Cultural Encounters Research Articles

Montaigne’s Essays, Study Abroad and Intercultural Learning: A Critical Examination

In the late sixteenth century, the aging French thinker Michel de Montaigne wrote more than one hundred essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from classical literature and history, the human imagination, sickness and recovery, and the cultural encounter between the New and Old Worlds. Whereas Montaigne’s Essays are frequently studied in classical and literary courses, they are less commonly included in intercultural learning and study abroad curricula despite the interesting connections between them. As such, this article examines the relevance of his Essays for intercultural learning in the context of international education. To what extent do Montaigne’s ideas about self-awareness, self-examination and cultural relativism serve as pedagogical tools for promoting intercultural competency today? How did the encounter between the so-called New and Old Worlds shape Montaigne’s thinking about cultural differences? What are the limitations of Montaigne’s ideas about cultural relativism, suspending judgment and frameshifting, and how do they relate to intercultural learning in the context of study abroad?

Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors

Building capacity for public urban mental health – example of Reflecting Citizens workshops

Abstract Novi Sad is a shelter of six languages, and the place of encounter of different cultures, of nurturing diversity through jokes, recipes, literature, music, works of art. Diversity and colourful customs in Novi Sad are not just the reflection of positive movements, but also serious events, wars, big migrations, internal and external migrations. Today Novi Sad (and our region) are home of 21 ethnicities, with six official languages, complicated administration, and wish to live in peace. Having in mind the contents and matrix which are developing in the Reflective citizens (RC) workshops, the idea was born that RC could become part of all activities of the city of Novi Sad, as tool to develop the dialogue of citizens in cultural spaces of Novi Sad, the European capital of culture in 2021. The idea that Reflective Citizens migrate (move) through different cultural spaces and that thus (in contact with cultural contents) hypotheses, ideas and actions are born, which will in positive communication make contributions to the significance of all cultural values, is justifiable and in time gives a visible, positive result. Reflecting citizens workshop could be seen as a method for building capacity concerning developing innovative concepts for public urban mental health. Reflective Citizens workshops contribute in improving health in community through fostering dialogue and mutual reflection. Also, Reflective Citizens workshops are open space for all citizens who want to contribute to dialog, multiculturalism, tolerance, thus contributing quality of life, social environment and mental health also.

Cultural Identity of the First-Generation Immigrants in Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Lahiri’s The Namesake

This article examines the problematic cultural identity of the first-generation immigrants in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001) and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2003). The immigrant characters problematize their cultural identity by oscillating in the cultural spaces of their home country and the host country. They tend to adopt new cultural identity of their host country while sustaining the old one of their home country. As a result, they negotiate their cultural identity in the shared cultural space which Homi K Bhabha terms as the third space. While analyzing the third space of cultural encounter, I refer to homeland culture as the first and the host land culture as the second cultural space of immigrants. Negotiating in the third space of the diaspora, the immigrants embody fluid and dynamic cultural identities that go beyond the binary of the host and home country. The process of the cultural negotiation of the immigrants is analyzed in the critical frame of Stuart Hall’s cultural identity and Homi Bhabha’s third space in this article.

Central Thai Food Culture and Acculturation During World War ii and the Vietnam War

As food has a substantial cultural and economic value, globalization and the Internet have posed challenges to traditional culture. As previous research on Thai food has focused on recipes and the consumption behavior of the royal family and upper-class Thai citizens, this study therefore aims to investigate the Thai food culture of ordinary Thais before the proliferation of a foreign food culture. Senior citizens from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in central Thailand who witnessed two major cultural encounters, specifically World War ii and the Vietnam War, were interviewed until full data was obtained. Content analysis within the guidelines of consumer behavior analysis was conducted. The findings confirm that central food culture has been passed down over generations and has become firmly established. Unless there has been convenient access to provincial centers, then, food from other regions has seldom been consumed. Also, before globalization, acculturation with foreign foods was barely noticeable. Overall, a key driver of this acculturation was so-called “food availability”.

