ACTA SZEKSZARDIENSIUM - Pécsi Tudományegyetem Illyés Gyula ...

Natalia Kiss
it is necessary to focus on the “public traffic in significant symbols” (Geertz, 1973.45).
Therefore, if the aim is to understand cultural meaning; behaviour and social institutions,
it should be understood in the context- in the symbolic systems (Geertz, 1973)- in which
they occur. The semiotic school believes that instead of searching for cultural universals,
researchers should find the variety within culture.
Critical theories
Critical post-modernist theories generally reject the notion of culture as a static,
homogeneous entity. Advocates question whether there are clear boundaries between
cultures, as individuals can be members of many different communities and can have
multiple identities. Consequently, talking about national characteristics becomes
questionable. Critical theories of culture take a more dynamic perspective on culture and
reject the idea that language, culture and national identity should be treated as one (see
e.g. Scollon & Scollon, 2001). As, for example, Jensen (2004) argues, the poststructuralist
approach places the individual, rather than the culture in the centre of attention. “It is
the interpretations of the participant that determine what culture the person belongs
to” (Jensen, 2004, 4). Critical views on culture generally claim that research should not
focus only on describing and explaining interactions, but should examine the underlying
power relations (e.g. Bourdieu, 1991), cultural self-perception, and identity (among
others Collier & Thomas, 1988) etc.
Values
Cultural values are often identified as a source of conflict in intercultural encounters. The
concept of ‘value’ in the functionalist approach to culture appears as a determining factor
that shapes people’s initial expectations, attitudes, and behaviours toward approaching for
example work or conflict (e.g. Hofstede, 1980; Ting-Toomey & Oetzel, 2001; Schwartz,
1994,). Thus values are inevitable elements of traditional models of culture (e.g. Kroeber
& Kluckhohn, 1952; Hofstede, 1991; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997). In the
most elementary model, often referred to as the ‘iceberg model’, culture consists of
two levels: level of values as an “invisible level”, and a “visible level of … behaviour and
artefacts” (Dahl, 2004. 4). Hofstede (1991, 2003) in his ‘onion model’ outlines four layers
with values at the core which form the most hidden layer of culture. Values are defined
as “broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others” (Hofstede, 2003. 8),
as they are seen as “a learned organization of rules for making choices and for resolving
conflicts” (Rokeach, 1973. 161).
In Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s (1997) model, basic assumptions are at the
core level. These core values are thought to influence other visible values in the above layers.
Spencer-Oatey (2000) proposes to combine basic assumptions and values claiming that it
is difficult to separate the two. In her model, the inner core of culture (basic assumptions
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