In terms of how we or other ethnic groups may perceive each others beliefs or culture, I have added a video of Barack Obama bowing to the Japanese Emperor. In America a simple hand shake can mean hello, goodbye or thank you it's a greeting gesture and allows us to connect. In Japan, this small gesture of a bow is deeply attached to the japanese culture. Due to living in Japan for 6.5 years I understand the meaning of it. Not only is a bow a form of greeting as a hello, goodbye or thank you, but it is a bond tied to their ethnicity meaning that you respect the other person you are bowing to. The deeper you bow forward shows how much respect you have for that other person. Now in this video, we see Obama bowing but it doesn't mean that he is of Japanese ethnicity because he does it, it means that he has knowledge of their cultures and beliefs within Japanese's ethnic identity and is respecting them. He understand's their history and sense of origin.
This concept of ethnicity identity gives me much insight on how I lived my life from the age's 6 to 13. Every summer vacation I had while I lived in Japan, I would come to America for about two or three months to visit family. While in Japan I had become used to bowing and conforming to the Japanese culture and understanding their beliefs. But when I came to America and someone would do something for me I would find myself bowing and doing other things such as that because I had become used to that ethnic identity I found myself integrated with. I was not of Japanese nationality, but the concept of ethnic identity helped me understand that I had been doing these actions because of the beliefs and culture I was learning from at such a young age.
Works Cited:
Maritn, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (Fifth ed., pg. 185). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.
Works Cited:
Maritn, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (Fifth ed., pg. 185). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.
You have an interesting perspective on the interaction of ethnic and national identity. It seems like that culture change would have been very confusing as a young child, but maybe it became a common enough shift that you became comfortable with adjusting to new situations. That seems like a valuable skill to learn at a young age. It is reassuring to know that our President is doing his research and respecting his peers in the international community.
ReplyDeleteGreat example! Very compelling and informative. Thanks for sharing! I am glad you bring up the role of nonverbal communication and ethnic identity. Maybe this is something that we could use for the cultural reporter project?
ReplyDeleteFor future blogs make sure that you cite sources not only in the reference page,but in text as well especially when you are defining a concept. Usually you should cite a source about once per paragraph and the rest from your own voice.
Maritn, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.