2 See Katan (1989') for results of research into foreign language student use and understanding ofmessages and meta-messages,3 See, for example,Newmark(1988:21) and Bell (1991:161).

Many languages (including Italian) require that all adjectives, articles and pronouns followthe gender of the noun they precede, and not the person they refer to as in English. By correctlyfollowing the lexico-grammatical rules of Italian, rather than interpreting at the global level,the Italian reader is left with a mental picture of a mole (feminine gender), cleaning the home(feminine gender). The reader relates this new information to the most relevant frames relatingto 'spring-cleaning'and 'home', and naturally (in Italy, at least) pictures a lady mole. Thisimage is further confirmed as (Ms.) Mole continues spring-cleaning for the rest of the page.Indeed, it is not until the second page that the lexico-grammar allows Mole to be male: "'This isfine', he said to himself".

At this point, the reader is left momentarily confused and has to make mental sartorialadjustments for the mole. There are two simple ways to avoid this particular problem: theaddition of an explicit cue or the deletion of the distorting element. In the first case, the additionof signor/'Mr' as the opening words would immediately open up the appropriate frame for thereader. The following 'Moles' could then be with the feminine article. Alternatively, by simplydeleting the article, we have talpa/'mole', and the animal remains neuter until we have theexplication on the second page.

The student's translation leaves no doubt that the student had made no mental image of thestory while translating, but was influenced by her mother-tongue lexico-grammar rules. Thisform of translation is a typical case of local processing. Similar strategies are adopted byintermediate second language students. They tend to process information according to thesurface text, without taking the wider context or the meta-message into account.' It is thisdifference in the level of thinking which distinguishes a good translator or mediator from onewho applies systemic language rules. Unfortunately, many trainees have learned to treat trans-lation just like any other academic exercise, as a series of small chunks of information, howevermuch translation practice books stress the need for global pre-reading, For example, Taylor(1990: 193) states in capitals that "RE-READING of the text [is necessary] until the conceptsare clear". Dodds (1994:49, emphasis in the original). says that "Reading the text meansreading it at least three times". He also explains in detail what a translator should be looking forand doing during the various reading phases.

Other translation theorists also point out that attentive reading is a prerequisite to transla-tion,' while Neubert and Shreve (1992:49) go further, talking about "reading for translation".However, although the necessary behaviour is clearly spelled out, there are few specific guide-lines on how to read to access frames, which will, in turn, produce the overall picture. Oneprocedure which can aid trainees in both accessing these frames and in understanding themetamessage is called 'chunking'. This procedure is also essential as a first step in mindshiftingfrom one cultural reality to another. As we briefly mentioned in Chapter 4.8, this is an essentialprerequisite for a cultural mediator. More specifically, by consciously applying the chunkingprocedure trainees should be able to move away from the direct one-to-one absolute semanticequivalence of Mole/la talpa towards a virtual text, in which 'the Mole' and all other lexis willactually be visualized. Once the translator has visualized the scene slbe can begin to find theappropriate words to help the TCreader to see (Mr.) Mole/signor Talpa as Kenneth Grahamewould have intended.

Chunking upHere we begin with the specific and move to the general. As an example, let us think of 'an

':1;'!'

147Translating Cultures

8.2 Chunking

The term 'chunking' has been taken from computing, and basically means to change the size ofa unit. A unit can be made bigger (chunking up) which means that as more comes into view sowe move from the specific to the general, or from the part to the whole. Moving in the otherdirection, we chunk down from the general to the specific or from the whole to the parts.

In NLP, chunking has been developed to show two points (O'Connor and Seymour 1990:150).First, meaning not only depends on context or frame, but there is also a continuous c1ine offrames: from sub-atomic to universal. Second, this c1ine reveals how the language of thesensory-based real world is linked to general, vague and metaphorical concepts. We can link,for example, the sensory-based "To live or to die" to the more vague "To be or not to be" bychunking up to higher levels. In this case we move from the Logical Level of Behaviour to anexpression of identity.

