4.1.1 Essentialist approach of culture After analysing the blogposts categorized by the bloggers under the labels of “cultural differences”, “culture” and “China”, the study found that the bloggers define “culture” by using a static essentialist approach. They believe that cultures are “objects” that can be separated by fixed boundaries. Culture is also viewed as synonym of country or nation in their discourse. They also perceive that people within a particular culture behave similarly in any context and they are different from the people of other culture. The following excerpts show that the writers are using essentialist approach of culture as mentioned above. Excerpt 1 which was extracted from Blog 2 of which the writer views cultures
…show more content…
The writer believes that intercultural mistakes can be avoided merely by “learning” the “local culture” beforehand, instead of “reading the culture” through the interaction with the local people (Holliday, 2011). Based on her interpretation of cultures as “objects” which can be categorized, the writer separates cultures into two entities based on the concept of nation or country. She uses the phrase “la culture locale (the local culture)” to indicate the culture of the “pays d'accueil (host country)”. This implies that “cultures” are separated into the entities that refer to the culture of one’s own country and the host country’s culture. A fixed national borderline is thus created between the cultures. By interpreting culture with a solid approach, the writer views cultures as tangible “objects” which can be clearly classified by fixed boundaries, and culture is interpreted as the synonym of …show more content…
Excerpt 2:
C’est plutôt très rare que des chinois s’assoient autour d’un verre juste pour discuter, car c’est pas leur culture. Quand en France, on parle des heures, en allant du beau temps à la cote de popularité de Flamby, en passant par nombre de choses inutiles et insignifiantes… en Chine, on limite le papotage au minimum, peut-être au genre du business.
Translation: It is rather rare that Chinese get together over a drink just to talk, because it is not their culture. When in France, we talk for hours, going from the good weather to the popularity rating of Flamby, passing through many useless and insignificant things… In China, people limit the chit-chat to minimum, maybe only on business. In this discourse, the writer makes a comparison between Chinese and French by referring to the different chatting habit of both nationalities. Based on her perception, people in France habitually get together over a drink just to chat for hours and talk about everything but this rarely happens to the Chinese. She even thinks that Chinese people minimize their talking and limit it onto the business
The writer believes that intercultural mistakes can be avoided merely by “learning” the “local culture” beforehand, instead of “reading the culture” through the interaction with the local people (Holliday, 2011). Based on her interpretation of cultures as “objects” which can be categorized, the writer separates cultures into two entities based on the concept of nation or country. She uses the phrase “la culture locale (the local culture)” to indicate the culture of the “pays d'accueil (host country)”. This implies that “cultures” are separated into the entities that refer to the culture of one’s own country and the host country’s culture. A fixed national borderline is thus created between the cultures. By interpreting culture with a solid approach, the writer views cultures as tangible “objects” which can be clearly classified by fixed boundaries, and culture is interpreted as the synonym of …show more content…
Excerpt 2:
C’est plutôt très rare que des chinois s’assoient autour d’un verre juste pour discuter, car c’est pas leur culture. Quand en France, on parle des heures, en allant du beau temps à la cote de popularité de Flamby, en passant par nombre de choses inutiles et insignifiantes… en Chine, on limite le papotage au minimum, peut-être au genre du business.
Translation: It is rather rare that Chinese get together over a drink just to talk, because it is not their culture. When in France, we talk for hours, going from the good weather to the popularity rating of Flamby, passing through many useless and insignificant things… In China, people limit the chit-chat to minimum, maybe only on business. In this discourse, the writer makes a comparison between Chinese and French by referring to the different chatting habit of both nationalities. Based on her perception, people in France habitually get together over a drink just to chat for hours and talk about everything but this rarely happens to the Chinese. She even thinks that Chinese people minimize their talking and limit it onto the business