INTERCULTUR AL COMMUNIC ATION THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION A Practical Guide BY TRACY NOVINGER UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN COPYRIGHT © 2001 by TRACY NOVINGER All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2001 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819. � The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Novinger, Tracy, 1942– Intercultural communication : a practical guide / by Tracy Novinger. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-292-75570-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0-292-75571-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Intercultural communication. I. Title. hm1211 .n68 2001 303.48�2—dc21 00-036408 TO THE MEMORY OF THE FREE SPIRIT OF PHYLLIS ALICE GRIFFITH ELLSPERMAN AND TO GLEN, MI QUERIDO Y MI AMIGO. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK CONTENTS PREFACE ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi PART ONE The Global Perspective of Intercultural Communication 1 ONE Why Communicate across Cultures? 3 TWO What Constitutes a Culture? 12 THREE Obstacles of Perception 26 FOUR Obstacles in Verbal Processes 45 FIVE Obstacles in Nonverbal Processes 53 PART TWO Two Worlds: The United States and Mexico 75 SIX The Mexico–United States Cultural Environment 77 SEVEN Some Mexico–United States Cultural Issues 106 EIGHT Day-to-Day Cultural Interaction 124 PART THREE Conclusion 149 NINE Transcending Culture 151 APPENDIX: AUTHOR’S NOTE 159 GLOSSARY 161 NOTES 173 BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 INDEX 201 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 209 Preface In our world of expanding technology and shrinking geography, people of different cultures have increasing frequency of contact and need for effective communication on a daily basis. Speaking a different language is an obvious obstacle to intercultural communication, but a greater and more difficult hurdle is to “speak” a different culture. Even though we may learn the words, the grammar, and the recognizable pronunciation of a language, we may still not know how to navigate around the greater obstacles to communica- tion that are presented by cultural difference. Communication specialists estimate that from two-thirds to three-fourths of our communication takes place nonverbally through behavior. All be- havior is communication, and since we cannot not behave, we cannot not communicate. During all of the waking hours that we spend with other hu- man beings we “speak” volumes through the behavior our culture has drilled into us. Each of us is conditioned by our culture from birth. We learn when to speak up and when to keep quiet. We learn that some facial expressions meet with approval and others provoke a reprimand. We are taught which gestures are acceptable and which are not, and whether we can publicly un- wrap a gift; we learn where to put our hands at a meal, whether or not we can make noise with our mouths when we eat, which table utensils to use or not use, and in what fashion we may use them. We learn how to address people in a manner approved by our culture, what tone of voice to employ, what posture is censored and what is praised, when and how to make eye x Intercultural Communication contact and for how long, and countless other things that would be impos- sible to remember consciously and use all at the same time when interacting socially. This communicative behavior is learned so well that it becomes in- ternalized at a subconscious level. We are primarily aware of deviations from our prescribed cultural norms, and we tend to negatively evaluate any such deviations. Since we learn our cultural behavior in units, it is a useful artifice to com- pare cultural differences in units. To learn to communicate across cultures more quickly and more effectively, we can apply a framework of categories of potential obstacles (cultural units) to our own and to a target culture. Part I of this book addresses the need for successful communication across cultures and defines what constitutes a culture. Next, an original tax- onomy of potential intercultural communication obstacles is constructed from the literature of communication, anthropology, psychology, sociology, business, and current events, as well as from interviews with persons of multicultural backgrounds. The categories are explained, and many are il- lustrated with anecdotes. Part II applies the framework of obstacles outlined in Part I to the dif- ferences in cultural units of the United States and Mexico. This applica- tion demonstrates how these cultural differences create misunderstanding and ineffectual communication in commonly occurring business and social situations. Part III prescribes an effective approach to intercultural communication between any two cultures, using the framework of potential obstacles to efficiently obtain results. We can act consciously to transcend the rules