Hermeneutical understanding and the transcultural challenge: Reflections on the theoretical development and its literary relevance

Deriving from the assumption that there is no such thing as a ‘pure’ culture, since culture is always mixed and hybrid, this article defines and discusses the concept of transculturality (Welsch 1997, Ette 2005, Iljassova-Morger 2009) in the context of other theoretical models of cultural encounters, interactions and demarcations, such as multiculturality and interculturality. Theories of transculturality, however, are not primarily to be understood as merely literary theories. Rather, these concepts contribute to a scholarship concerned with a more comprehensive interpretation and understanding that problematises the basis of what we normally refer to as ‘culture.’ Looking at the use of notions of transculturality in literary studies, however, it becomes apparent that this approach is mostly applied in the analyses of so-called migration literature, which is problematic from an epistemological point of view. In light of this, my article inquiries into the relationship between transculturality and literature in general in order to consider the significance of theories of transculturality for literature that is not normally understood as migration literature.

Talking about intercultural experiences

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to ask how exchange students retrospectively co-construct their first ‘culture shock’ experiences on a verbal, vocal, and visual plane. The results show that the different co-occurring levels of communication in the talk of the students offer various insights into cognitive processes: (1) Metaphorical and metonymical gestures are frequently used to represent or compress cultural dimensions in moments of high involvement and emphatic speech style. (2) Such gestures are also often historically and culturally embedded and may additionally serve to gain laughter from the co-participants in order to exaggerate the effect of cultural confrontation, underpinned by the use of prosodic cues. (3) Other prosodic means such as creaky voice may be used as a metaphorical marker for distance and represent therefore another type of cultural shock marker. (4) A dynamic understanding of blending theory might be a tool for laying cognitive processes of intercultural experiences open for the researcher.

Ambivalent memories of imperial legacies: Asmara as ‘beautiful' and ‘segregationist' from Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This paper discusses how the capital town of Eritrea, Asmara, is depicted alternately as Italian, Eritrean and Ethiopian thus showing the competing claims of ‘ownership’ that traverses its colonial and postcolonial histories and a multifaceted identity. It focuses specifically on how the Italian architecture of Asmara is depicted both as a sign of modernization and oppression. Literary and oral- sources are analysed to illustrate Asmara as a site of cultural encounter and a historical palimpsest such as the poems Asmara (1958, included in the collection Esat Wey Abeba) by Tsegaye Gebremedihin, and And Nebis (1992, included in the collection Efta 60 Tirekawoch) by Haile Melekot Mewael. The novels Oromay (1984) by Bealu Girma, Ye Burqa Zimita (1992) by Tesfaye Gebreab. These contemporary literary and oral reminiscences of Asmara show how Asmara’s architectural legacies are remembered to express memories of ambivalence between beauty and inhibition; being modern and segregated. Whereby, Asmara gets represented as a model town for other African cities, and a city of colonial decay and segregation, in these contradictory accounts of memories of Asmara, a de-colonial method of engagement seems to emerge.

EFL learners� perspective on English Honorifics (EHs) in Indonesia

Indonesian EFL learners (IELs) have been familiar with the practice of English Honorifics/EHs (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Sir and Ma�am) for decades. Mr, Mrs, Miss are followed by family name as the clan identity and Sir and Ma�am are for respectful address for adult man and woman. However, in Indonesia, it�s been the phenomenon because there seem to be a collision between how EFL learners practice EHs with what EHs are supposed to be used in English culture. The purpose of this study is to clarify and verify how Indonesian EFL learners perceive on EHs that have been interpreted and practiced for decades in Indonesia. This study applies double approaches. First, cross cultural study which employs content analysis by means of analyzing how EHs are interpreted and practiced under the setting of Indonesian culture. The sources to be analyzed are obtained from English handouts, chats and texts in social media among EFL students, as well as script deriving from teacher-EFL students� classroom interaction. Second, case study which employs triangulation technique to examine some aforementioned sources. The result reveals that Indonesian EFL learners perceive that the practice of EHs (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Sir, Ma�am) have no difference with the ones applied in Indonesian culture. It means that there is no more difference in function between Mrs and Miss, Ma�am, Mr and Sir. Those have been considered the same in practice with Indonesian Honorifics (IHs) like ibu (Ma�am), bapak (Mr), nyonya (Mrs), dan nona (Miss) even though they have different function. �These have been conducted beyond EFL learners� culture awareness of how native speaker of English uses EHs because there is an assumption that learning English doesn�t include learning its culture. For most Indonesian EFL learners, learning English as a foreign language is a matter of learning basic skills and linguistic features. So, if there are any further cultural encounters during learning English, they will be switched automatically to Indonesian culture. This study recommends English teachers to keep teaching English culture during teaching English in order to avoid learners� misunderstanding in communication with English speaking people.

