our routine that if anything varies from it we're experiencing, then we tend to have a want to go back to our comfort zone. How we react from disruptive normative patterns in a positive way is key.
The inarticulates is "when we cannot find words to describe our experiences to others" (157). "The inarticulate of a culture works in the same fashion, permitting us to make sense of the unclear and to challenge the unjust, often without clarity of why such a position is in need of change. There's a unique aspect of the inarticulate where we try to make sense of something we value that others may not be familiar with. An example given in the book is if a first-year student tries to describe his on-campus experience to his family, who have never attended a college or university.
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ReplyDeleteCulture shock is when you enter a unfamiliar setting. I love that you talk about how culture shock isn't always based off of geographical changes and brought up a new job for example. Many jobs culturally operate differently. For example two waitressing jobs can be completely different at different restaurants. Even though it is the same field of work, the culture can be completely different than what you're use to. For example, I've been a waitress at bdubs and at a small daily owned restaurant. I first started working at the family restaurant where we we're trained that eve thing needs to be done right away and the servers do everything from hosting, busting, serving, and prepping. If we were standing because there wasn't anything else to do, we'd get yelled at because there's "always something to do". When I got the job at bdubs, even their rushes were super relaxed. I always walked fast at work because that's what I'm use to but when I was a bdubs my coworkers thought it was weird and told me I can relax some. They thought I needed to relax but I thought they were being lazy from what I was used to.
ReplyDeleteAlso it is easier to understand the norm when you are the only one different going in than it is to understand the only person that is different.