Writing Around the World Chapter 1 Basic Principles of Intercultural Writing

1. Writing Around the WorldChapter 1Basic Principles of Intercultural Writing

2. What is Culture?

3. Surface Cultural Elements • Surface cultural elements are those aspects of culture that we can easily see, such as: • Art • Food • Dress • Music • Holidays

4. Deep Cultural Elements • Deep cultural elements are those aspects of culture that we can not easily see, such as: • Attitudes • Beliefs • Norms • Values • Concepts

5. Writing Style • Deep cultural elements affect the writing style generally valued in each culture • Cultural elements such as the following inform writing style: • Concepts of politeness • Concepts of time • Power and relationships • Methods of argument • Concepts of respect • Many others

6. Writer Responsible Writing Style • Usually associated with Western cultures • Values: • Clarity • Concision • Actions • Practicality • Logic • Stating the obvious • Responsibilities: • Attract and maintain reader interest • Guide the reader through the text with overlapping organization

7. Reader Responsible Writing Style • Usually associated with non-Western cultures • Values: • Flowery, ornate prose • Subjects over actions • Theory • Inductive Reasoning • Indirect statements • Proverbs and sayings • Metaphor • Responsibilities: • Provide rich detail and context • Loose connections between ideas so the reader can interpret meaning

8. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos • Writer responsible cultures think logos (logic) is most persuasive • Reader responsible cultures think ethos (credibility) and pathos (emotion) are more important

9. Sources and Citation • Ancient texts/ lore vs. current and quantifiable references • Some cultures do not cite sources • Use of maxims, proverbs, sayings, famous quotes • People may not have access to current sources as we do in databases, etc.

10. Coherence • Based on individual interpretation • Parallel progression – clear and explicit connection between sentences and ideas; topic remains the same • Sequential progression – topics of sentences are different from one another; connection may seem disrupted • Extended parallel progression – introduction and conclusion are consistent but the body is non-sequential

11. Sentence Cohesion • The smaller connections between sentences and ideas (transitions) • WR: Sentences link directly to one another through the use of transition words • RR: Sentences are related but different with no clear transitions

12. Style • Writer Responsible • Explicit, clear, accumulative, concise responsive to a reader’s needs • Do not overwrite, use qualifiers, extra details, cliches • Based on the idea of equality and the “general” reader • Reader Responsible • Flowery, detailed, thought-provoking, repetitious, varied vocabulary and sentence-structures • Based on the idea that not all readers are the same, and they need to be challenged

13. Views of the “Other” Writing Style • WR audiences tend to think that RR writing is circular, illogical, cliché, vague, indecisive, and confusing • RR audiences tend to think that WR writing is bold, abrupt, rude, or disrespectful

14. Important Points • It’s important to understand your own preferences for writing style, realizing that it may be a mix of the two • Remember that there are individual preferences within every culture • Neither style is “right” or “wrong” • Since communication also involves receiving messages, it is important to be able to effectively understand WR and RR messages without negative judgment • For communication in a global workplace, it will be beneficial to learn how to write both ways