Lo uno y lo múltiple : una autoetnografía en un centro para refugiados en el sureste de Italia.

Este texto fue escrito por una estudiante de antropología en 2005, a partir de notas escritas por la misma estudiante, cinco años atrás. Muestra la tensión producida por tener que escribir algo con valor académico para que sea aceptado como antropología, mientras al mismo tiempo se cuestiona la obligación de decir cosas que otros ya hubieran dicho con el fin de que fueran aceptadas como válidas. A partir de mi experiencia como voluntaria, en el año 2000, en un centro para refugiados en el sureste de Italia, tomo como excusa la multiculturalidad, el encuentro de diferentes culturas en un mismo espacio, usando la autoetnografía y también el concepto de lo uno y lo múltiple.

DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION OF 14 ANATOLIAN CITIES IN THE 18TH CENTURY

Claude Aubriet was a French artist who worked in the Jardin du Roi . In 1699 French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort made Aubriet an offer of an expedition to the Levant. They were off to develop Tournefort’s classification via discoveries of plants, and add new species to Jarden du Roi . Eventually, text and illustrations formed the travelogue Relation d’un Voyage du Levant , fait par ordre du Roy in 1717. Aubriet drew landscapes of 14 cities in Anatolia: “Elegri” Eregli , “Sinope” Sinop , “Cerasonte” Giresun , “Tripoli” Tirebolu , “Trebisonte” Trabzon , “Erzeron” Erzurum , “Cars” Kars , “Chonac-Coulhisar” Konak-Koyulhisar , “Tocat” Tokat , “Angora” Ankara , “Prusa” Bursa , “Magneise” Manisa , “Smyrne” Izmir , and “Scalanova” Kusadasi .. While Tournefort highlighted in his text what is exotic to his taste, Aubriet drew scientifically coherent landscapes. That is as if he followed a code where a typical city’s main elements were listed. In this paper, I will discuss if Aubriet’s compositions exemplify the utility of the transcultural model as landscape depiction? Aubriet’s depiction reminds of 16th-century city-atlases of Georg Braun the cartographer ( Civitates Orbis Terrarum ). Aubriet, highlights the architecture and topographical elements. Thus, they exhibit a similar cartographic method with some European city depictions. Also, they are general views, portraying the city as a whole, as if it were one of the local people Tournefort narrated about. Aubriet’s cities are supposed to illustrate the text however the compositions of the landscapes are different than the text. Are they a dual representation of the same land in the same book, by European scientist/artist/traveler? Did Tournefort represented early modern Anatolian cities by putting them in Oriental outlooks as such did Aubriet put them in European outlooks? So, do they point out a cultural encounter both with self and the other? Both Relation d’un Voyage du Levant, fait par ordre du Roy ’s text and illustrations were outcomes of an in-situ observation. The illustrations are a key element to the survey but they aren’t examined, interpreted thoroughly until now. There is no satisfactory explanation of why the depiction is done in this specific manner; how this perception reflected the cities and why the depiction should be called “European” at all, except for the nationality of the artist. Yet, these rare depictions are very interesting and valuable both for the Turkish and European history of art. The first part of the paper points to the “European” features of the city views even though these are lands in the Levant. This paper compares the illustrations in Voyage du Levant to the Civitates Orbis Terrarium . This comparison leads to the literature covering 16th-century city depictions and Ptolemy’s geography. The author of this paper has looked for an answer within these sources why Aubriet’s method of depicting cities is “European”. Tournefort was on the other hand, after the “other”, “strange” and “novel” at the same time. Some parts of Tournefort’s descriptions have the same features as the 19th century Orientalist discourse, but Tournefort’s observations, the exotic features are not reflected in the illustrations. The second part of the paper is a brief catalog of the city views. The main idea is the comparison of the description styles of Tournefort and Aubriet. This diversity is intriguing because Aubriet and Tournefort were working together with each other and for the same establishment Jarden du Roi since 1690. The catalog helps to answer some of the questions asked in the beginning.

