Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication is defined as “the study of differences and similarities of cultural content and its influences on persons within different cultures” (pg. 156).  Communicating across different cultures protects and promotes the “good” of a specific culture and is responsible for shaping persons and different communities. Intercultural communication calls us to protect and promote a different good- the culture itself. The study of intercultural communication has grown in importance in the United States and other locations with the increasing change in demographic importance and awareness of other cultures. In particular, intercultural communication can be difficult for some to adjust to and many feel culture shock, “a feeling of disorientation experienced when encountering communicative events disruptive of one’s experienced routine” (pg. 156).

            Throughout the chapter the author provides meaning of the term “culture shock” by explaining how culture shapes our routine. When our routine fails or is disrupted, we find ourselves in shock, missing a cultural background that had previously given tacit meaning to our communicative lives. It’s important to navigate the differences between “shock” and “surprise.” The difference in the terms rests in the dissimilarity between something novel and unexpected and in unusual turn of events. The authors further explain what totally novel “is what generates a paradigmatic” difference, and the unusual turn of events is a paradigmatic addition or variation rather than a paradigmatic difference or change” (pg. 162). When we are in an environment or situation that is similar to our own we are more likely to experience a paradigmatic variation, but when we experience a culture much different than our own, we encounter culture shock. Can culture shock be experienced in other variances? What are the advantages or disadvantages to culture shock?

            For example, over the past summer I traveled to a foreign country with my family for vacation but also to celebrate my sister’s recent graduation from college. I was really eager to travel to different country to experience life in a different way and to interact with locals and immerse myself in their culture. Prior to leaving the country, I spent an ample amount of time researching and reading about what to expect while traveling and traditions and customs that the culture embraces. I questioned what do I wear, what the differing gender dynamics the country practices, and what was appropriate and what wasn’t. While visiting culture shock was evident and my first impulse was to find others who resembled to be an American. The author notes that when traveling abroad with others, we often are tired from traveling, but also fatigued from the disruption of our routine. What are ways travelers can ease into new cultures while traveling? Is culture shock inevitable when visiting foreign countries?