The power of hidden differences, Edward T. Hall

Résumé du document

Edward T. Hall (born May 16, 1914) is an anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942. He has taught at the University of Denver, Bennington College, the Harvard Business School, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and North-western University. He has consulted businesses and government agencies. He wrote The Silent Language (1959), The Hidden Dimension (1969) ,Beyond Culture (1976), Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese, West of the Thirties (1994)?

Extraits

[...] The power of hidden differences, Edward T. Hall Edward T. Hall (born May 16, 1914) is an anthropologist and cross- cultural researcher. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942. He has taught at the University of Denver, Bennington College, the Harvard Business School, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and North- western University. He has consulted businesses and government agencies. He wrote The Silent Language (1959), The Hidden Dimension (1969) ,Beyond Culture (1976), Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese, West of the Thirties (1994) In this text, Edward T. [...]

[...] It seems obvious but the major conflicts in the word which often originate in communication problems prove us that many people are not aware of that. But I think there is a lack of studies and references in this text, proved by sentences like is my conviction that”. I don't always understand what the author wants to demonstrate and the link between his ideas: why does he suddenly write that culture is often perceived as an aggravating personality trait (p.64)? He says it's important to study unconscious culture but doesn't really tell how. [...]

[...] On the contrary high-context communication functions with the feeling; people understand them without many words, like twins. According to him, communication is life. Indeed, a communication impasse is often a cause of war and a deaf person can't normally grow up without a means of communication. So understanding unconscious culture is very important. It's a big revolution like when our ancestors discovered the language. But how really understand this unconscious culture? To reach this aim, Hall thinks it's worth reconsidering the role of the word culture, which can be a tool to understand unconscious culture. [...]

[...] Then recorded language, like laws, began a tool. Fifthly, the Greek philosophers created a gap between manifest culture (associated with the word) and tacit-acquired culture (associated with the event) that was judged irrelevant. To finish, the sixth revolution was the discovery of the unconscious. That leads him to insist on his intention to make people take into account the existence of “out-of-awareness” features of communication (conditioned by cultural and psychological factors), which are responsible for the greatest distortions in understanding between people. [...]