In terms of language and translation, translators need to be able to chunk up and down toestablish the wider and narrower frames of reference of the source text. Chunking down isnecessary for componential analysis to better understand the semantic field of, for example,individual words. The Meta-Model is an example exercise in chunking down. With a view tocultural mediation, translators also need to be able to chunk up, above the individual anddifferent cultures, to culture-inclusive frames. Finally, as for example the journalists in Chap-ter 7, mediators must be able to chunk sideways to find equivalent frames in the target culture.

The process of moving from one level to another involves making associations. Mediatorswill need to exploit their hi-cultural competence to develop a feel for which associations orframes are the most appropriate in each particular context. As Neubert and Shreve (1992:61)mention: "Matching cultural frames is an extremely important and difficult translation task".The 'feel' for appropriacy or matching is accounted for by the Principle of Local Interpretationand Relevance theory. This means that the frames which are the first to come to mind will, ingeneral, be those which are most relevant.

A number of translation theorists have suggested a chunking strategy. We mentioned earlier(in Chapter 7.2) that Baker suggests looking for a more general word (chunking up) to over-come the problem of non-equivalence. Newmark discusses the importance of chunking down,which he calls cultural componential analysis (1988:83). However, neither says how a traineetranslator might be aided in acquiring this strategy.

NLP researchers are particularly interested in the 'how'. As we mentioned in Chapter 3, theyhave adapted Bateson's Logical Typing to make a model of human communication. One of thebasic distinctions in learning that is emphasized is between the observable behaviour (knowl-edge 'what') from the invisible and therefore not directly observable strategies (knowledge'how').

The question NLP researchers tackled was: "How can we learn to chunk?" The answer liesin a series of formulaic procedural questions. These questions access interrelated frames in away similar to hypertext. Trainees learning these questions can then help themselves move outof the local word-for-word translation and begin to mediate between contexts of cultures.

David Katan146

u I149

Chunking Down

NLP

Chunking Down

Chunking UP

Chunking UP

+'FIERCEproperty

applies to

has asexample

Bell's classification

classANIMA

Iisaclass offmember of11'1~EBJ is at the same level as

t""LEGSquality

orWhat is at the same level as " ?

Text Function The dine from Communicativeto Semantic translation Culture-Bound Lexis

Figure 24. Bell's Procedural Model and NLP Chunking

8.3 Global Translation and Mediation

As can be se~n from the NLP chunking arrows on the right, Bell has, in fact, separated twolevels of chunking. Both.a~ove ,and below the level of the word in question one can chunk up,down or laterally. Bell distinguishes between two types of "isa' (sic) meaning: either "is a" or"has". In the first case, 'isa' is a case of chunking up, as in "the tiger is (a member of) animal".~n th~ seco,ndcase, 'is~' (has as an example) is a case of chunking down. 'Has-as-parts' andapplies-to. are also different examples of chunking below the word. As Bell points out, a

property ('has-as-parts') is a defining characteristic, while quality ('applies to') is a variableassociation and will depend on the context.

The links can be made in a number of ways. What is important is that each time links arem~de, r~levan~ concepts are being added providing a series of interlocking frames. It is thisskill which actlvel~ goes on inside a professional translator's head and is an essential part of~he global translation process. Trainees should practise chunking as a mental exercise initself, Once students become consciously competent, the strategy can become internalized tobec~me theunconscious strategy performed by professional translators, interpreters and othermedlat~rs. We will now look more specifically how the chunking process may be applied totranslation,

Asking this question about 'armchair', we could get: dining-room chair, sofa, and so on.Chunking sideways from 'chair', we arrive at stool, table, etc.

Bell (1991:240-54) provides a procedural model of the process. Though he does not specifyhow the model could be practically applied, his listing of encyclopaedic entry relationships isvery similar to the above:

Translating CulturesDavid Katan

What is (a chair)an exampleor partof or a type of?