Cultural and Informational Confrontation: History and Modernity

Cultural and Informational Confrontation: History and Modernity

Prerequisites for the Development of Regional Studies in Japan within the Framework of Japanese Traditional Science

Introduction. The variety of elements of the field of regional studies in Japan makes it possible to state that the sources of regional studies are heterogeneous not only in content, but also in their relation to different historical periods. The objective of the study is to analyze the processes of development of proto-regional knowledge in Japan from ancient times until the middle of the 19th century Materials and Methods. Japanese works on history and geography, as well as works by Russian researchers in the considered fields were used as the materials of the study. Particular attention was paid to historical and geographical texts; other sources (religious texts, poetic texts, etc.) were also considered. The basic methods employed were those of systemic, comparative, conceptual and terminological analysis. Results. The article discusses the stages of development of proto-regional knowledge in Japan in the framework of traditional science. Based on the analysis of works created before the middle of the 19th century, the authors conclude that the basic factor in the formation and development of knowledge about regions was the opposition “We vs. Others,” characteristic of Japanese ethnoculture, and this knowledge itself is largely Japanocentric. The article reveals the role of several schools of traditional science: kokugaku (school of national sciences), rangaku / yogaku (Dutch / European studies) and kangaku (school of Chinese sciences), as well as the role of their cultural and ideological confrontation in stimulating the development of proto-regional knowledge. Discussion and Conclusion. The article presents the results of the initial stage of a comprehensive study, which will examine the history of the development of Japanese regional knowledge and the methodology of regional research in Japan. The results of the work may be useful to researchers and specialists in the field of history of regional development of various countries and regions.

Exploring a solidarity route: cultural artefacts, art interventions and encounters on the French–Italian border

ABSTRACT From the European migration crisis of 2015 onwards, the refugee and migration issue in Italy has become central to the production of a political imaginary centred on hostility. Through the lenses of a long ethnographic experience, the article focuses on the French–Italian border of Ventimiglia, highlighting the existence of a heterogeneous support coalition that favours the transit and escape. The practices of this coalition, whose functioning echoes the history of the North American Underground Railroad, are often invisible precisely in order to effectively circumvent the constraints of current European migration prohibitionism. In this article, cultural artefacts considered in their relational context, including a graphic novel based on a No-Border camp, border guides for migrants in transit and disobedience manuals, and an art installation, are taken as traces to cast light on what is normally invisible. Through these artefacts, activists tell their stories to a larger audience or support transit operations.

Making Sense of Central Asia in Pre-Petrine Russia

Abstract The existing historiography on liaisons between Russia and Central Asia in early modern period often tends to portray the cross-cultural diplomacy between the settings as an assemblage of sporadic, inefficient, clumsy encounters, full of diplomatic failures. Further to it, the dominant paradigm emphasizes cultural differences in the region, whereby any form of cross-cultural encounters was inevitably hampered by various confessional, religious and social borders. As a result, we tend to read every case of cross-cultural encounter between early modern Central Asia and Russia as a metaphor of cultural incommensurability. In the essay, I shall offer a close reading of two 17th-century Muscovite diplomatic missions to Central Asia as test cases with which to make sense of cultural encounters through the lens of individual actors. In doing so, I shall highlight the specific practices and strategies that allowed the diplomatic actors to play key roles as cultural mediators using their language skills, local knowledge and contact networks. In the broader sense, the essay set out to examine how can we problematize cross-cultural encounters between Central Asian principalities such as Khiva and Bukhara on the one hand, and Pre-Petrine Russia on the other: and to consider what we actually mean when we speak of early modern diplomacy in Central Eurasia.

