1.2. Social and cultural background

In view of M. Bakhtin’s insight into multi-layered nature of language speech is dialogic, and speakers exist within their cultural contexts, ideologies and social intentions. Any text always has a human and cultural reference. It refers to ideas, feelings, relationships, and social conditions that make sense precisely because they are part of our shared social experience. Textual information is not eternal or timeless, but is situated historically, socially, intellectually, with particular intents and social, gender, class, ethnic, racial perspectives. Hence, studing texts entails looking into the context (social, cultural and intertextual) within which texts are embedded.

Comprehension in this direction is aimed at raising the reader’s awareness of historical and socio-cultural factors. Whatever the text, the content is expected to increase one’s awareness of the culturally-induced values of own and other nations and awareness of one’s own priorities to make sure certain cultural standpoints can be explained. Students are motivated to develop the ability to evaluate and refine generalizations about the culture in terms of supporting evidence deduced from the text. In this way one automatically becomes exposed to the range of socio-cultural items such as:

• symbols;

• realia;

• conventions;

• customs and traditions;

• stereotypes and expectations;

• Values, beliefs and attitudes.

One of the major goal of this Guide is to increase students’ consciousness of cultural similarities and differences and enhance understanding of the diversity of ideas and practices found across cultures in general.

One is to make sure to know TAT (the relationship between Text, Author, Time):

• the general social and cultural climate;

• the rhetorical context of the text.

Questions: Comment on the range of social and cultural items in the text. What do you know about the author, his/her occupation, personal background and political/religious leanings? To whom do you think the author is writing? For what purpose was the text written? What prompted its creation? What do you know about the text publication? What is your historical and cultural distance from the text under consideration? When was the text written? What were the main events of the time? How did the contemporary thought influence the text? What social conditions (values, morals, economic pressures, power relationships, gender role, and so on) could conceivably create the drama of the text? What can you say about the difference between your culture's (and sub-culture's) views of the world, your own experiences, on the one hand, and those of the text, on the other? What is it that you might have to understand better in order to experience the text of particular time, class, gender and race? Is it possible that your reading might be different because of your particular social (race, gender, class, etc.) and historical context? How does your world govern the way you see the world of the text? In which way does the text interact with other texts/media?

Language in use for analysis

to say and do in specific social situations

subtleties of cultural behaviour

to make implicit cultural assumptions

to share values and attitudes

to adhere to the systems of

to present facts about

to reveal information about

culturally-appropriate behaviour

familiarity with

symbols associated with one’s own culture

The author holds unmistakable generalizations of social realities…/ focuses on the lifestyles…

By observing and describing the realia…

It reveals images related to another culture…

Focusing on the subject matter of … the reader can draw up visible aspects…/ become aware of the lifestyles…

… to encourage comparison of how … may be similar to (different from) those in our native culture

We arrive at deeper understanding of both English-speaking cultures and our own.

Values are taken for granted.