This may lead us from furniture, to chair and armchair. We can descend further to a particu-lar type of armchair, and contextualize the armchair geographically, finally down to a particulararmchair in the living room. We can also chunk down to the micro level by looking at the

constituents:

Chunking SidewaysThis is stepping sideways or laterally in much the same way as Edward De Bono's LateralThinking (1970). This procedure is particularly useful for cultural mediation, and provides thetype of mental gymnastics or mindshifting required to change cultural frame. In chunkingsideways, the mediator is looking for alternatives which can more readily access the sameframe as in the se. The question to ask here is:

We would then talk of the material, the design and so on.The hyponyms included also give the translator valuable information about what is not

included, and hence translatability at that level. For example, if one were to say "I had break-fast," then what is included in the superordinate (English) breakfast will clearly be very differentfrom that on the Continent. The translator's virtual text will provide information on what gapsneed to be filled when translating into any other language, e.g. with "English", "cooked" or

simply "good" breakfast.

In this particular case we arrive at 'furniture'. This is not the only answer, but in each casethere will be a relevant link (in Sperber and Wilson's use of the term 'relevant'). With regardto reading for translation, we are more interested in functional relationships in the context: Le.in terms of function, what is an 'armchair' an example of? The first chunk-up would be 'a seat',because an armchair functions as a seat. To chunk up again we ask: "What is a seat an exampleoft" Here, we could say 'support'. The more we chunk up, the more general the class, and at acertain point the generalization becomes so general that it becomes meaningless.

What are the constituentelementsof the armchair in the living room?Whatis the armchair in the living room madeup of?

Whatis (an armchair) an exampleof (in this context)?Or alternatively;What is (an armchair)part of (in this context)?Whatis (an armchair)a typeof (in this context)?

What is anotherexampleof !hisclass of things(in thiscontext)?

Chunking downThis is the reverse operation: from the general to the specific. The question to ask is:

What~ a specificexampleof ?"

A logical answer could be 'chair'. To go up to th~ next, more general, level, the same

question is asked:

armchair' . To step up to the next level, Le. to a more general level, one would ask the question:

148

151

Speciic TC example

TARGET CULTURE

CCMMUNlCATIVETRANSLAT04..SEMANTKi

Morageneral class

TEXT

SOURCE CULTURE

components

Translating Cultures

Figure 25. Chunking to Generate Choice

culture-bound Iexis culture-bound behaviour cultural orientations

The extracts are from a daily newspaper and from popular fiction. However, the principleremains the same, whatever the blend-form of text.

8.3.1 Culture-Bound Lexis

The last three sections of this chapter focus on how chunking can be used with regard to:

Newmark's words) a cultural equivalent, then the translator will continue chunking, First it willbe necessary to chunk laterally, to move away from the image of the source text. Then thetranslator will chunk down to move towards the sensory world of the target culture. Thegenerally unconscious (out-of-awareness) operation is illustrated in the following (technical)diagram:

In Sue Townsend' s (1985) popular work of fiction, The Secret Diary ofAdrian Mole Aged 133/4, Adrian has a friend by the name of Maxwell House. The translator can chunk laterally, andquite legitimately simply borrow the name: "Maxwell House". This would, in general, be themost logical strategy with regard to personal names.

However, the fictional name here is not casual, and nor are the connotations. ChristopherTaylor (1990: 106-107) notes that the contraposition of Maxwell (first name) and House (sur-name) create a comic effect. 4 Maxwell is a normal first name, yet the collocation with Houseaccesses a totally different frame, that of instant or freeze dried coffee. So, a translator, wishing

4 More recently, well after the book was published, the word 'Maxwell' accesses another frame, that ofRobert Maxwell, the ownerof the MirrorGroupof Newspapers and embezzlerof the Pension Funds.Hemade front page news with his suicide, and the subsequent criminal investigations into his family'sdealings. However,the intentionof Townsendcould not possiblyhave includedthis accessingof frames.

David Katan

This will help in focusing on register and the other features that make the particular text understudy an example of a particular text-type. Lateral chunking would encourage trainees toconsider other texts which would come under the same text type heading.

The more this is done, the more students begin to get a feel for where the borders betweenone text type and another are. It also helps trainees to realize that a text-type label is oftenmisleading; as a text will, in general, be polyfunctional (Vermeer 1978; Hatim and Mason1990: 141). A text, therefore, will not be bound by prescriptive norms which determine either acommunicative or semantic translation. As Snell-Hornby (1988:31) states: "Blend-forms" ratherthan a rigid typology of texts "are part of the conceptual system and not the exception".