with which our own culture grips us. Acknowledgments Although I am indebted to persons too numerous to mention for insight into intercultural communication, I would like, nonetheless, to expressly thank a number of people who encouraged, informed, and assisted me. Any strengths of this work derive in great measure from their support. In ex- pressing my appreciation, I do not imply that the following persons either agree or disagree with specific details or with the contents of this book. To Dr. Philip Gaunt, Director of the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University, Kansas, un merci très particulier for sharing his knowledge and for guidance. My thanks to Beatriz de la Garza, Ph.D., J.D., for her supportive friendship and interest, and to friends Nancy Hamilton and Arciela Izquierdo Jordan, J.D., for their feedback. Guillermina Flores de Padilla, Assistant Director of the Benjamin Franklin Library at the Instituto Mexicano Norteamericano de Relaciones Culturales de Nuevo León in Monterrey, graciously helped me when I showed up as an unannounced for- eign visitor. I also thank Georgina Silva Ramírez de Domínguez for a warm welcome in Monterrey, Mexico. For their input, I would also like to acknowledge Jane “Juanita” Smith Garcés, Maria Eugenia Dubois, Philip Russell of the Mexico Resource Center, Isabel Gereda Taylor, J.D., Robin Wasson, Allan Adams, Allert Brown-Gort, Evelyn Sierra Hammond, Ph.D., and Herb Brandt. I have been blessed over the years with the enduring friendship of Marcia Barros Parisi of São Paulo, Brazil; Elvira Paiva Andrade of Santos, Brazil; Repeta Tetauru of Tahiti; and Geneviève Trouche, currently of Paris, formerly xii Intercultural Communication of Algeria and Tahiti. And special thanks to the Mexican people for the warmth and great courtesy they have unfailingly extended to me on many visits to Mexico. I have a personal tie to the Latin Americas and especially appreciate the opportunity to have focused on Mexico in an attempt to illumine the diffi- culties of intercultural communication. On the Caribbean island of Aruba, where three generations of my family lived, I, too, called my cousins’ grand- father, Luís Guillermo López of Mexico, “Grandpa.” He was my god- father—my padrino—and I have many cousins (primos hermanos) with López and Cantú surnames. The renowned Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin was a valuable library resource. And to Theresa May, my energetic editor at the University of Texas Press, gracias, obregado, merci. INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK PART ONE THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ONE Why Communicate across Cultures? The most universal quality is diversity. —montaigne, 1580 Isolated cultures stagnate; cultures that communicate with others evolve. —t. sowell, race and culture 1994 INTERCULTUR AL INTERFACE A well-dressed Mexican pulled up in a taxi to the Palacio de Justicia in Lima, Peru. Armed guards were standing on the steps ascending to the building. The passenger paid and thanked the driver and opened the door of the cab, intent on the information he had come to get. As he leaned for- ward and put one foot onto the pavement, a cold rifle muzzle jabbed him in the temple and jerked his attention to matters at hand. The Peruvian guard holding the rifle shot two harsh words at him. The Mexican red- dened, emerged from the taxi, and drew himself erect. With a sweep of his arm, he retorted three words: “¡Qué! ¿Nos conocemos?” (What! Do we know each other?) With a half bow the guard lowered the rifle and courte- ously gestured the man up the steps, speaking in deferential tones. What happened here? What did the guard with the gun say that triggered this re- action from the Mexican? And what in the Mexican visitor’s behavior and 4 Intercultural Communication those three Spanish words instantly changed the Peruvian guard’s attitude and demeanor? IN SPITE OF OURSELVES We cannot not communicate. All behavior is communication, and we can- not not behave.1 Even a person who does not want to “communicate”—who sits huddled with arms folded and head down—communicates that he is trying to avoid communication. By nature, communication is a system of behavior.2 And because different cultures often demand very different behaviors, intercul- tural communication is more complex than communication between per- sons of the same culture.3 All communication takes place in the matrix of culture, therefore difference in culture is the primary obstacle to intercul- tural communication. Communication specialists estimate that two-thirds to three-fourths of all communication is nonverbal. The average varies from culture to culture, but what this statistic essentially means is that a person communicates in great part by nonverbal behavior, behavior being gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, dress, body language, the rituals (such as courtesies) one ob- serves, etc.