Ethnographic authority and public culture in Turkey in the 1950s

ABSTRACT The article is a historical study of ethnographic practices in non-academic fields of culture. It examines the practices and artefacts of cultural production in post-war Turkey and reveals that in the long 1950s popular as well as elite culture lived through an ‘ethnographic moment’ in which ethnographic authority was elevated to be the dominant criterion for the evaluation of good work. During this ethnographic moment, artists, writers and journalists turned their professional practices into ethnographic fieldwork, forged distinction based on their ethnographic methodology, and excluded armchair practitioners as amateurs. By focusing on four main fields – folklore, painting, cinema, and photojournalism – in post-war Turkey, this study disentangles the history of ethnographic practices from the narrower scope of the history of anthropology/sociology and situates it in an overarching account of cultural encounters with the others. In this period, any form of representation of the others was expected to be based on intersubjective intimacy, first-hand experience, and local knowledge. Modern ethnographic methodology was the zeitgeist of public culture.

Cultural competence of nurses in Pudong New Area, Shanghai: a mixed-method study

Abstract Objective Cultural competence has gradually attracted attention from many countries, including China. This study was undertaken to determine the cultural competence of registered nurses in Shanghai, China, and to identify the cultural competence among registered nurses in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted in combination with a quantitative survey. Fifteen clinical nurses were interviewed, and 1088 clinical nurses were recruited for the survey with cultural competence scale for registered nurses, based on the results of the qualitative and quantitative studies. Results The overall level of cultural competence among registered nurses in Shanghai's Pudong New Area was moderate. Among the seven dimensions, cultural encounter had the highest score, followed by cultural practice, cultural awareness, cultural desire, cultural skill, cultural experience, and cultural knowledge. Age, level of hospital care, mastery of secondary level, and studying overseas were the influencing factors. Conclusions Hospitals and universities should be aware of the importance of studying cultural competence. Cultural competence-related courses should be increased, and various forms of training should be undertaken to enhance the interest of nurses.

Culinary diaspora space: Food culture and the West African diaspora in Hong Kong

This article examines how food practices contribute to the lived experience of the West African diaspora in Hong Kong. Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observations of Africans in different African restaurants, grocery stalls and cultural events, this article proposes the concept of a “culinary diaspora space” to examine how they navigate spaces of solidarity and struggle during their integration process through African food-related practices. It highlights the point at which boundaries of inclusion and exclusion are contested by revealing the practical and symbolic roles played by migrants’ traditional food culture throughout the integration process. This research argues that African food outlets are a space of social frictions but also of possible cultural encounters between the Africans and Hong Kong Chinese. By focusing on food-related practices, this research demonstrates how the West African diaspora is felt, embodied and perceived by the host society.

The Black Perspective: A Framework for Culturally Competent Health Related Evaluations for African Americans

AbstractThis chapter presents the Black Perspective Health Evaluation (BPHE) framework as a cultural lens for conducting evaluations with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FHQC). The consideration of the health encounter as a cultural encounter is central. The evaluator has a role in advocating for social justice and igniting change in health outcomes for marginalized and vulnerable populations served by FHQCs. The six principles of the Howard University School of Social Work's Black Perspective: (1) affirmation, (2) strengths, (3) vivification, (4) diversity, (5) internationalization, and (6) social justice are featured to inform the approach to address persistent health disparities faced by African Americans and peoples of the African Diaspora. The BPHE Checklist template, provides three steps in using the framework including the importance of dissemination of findings. The authors, both social workers, focus on dignity and respect to ensure successful interventions that promote positive health outcomes.

The Battle of the Astronomers: Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest at the Court of the Celestial Emperors (1660–1670)

The paper is focused on the two most outstanding figures among the Jesuit missionaries in seventeenth-century China: Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest. Schall aimed to introduce the telescope into Chinese astronomy, which was traditionally based on naked-eye observation and calculation. With the advent of the Qing dynasty, he became head of the Mathematical Board and director of the Imperial Observatory. Verbiest was called upon in 1660 to assist Schall in his project of reforming the Chinese traditional calendar. The political situation changed in 1661, with the Empire ruled by a regency hostile to the Jesuits, as were most of the mandarins at the observatory. This was the difficult context of the famous dispute between Yang Guangxian, Wu Mingxuan, and the two Jesuit mathematicians to compare the merits of Western and Chinese astronomy, which lasted from 1664 to 1669. What happened was more than a scientific contest and a court conspiracy: it was a cultural confrontation between the Jesuits and the traditionalist side of the ruling elite, which regarded the Europeans and their increasing influence as a threat for the Empire.