This would clearly give an idea of the text type, and access similar known texts. Bell(1991: 171) points out that by accessing the genre or text type, sense can be made of the newtext, while Carl James (1988) asserts that recognition of genre and its rules is the translator'smost important task. Neubert and Shreve (1992:48) note that one of the telling findings ofcognitive psychology is that "text comprehension only occurs when the comprehender activelyconjectures or projects the semantic content contained in the text".

As a further exercise students can chunk down and ask:

TheCline from Communicative to Semantic TranslationAs mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, a virtual translation is a useful metaphor for thevision a translator has of what the target text and its associated frames will be like. Thetranslator, faced with choices, will test the alternatives against the feelings s/he has related tothe virtual text. Through chunking, the translator can decide whether to produce a more TC- orSC-oriented translation. At the two ends of the c1ine we have the communicative and thesemantic translation. The communicative translation, as expounded by Newmark (1981:39) isreader-centred, pragmatic and functionally oriented.

On the other hand, the semantic translation focuses on the original words of the author,remains faithful to them and ignores the real world of the target culture. In fact Newmark(1988:46, emphasis added) mentions that the translator wishing to produce a semantic trans-lation: "may translate less important words by culturally neutral third or functional terms butnot by cultural equivalents". In this case the translator will chunk up from the specific SC to amore general, all embracing term. This term will tend to be less culture specific the more wechunk up.

If, instead, the translator wishes to produce a more 'I'Csoriented translation, using (in

Text FunctionWhen a reader reads, s/he brings an array of texts to mind. The closer the text being processedis to a known text type the more fully it can be processed, and a virtual translation be made.Chunking makes this procedure conscious. When traine~~ are faced with a text, however short,and this would include sentences used exclusively for grammar translation, they should chunkup, asking the following question:

150

153

In ita Iy

'~)'.. un pauino!a roll.. u n h n m bn rg er.. una pizza -

In Britain I. LATERAL CHUNK

.. un spuntino indiano

cibo do csportarelfood to takeaway

elb e d a eap or rar e in this particulartext

U 110 sp u"lino/a snack~~~-:""V T

I ER XT TUAL

Figure 27. Chunking Questions from the Source Text

Bomb Blasts Hole inTown'sSense ofContentment.Erland Clouston finds Warrington's citizens confused, resentful and wondering why they were

chosen to suffera secondIRA atrocity."Got any ID?"The squat shadow guarding the gates of Warrington's Territorial army ban'acks

warily studiedthe plasticcard in the magnesium glare of a roadcalled,of all things,O'Leary Street.Was he nervous? The caretaker shrugged. "Now and then," he admitted. He was an ex-professional

soldier. Heknewa bit aboutbombsandviolence. Half a mileaway,uptowncivilianWarrington was in anemotional daze, shaken rigid at the hole punched in the easy-going contentment of a communitypreviollslyfamousonly for its breweries, its soap factory, and its RugbyLeagueteam.

.. A noticeon the door of the PosternGate Tavern,just aroundthe corner from the first BridgeStreetbomb, announced "In respect for the dead and the injured we shall not be opening this evening". Yet

. Gaffer's Bier Keller, 50 yards nearer the explosion, was packed. ''It's a form of defiance, isn't it?" a. brunettein a blackcocktaildressdeclaredover the blareof disco music.

A bit further down Bridge Street, HGV driver Mark James mmtehed a tandoori in a door-way, watching .teams of men in white overalls carefnlly sweep up fragments of flesh. "To behonest, I had a big cry with my mates," said 34-year-old Mark. "1 don't think the troops should be in

.~land, but whatkind of sense of flU). do they get out of this?It's an effing atrocity".At the Spicy Chicken takeaway, l7-year-old DominicReynoldsthought whoeverdid it should be

strappedto a chair that had a bombtied to it, timedto go off in an hour."That's too quick," snorted a female colleague. "Bastards. A three-year-old child, just before

Mother's Day. Absolutelysick".

If we concentrate for a moment on "munched a tandoori", we note that the predicate is notcentral to the text, but creates the setting of ordinary, routine, day-to-day life from which theafter-effects of a tragedy are witnessed. This particular 'ordinary life' though is an example ofculture bound behaviour.

