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Most analyses of interpersonal communication ignore the relationship between communication and culture. When intercultural communication takes place, the interlocutors may have very different conceptions of what is being discussed, since meaning in any culture results from lifelong learning within that culture. Such concepts as worldviews, cultural beliefs, and decision-making processes are unique to each culture, and affect each culture's interpretation of the same discussion. In illustrating possible misunderstandings because of cultural differences, Dahl focuses on the Merina in the Highlands of Madagascar and the Western World. He suggests many ways in which the Malagasy's worldview and values are different from the Westerner's, and how these differences affect communication.
List of contents
Introduction
How Can I Ever Understand?
Where the Dead Ones Do Not Die
When Future Comes from Behind
Always Guilty
Father and Mother, Sister and Brother
The Art of "Living Together"
Don't Show the Molars to Strangers
Lukewarm Common Opinion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the author
OYVIND DAHL is Professor of Social Anthropology and Intercultural Communication in the School of Mission and Theology, Stavanger-Norway.
