CAPS BLOG #2 Jihyun Kim

National Histories

National history gives us a shared notion of who we are and solidifies our sense of nationhood (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Even having just a basic knowledge of the individual’s national history affects the communication of that nation. The meaning of a national history is a body of knowledge based on past event that influenced a country’s development (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). It is important to understand and engage in your own country’s history to the people of that nation because it identifies who we are and it makes it easier to be aware of the many references used in intercultural communication. Not only is it essential to understand your own national history, but also it would be convenient to know other culture’s national histories. The U.S. certainly takes pride in their own histories by starting to feed students in elementary schools about the founding fathers, the wars we strongly fought in, the notion of bouncing back even from an economic crisis and so on. Obviously the main focus is about the nationhood of the U.S., but it would be more efficient for the country and for its people if teachers taught students about other cultures national histories.

I am an immigrant from South Korea and I was lucky enough to start school as a second grader in the U.S.. It was around that time when I started to learn about the great events and the “so-called” great people who were influential in the development of this nation. I remember being involved in a Lewis and Clark play in the fourth grade, forming and participating in my own Oregon Trail in the fifth grade, and performing the Civil War in my very own classroom in the sixth grade. As I was gaining all this new knowledge on the U.S. national histories, bits and pieces of my own country’s national histories started slipping away. The notion of who I am and my sense of nationhood was getting unclear every year. My parents always say I am not white or an American, but that I am a Korean. However, it is difficult when my level of Korea’s national history at a low point. It’s harder for me to connect and relate to when I have to communicate about my culture. It just proves how important it is to know and understand other culture’s national histories because it becomes easier recognize the references used in communication.

 This picture here is the Seoul gate, one of the many famous landmarks in South Korea.

The concept of national histories is useful in various ways in order to make intercultural communication to function. It makes it less challenging in the world of communicating if people understood other culture’s national histories. Although they are told stories, verging on myths, that give life to events and figures, they are important because it influences a country’s development. The majority of the people of the U.S. know about their own history. To fix this, schools should begin in elementary schools by teaching about other culture’s histories, such as our own neighbors Mexico and Canada. It would benefit and expand our future generation to reach out overseas later in their life. I wish I hadn’t been taught only U.S. history because it gave me a sense of confusion in regards to who I truly am. If I had been taught about European history or Asian history on top of U.S. history; I would have been less confused and would not have thought only the U.S. has been through all the past events.

References:

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5^th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.