A tandoori can be bought from any high-street Indian restaurant or take-away in Britain. Incontinental Europe, the dish is almost unheard of, and take-away eating is still uncommon. So,there is no one-to-one equivalent. The first task, therefore, is to chunk up to more generallevels, to have a variety of more general superordinates,

Translating Cultures

Having established a variety of superordinates, we translate those that seem most promising,and then begin to chunk down in the target language till we find the expression which fits bestthe virtual text and the original array of feelings and reactions to the SC text. It may be that thetranslator will wish to chunk down further to a more target language sensory-based concept, tolet the target reader fully sense this contraposition of daily life and tragedy. In which case, thelinking (using Italian as an example) could be as follows:

The following is an extract from The Guardian (22/03/93), which gives an account of aterrorist attack in Belfast in 1993. The journalist gives a little background to the scene after thebomb attack (emphasis added):

8.3.2 Culture-bound Behaviour

David Katan

lily Oiffe

Ekinu do:0Upperclassname+ brandof coffeeinItaly

TARGET CULTURE

-

+~Chunk~

name+ drinkbrand

~

VIRTUALTEXT

_~............. Maxwell House TeoLipton

SOJRCETEXT

name + drinkbrandname

Maxwell House

qualities: /'comic effectincongruence

~nklnu0LUpperclass

name + brand t........of coffeein UK

Figure 26. Translating with the Chunking Procedure

5 See L. Carbolante(1987).

If we chunk down, we notice that Maxwell is composed of: class (Maxwell has upper-class connotations)

and that the Maxwell House: has a comic effect is a household name

a personal name a brand of coffee.

The translator with these semantic constructs can then begin to work on the target culture.S/he will have a feel for what is needed from the variety of frames making up the virtual textand will then open up, for example, Italian frames by asking an appropriate procedural ques-tion. In this case, the chunking down question to ask is: "what is an example in the Italianculture of a brand name of coffee, which could be read as an aristocratic name + surname, andcreate a comic effect?" An answer might well be llly Caffi; which is Italy's most upmarketbrand of coffee.

This method would result in a communicative (Le. target culture oriented) translation. Thevirtual text, though, would tell us that Maxwell House is British, and that the whole context ofculture is British. Clearly, having a friend called Illy Caffe would give him a continentalflavour.

The natural step is then to ask, chunking sideways: "What is at the same level as MaxwellHouse and Illy Caffe?", i.e., what would create a comic effect for the target reader, but at thesame time would remain source text oriented? An inspired answer was "Tea Lipton".' For anItalian, Lipton Tea, or rather re Liptonis synonymous with Anglo-Saxon culture. The advertizingof the product in Italy is also deliberately comic: an American speaking Italian with a strongmid-Atlantic accent.

The diagram below shows the principal stages in chunking:

to retain the comic effect will need to isolate the contributing factors by chunking up. We find,by chunking up, that "Maxwell House" is 'a member of':

152

The translator, as mediator, needs to be particularly careful to keep the information focus asin the original to retain the construction of reality as the writer saw it. For this reason a fullerexplanation, such as "a tandoori, which is an Indian method of cooking meat" would beinnrmronriate 'This W01l1C1 lead us to the same area of distortion as Batmanluama oioistrello

155

Identity U.S. Italy I France

CULTURE FRAMES

success

GJsacrificeValues effort(tnste'i TRANSLATION i

,Behaviour (talking about) It soldi / argent

I1wney

Environment New York Milan/ Paris

[Sherman McCoy]: "Once you had lived in a $2.6 million apartment on Park Avenue - it wasimpossible to live in a $1 million apartment! Naturally, there was no way to explain this to a livingsoul. Unless you were a complete fool, you couldn't even make the words come out of your mouth.Nevertheless - it was so! It was ... an impossibility!"

