5. Culture Is a Set of Dynamic Processes of Generation and Transformation

The third fact which must be considered in intercultural research is that culture is not static, it is a dynamic process. In his recent book, Demorgon (2005) insists that cultures are not static phenomena; they change constantly and are indefinitely renewable.

Yamazaki makes the same point: “Culture is by no means a fixed entity, but a set of dynamic processes of generation and transformation” (Yamazaki, 2000). To affirm the singularity of culture is questionable, insists Demorgon (2005), how indeed can one label a culture as unique and coherent when it is in constant development? Different cultures influence each other, occasionally fusing. It is necessary therefore to direct attention from narrowly defined culture theory and seek not for the attributes present in specific cultures, but for the fundamental principles that precede and give rise to all cultures. These pre-cultural principles are subliminally present in every culture. According to Yamazaki, cultural fusion, therefore, is not a matter of one culture assimilating features of another but something in the other culture stimulating the full flowering of aspects already present in the first.

One of these pre-cultural principles is individuation. The tendency toward individuation represents the drive to preserve individual units of life. This principle is antecedent to culture. The concept of individuation relates to the modern notion of individualism but precedes it (Yamazaki, 2000).

Following several authors,Waldram (2009) argues that the concept of acculturation has outlived whatever usefulness it may have had, and that scholars should focus on the process of enculturation, or culture learning. For Waldram, culture learning is “the process of learning to be cultural in a given real world context” (Waldram, 2009). He concludes that a new paradigm for culture is needed: “one that is theoretically and conceptually driven, rather than methodologically driven”…. This, of course, represents quite a shift in thinking from the classic emphases on contact involving “autonomous cultural systems” (Waldram, 2009).

Moreover, it has to be strongly emphasized that globalization is not a factor of homogenization but of diversity. In a recent paper, Bhawuk (2008) writes: “Creating new knowledge using concepts and ideas from indigenous cultures will help increase the diversity of theories and models which may be necessary for the global village…. Quality cross-cultural research demands that models and theories that question the contemporary values, beliefs, and models be welcomed…. Globalization is not about homogeneity but about diversity…. It is hoped that researchers will contribute to the differentiation of knowledge base rather than force homogeneity for defending monocultural theories.” (To be continued)

Instruction: Professor Saint-Jacques’ essay offers a new, seemingly paradoxical approach to a theory of culture, based upon a survey of views of culturologists who direct attention from narrowly defined culture theory. It is necessary that the student identify different theoretical approaches to get a general idea of how views may vary in the field of academic research. When surveying each paragraph of the text you mostly rely on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is evidence not drawn from the direct observation of a fact. If, for example, globalization is claimed to be leading not to homogeneity but to diversity, then there is circumstantial evidence that researchers will contribute to the differentiation of knowledge base rather than force homogeneity for defending monocultural theories.

Overview questions ask you to determine the author’s attitude to a specific item, the main topic of a passage, the author's main point, the primary purpose of a passage, the organization of a passage, etc. Before answering a variety of overview questions about short passages, read the passages and mark possible answer choices.

Sample Questions

• How does the author disprove the idea of individualism versus collectivism ?

• Which of the following statements would the author most likely support?

(1) “The operationalization of individualism/collectivism assumes a high degree of cultural homogeneity of the surveyed countries across geographical regions and across different life domains.

(2) The operationalization of cultural dimensions ignores the fact that different cultural values and practices may be internalized by people to different degrees, thus demonstrating high interpersonal variation in their endorsement.

(3) Measuring culture-related constructs to average individuals’ scores on an individualism–collectivism self-report scale, across samples taken from different countries is wrong.

• The author would be LEAST likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A. Culture can be described as the property of a single nation.

B. Hofstede’s “cultural dimensions” are all the rigid and universal fixed sets of polar attributes that several scholars are still using in their intercultural research.

C. “Anthropologists began to appreciate the artificial nature of their notion of ‘cultures’ as distinct, bounded units harbouring culturally identical citizens….

• The tone of the passage could best be described as (choose the right words): objective, optimistic, angry, humorous, critical, threatening, neutral.

• Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

Too specific. Chaotic. Too general. Logically structured. Incorrect.

Irrelevant. Correct. Not clear. Well organized.

The attitude of the author could best be described as

(A) objective

(B) optimistic

(C) angry

(D) humorous

• Single out samples of contrast in the first pragraph. How do they predetermine the ongoing narration?

• Find out most characteristic lines that best summarize the author's attitude.

• What is the author's main point in the passage?

• What is the main topic of this passage?

• What is the main idea of the passage?

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

• Why did the author write this passage?

Sample Answer Choices

This author's main purpose in writing is to ... .

The passage mainly concerns ... .

The main idea of this passage is that ... .

The primary purpose of this passage is to ... .

The passage primarily deals with ... .

The passage mainly discusses ... .

The main topic of this passage is ... .

The passage primarily deals with ... .

The tone of the passage could best be described as

(A) objective;

(B) optimistic;

(C) angry;

(D) humorous.

Point out samples of contrast in the first pragraph. How do they predetermine the ongoing narration?

Unit 2-10. CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE GLOBALIZED WORLD

Guidelines for extensive reading of ESP texts

Professor Saint-Jacques critiques pre–globalization era theoretical concepts of culture and proposes a new approach. He contends that events over the past several decades have changed the way we should consider culture because globalization has created a “mixture of cultures and people within each culture.” As a result, earlier cultural concepts, such as Hofstede’s model of individualism–collectivism, are outdated and no longer reflect the contemporary societal setting.

Professor Saint-Jacques believes that any theory of culture in the globalized society must address “three basic facts: (1) Cultural Predestination!, (2) Individual Values, and (3) A Set of Dynamic Processes of Generation and Transformation.” These three considerations are then integrated to form the basis for Saint-Jacques’s proposed new theoretical approach to culture.

Text 2-10. CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE GLOBALIZED WORLD

(Continued from Text 2-9)