The book defines interpersonal communication as protecting and promoting the 'good' of a particular culture, understanding culture as the shaping force behind persons and communities"(155). Intercultural communication is the differences and similarities of culture and its influence on people across a variety of cultures. The book talks about two main points when dealing with interpersonal communication, and those are culture shock and the inarticulate.
Culture shock is "a feeling of disorientation experienced when encountering communicative events disruptive of ones expected routine"(156). I found this very prevalent in my life when I transferred to the U of M from my old school (UND). With the U being such a big city and much more diverse than rural North Dakota, I found myself experiencing culture shock. It was different than I expected it to be and was a different experience than I had anticipated. When I first came here I did learn a lot more about others culture through meeting people around campus and also learning more about mine as well.
The book also talks about the Inarticulate which is "goods that cannot be defined or pinpointed with precision, but nevertheless shape and nurture a culture's communicative life and practices"(156). With my parents never really leaving my hometown in North Dakota, its hard to describe to them the experience of living in Minneapolis. If they would have lived here for a while or went to school here they could relate a lot more with what my experiences have been. These experiences have shaped me in a way that is essential to my life but hard to explain to others who have not experienced it as well or something similar to it.
I liked your example of small town vs. big city culture comparisons - for I come from a small town myself. I think initially when we think of culture, we tend to analyze the difference between big variables (countries, universities, etc.), when we can analyze smaller variables (families, two towns just miles apart, etc).
ReplyDeleteWhen explaining your experiences within Minneapolis to your parents, do you believe they have some form of culture shock themselves? Or is it easy for them to shake it off since they haven't experienced it first-hand? I know for my parents, they are shocked to hear some of the events that surround me, but don't understand the magnitude of it.
In addition - do you think media helps soften the affect of culture shock considering we receive news from around the world from a push of a button?
I totally agree with you. Intercultural communication ethics helps us protect and promote relationship in particular across a variety of cultures. I guess you would have faced some cultural differences when you came to Minneapolis from your home town. I haven’t been to North Dakota, so I cannot compare the two cities, but I see difference between Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The cultural difference would have created by different weather and people’s personality. Since I’m an international student from Japan, I also confront culture shock everywhere in the United States. It was really interesting to find that I have pretty similar experience with yours. My grandparents also rarely go out from my hometown, so it is hard to explain how I felt when I learn from differences.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, it is true that we learn from people from different culture and they lead us to think about ourselves. We feel comfortable and less stress to stay in one place rather than leaving the familiar place. However, as the textbook said, “Interpersonal communication ethics incorporates learning about different goods, the disco use that arises from and shapes the texture of those goods, and practices that enable constructive conversation in a postmodern world of difference,” I believe cultural shock is valuable under the understanding of the ethics.