Translating Cultures

For an example of cultural values, we return to the American writer, Tom Wolfe, and hischronicling of life in New York. Not unusually there are many references to the price of things(emphasis in the original):

and Blackfriars/Frati Neri discussed in Chapter 7.This leaves us with spuntino or spuntina indiana. Between the two possibilities, that which

is able to give the target reader more insight is the preferable. However, the mediator/translatorwill need to decide if the TC reader would focus on this background information to thedetriment of the text as a whole. If so, then a generalization will be necessary. The finaldecision will, as always, need to be taken in conjunction with the rest of the text, which meansthat the translator will need to always have the overall virtual text in mind.

8.3.3 Chunking and Cultural Values

The dollars, on a technical level can be translated into any other currency with no problemwhatsoever. But in what frame are we going to understand 650 dollar shoes? An Americanwithi~ his or her own cultural frame is likely to find the question strange. It is natural (for anAmencan) to talk about the price of things.

For other cultures this is not so. This is part of the out-of-awareness culture Hall cited in hisTriad of.cul~ure. A French reader's reaction to this use of money is well described by RaymondeC~oll In hIS book Cultural Misunderstandings (1988:128-29), which was originally writtenWIth an even more apt title Evidences Invisibles: "Money", he writes, "Someone should talka?out m~ney. For a French person, the face of an American could easily be replaced by a dollarSIgn.A SIgnof 'incurable materialism', of arrogance, of power, of 'vulgar', unrefined pleasure".

Figure 29. Translating without Mediating Values

David Katan

SnackSpuntino/snackSpuntino indiana/Indian snack panino/filled roll pizza hamburger

UPSIDEWAYSDOWNSIDEWAYS

CHUNKING PROCESS

1. Tandoori2. Snack3. Spuntino4. Spuntino indiano

Figure 28. Chunking Questions to the Target Text

The initial choice will be between uno spuntino, uno spuntino indiano and un paninolhamburger/pizza. The target culture snacks will, in general, be disregarded for two reasons.First, the frame is an eye-witness report of what was seen - and neither a hamburger, paninolefilled roll, nor a pizza was seen. In these cases generalization is better than distortion.

Second, if it has been decided to translate this piece (whether for trainee practice or foreventual publication) then, one of the aims of the translator as cultural mediator is to help thereader gain an insight into another culture. One insight is already implicitly given, that eating inthe streets is a normal activity. The 'munched a tandoori' is simply part of everyday life, withno foregrounding or information focus whatsoever. The second insight is that Indian food isextremely common in Britain.

Compare this background information with the following sentences where the focus on thetandoori is more marked. In the first case, the tandoori has end focus position. In the second caseit is the object of focus in a cleft sentence, and in the third example, tandoori is a marked theme:

154

As we can see, a foreignized translation can lead the reader to an ethnocentric set of values.This is hardly surprising if we take the Attribution theory and Logical Levels theory intoaccount (discussed at the end of chapter 4). The translator as mediator needs to be in a positionto direct the reader to the right frame, i.e. to chunk up to those core values underlying thesymbol (money) in America.

Essentially the translator will need to be aware of the SC frame from within which s/he caninterpret 'money'. That being done, the translator will look for a sign, or criterial equivalent, inthe TC which fits the overall virtual text and which relates to this particular value frame. Thewords 'luxury' and 'designer' in Italian or in French would both act as a cue to accessing thesame value frames as the American 'money'.

The chunking procedure is explained in the following diagram, The chunking-up tells us thegeneral values that the shoes and the apartment are a member of. Chunking sideways takes usto the TC frame, Then we chunk down, in Italian or French in this case, to specific examples(criterial equivalents) which satisfy these values:

In fact, if it is at all possible to attach a price to something, as approximate as it may be, thatprice will surely be mentioned, For an American though, money is simply a useful symbolsignifying the type of shoe, apartment etc. The underlying value depends on the context. Here,dollars indicate the amount of effort, sacrifice, and ultimately success that Sherman, the hero inthe book, has had in life.

As we can see, a direct translation leads the reader to a different set of values, and hencedistorts the writer's intention. This is an example of the danger of a faithful translation, andhighlights one of the problems of 'foreignizing' a text. The idea of 'foreignizing' a translationto prevent ethnocentrism comes from Lawrence Venuti. He defines the concept, in Schaffner(1995:4), as follows: "Foreignizing ... means taking the reader over to the foreign culture,making him or her see the (cultural and linguistic) differences .... A foreignizing strategy seeksto evoke a sense of the foreign".

