Cross-cultural Communication Research: A Guide to Interacting with Americans and British People

Author: Lin Dajin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: In 1991, the author wrote an article titled "A Call for a New Phase in Comparative Cultural Studies," reviewing Professor Hu Wenzhong's Selected Readings in Intercultural Communication and urging fellow linguists to collaborate and leverage their strengths to become a driving force in intercultural communication research within China's comparative cultural studies. Since then, the field of linguistics has produced over a hundred papers, published the anthology Culture and Communication (Hu Wenzhong, 1994) and the dictionary A Dictionary of British and American Culture (Hu Wenzhong, 1995), and established the China Intercultural Communication Association (1995). China's intercultural communication research has flourished, becoming a vibrant and spectacular scene, achieving the new phase we had long anticipated. Now, Professor Lin Dajin's monograph Intercultural Communication Research is about to be published, and the author is an outstanding figure among the younger generation—how could this not bring joy! I have only met Professor Lin Dajin once. During the conference held in Harbin in August 1995, when he was elected as a Standing Committee member of the China Intercultural Communication Association due to his profound academic potential, he did not leave a particularly deep impression on me. However, six months later, during the Spring Festival, his two long-distance calls from Fujian made me deeply respect him. The first time, he inquired about the American cultural scholar Edward T. Hall, revealing his deep research and his guidance of master's theses in the field of intercultural communication. On this festive occasion when the Chinese nation celebrated its grand holiday, I learned from his second call that he was putting his heart into his monograph—inspiring me with admiration and respect. When he asked me to write the preface, I readily agreed without hesitation. There were two reasons. First, the "new phase" I had called for had borne fruit; second, "the fox admires the fox."
Recalling the experiences I faced during the Spring Festival in Shenzhen two years ago while writing Creative Tour Guiding, I deeply understood the sweetness and bitterness he had endured in the past six months. His perseverance filled me with respect, and I regarded him as a comrade. With joy, I read through the manuscript of Intercultural Communication Research in one sitting, feeling fortunate to have shared this intellectual journey with the author through the vast ocean of culture. Overall, I believe that agreeing to write the preface before seeing the manuscript was a bit of a gamble, but it was a gamble worth taking.
Regarding the general evaluation of this book, I think the analogy of the "thousand-layer cake" used by the author in the preface is quite apt. If extended slightly, we can make the following assessments:
1) The book primarily inherits the theoretical framework of American intercultural communication studies but offers many original insights in each chapter. The author's self-evaluation in the preface—"While drawing on others' work, I have made selections and created my own system, with many conclusions being purely my own views and limited perspectives"—shows not only a rigorous academic attitude but also a persistent pursuit of exploration.
2) The book's nature and value, positioned as "knowledgeable, practical, and engaging," are fully justified. This gives it strong vitality and combines the scientific rigor of a textbook, the richness of a reference book, and the guiding role of a practical manual.
3) The book is highly readable, with a humorous and witty style, vivid and fluent language, and the ability to transform profound knowledge into simplicity without sacrificing sophistication.
4) As the designer of the "thousand-layer cake," the author has truly added brilliance to it. This delicious and perfectly crafted cake is infused with the creator's insights and originality. Therefore, the book is not just a general reference or manual but an academic monograph worthy of the name.
Some of the book's notable insights include:
1) The binary view of cultural evaluation. The author argues that from a macro and overall perspective, we cannot favor one national culture over another or judge which is superior or inferior, as this may lead to ethnocentrism, cultural chauvinism, or even cultural imperialism. However, from a micro and local perspective, we can make value judgments about cultural phenomena—for example, polite service is better than savage "service," maintaining public hygiene is better than littering, and queuing is better than cutting in line, etc.
2) The macro comparison of Chinese and American cultures. The author proposes the relative concepts of "individual-oriented" and "humanistic-oriented." At first glance, the term "individual versus humanistic" may seem less logical than "individual versus collective." However, upon closer examination, China's collectivism is indeed built on the concept of humanistic orientation.
3) The book dedicates a chapter to discussing the dynamic characteristics of Chinese culture. The author's proposed trends in change are very reasonable. He has a clear understanding, measured judgments, and well-balanced phrasing. For example: "The enhancement of individual consciousness is the key to unlocking the dynamic direction of Chinese culture," "The speed at which Chinese people are transitioning from a multiple-time system to a single-time system is accelerating," and "There are many examples of Chinese people transitioning from a high-environment culture to a low-environment culture." These statements are quite innovative.
4) The book offers a unique explanation of intercultural communication competence. The author first criticizes the "tangled mess" theory of listing dozens of communication competencies, then proposes behavioral models (p. 289) and hierarchical models (p. 294) of communication competence, and finally suggests various ways to cultivate intercultural communication skills.
At least two other outstanding strengths of the book are worth noting:
1) The book cites hundreds of references, with detailed and interesting examples, and a lively and witty writing style. The author effortlessly draws on sources, making the reading enjoyable and highly practical. This is undoubtedly a significant step forward in popularizing intercultural communication knowledge and promoting Sino-foreign communication.
2) The book sets a good example in addressing practical issues. The author collects firsthand data, tackles small topics in depth, and presents them in an accessible way. Instead of echoing others' theories or (: means "hype data"), he offers his own insights and perspectives. For example, regarding the relationship between language and thought, the author first reviews five existing theories before presenting his own view: "Currently, there is no definitive conclusion about the relationship between language, thought, worldview, and cultural ecological environment. From the perspective of intercultural communication research, I personally tend to believe that language, thought, worldview, and cultural ecological environment are relatively independent but mutually influential, with the latter's influence being far greater than the former's. The reason is..." Regarding the syntactic structures of English and Chinese and their relationship to thinking habits, after reviewing various theories, studying different aspects, and providing numerous examples, the author concludes: "The syntactic features of English and Chinese are primarily reflected in the differences between English formalism and Chinese conceptualism. From the perspective of the relationship between language and thought, English-speaking people tend to favor formal analysis, abstract thinking, progressing from the unknown to the known, emphasizing subjective roles with a focus on the subject, and clearly distinguishing between the subject and object. Chinese people, on the other hand, tend to favor holistic and emotional thinking, progressing from the known to the unknown, starting from practical realities, and emphasizing the integration of the subject and object. The core difference in cultural thinking patterns between English-speaking and Chinese people is: the self-centeredness of English-speaking people versus the collectivism of Chinese people."
From these two examples alone, we can see the author's dedication.
Professor Lin Dajin's Intercultural Communication Research has been born—it is the latest harbinger of spring in the field of intercultural communication research. It is young, but it is vibrant, bright, and full of vitality. Seeing it emerge from the ground fills us with genuine joy. We express our heartfelt gratitude for Professor Lin's hard work. I believe that the calls in the postscript will surely attract attention and response from the cultural community.