The Cultural Metaphor Revisited

Abstract

This article develops the Fado, a unique folk music form, as a cultural metaphor for Portugal. This process illustrates the value of the metaphoric methodology as a means to deepen understanding of national cultures. Findings yield three major insights. First, the Fado metaphor provides a rich illustration of the Portuguese cultural mindset, embraced by the population as an enduring representation of national identity. Second, the Fado metaphor enables us to incorporate cultural characteristics represented by several traditional dimensions frameworks to elucidate our understanding of significant cultural factors. Third, the cultural metaphor method breaks through the constraints imposed by dimensional research and enables us to understand intra-cultural variations in attitudes, behaviors, and values. Particularly, the identification of cultural paradoxes constitutes a major contribution of this work. Paradoxes described here capture the dialectic nature of Portuguese culture in the areas of Fatalism and Perseverance; Large Power Distance and Equality; Uncertainty Avoidance and Risk-Taking; Group Orientation and Isolation; and Private and Shared Space.