However, in this case by leaving the foreign money as in the original, the translation willonly strengthen the ethnocentric view that all American eyes are made up of Donald Duckdollars, As some pointed out during the debate with Venuti on the subject (Schaffner & Kelly-Holmes 1995:32): "what is intended to be a non-ethnocentric ,.. translation ... can be read asbeing extremely ethnocentric" (Douglas Robinson), and "literalism is not always a good wayof being non-ethnocentric" (Baker). Robinson and Baker give three examples of seeminglynon-ethnocentric translations:

157

Italy I France

CULTURE FRAMES

U.S.

Paris I Milan INew York

CULTURAL MEDIA TION

success ..... successsacrifice LATERAL sacrifice

effort CHUN KING effort(t.ste) (,.",,)

j CH U N K IN G UP ICHUNKING DOWN.$$$ shoes designer$$$ aoartrnent luxury

Identity

Values

Behaviour

Environment

ermanMcCoyJ: "Onceyouhad livedin a lu:xury apartment on ParkAvenue - it wasimpossiblein a merely desirable apartment! Naturally, there was no way to explain this to a livingsoul.youwerea complete fool,youcoutdn't evenmakethewordscomeoutof yourmouth. Neverthe-

was ... an impossibility!"McCoy] sat with his New and Lingwood designer shoes pulled up against the coldtoilet and the newspaper rustlingin his trembling hands, envisioning Campbell, her

tears,leavingthemarbled entryhall,onthetenthfloorfor thelast time,connnencinginto the lowerdepths.

Figure 30. Chunking to Mediate Values

Translating Cultures

A cultural mediator can now help the TC reader to access the same values (success, effortand taste) through either adding or substituting "luxury", "desirable" or "designer". We now

(back translated):

Part 3 will investigate in detail the array of possible value clusters that make up value/U"WC"'i>. The more sets of values the mediator is aware of, the more able he or she will be to

meaning behind behaviour in a context.

David Katan156

3. The Array of Frames:Communication Orientations

Sapir's (1994: 119) lecture notes focused on the needs for the future. He was veryto know what it was that motivated certain cultural configurations, or rather patterns

avionr:

must therefore discover the leading motivations for these configurations - the masterof culture. These leading motivations constitute the culture in an anthropological

They are the fundamental dynamic concepts involved in the notion of culturalPattelTIs. Nothing in behaviour, cultural or otherwise, can be understood except as seen as

reference to these configurations.

uu.. ~,~ Hall (1990:184) had the same questions in mind:

Sbmetinle in the future, a long, long time from now when culture is more completelyexplored, there will be an equivalent of musical scores that can be learned, for each type of

woman in different types of jobs or relationships, for time, space, work, and play ...are the sets, isolates, and patterns that differentiate their lives ...?

3 looks at some of the leading motivations, and investigates some of the sets, isolatespatterns, The term used principally in this Part will be 'orientations'. What is of particular

is how these orientations act as frames in which the transmission and reception ofri~l;sages are interpreted, and also how cultures vary in what aspects of reality are specifically

rtumitp.f 9 discusses orientations in general, comparing them with values, norms and cultural

Chapters 10 and 11 focus on two principal orientations, the basic organizing filters affectingi~()rnmULllil~ation and action; and discusses the various options available to cultures. A brief(1e:scriptilon of a number of other organizing behavioural orientations is also given.

iC:hapb~r 9. Cultural Orientations

aim of this chapter is to:discuss cultural myths:~ the myths cultures have about themselves- the myths cultures have about othersintroduce a taxonomy of orientations

Rollo May, in his book The Cry for Myth (1991:6) suggests that there are two modes ofcommunication, myth and rationalistic language. Myth, he says, "orients people to reality,transmits societal values, and helps the members of the society find a sense of identity. Mythsgive significance to our existence and unify our societies". This type of myth is culture itself, asexplained also by Schneider (1976:203):

163

The Boat Race The ChelseaFlower Show Remembran

165

But at times "humour" prevails:a shop sells gas masks for dogs. InBond Street the ladies who Jrlf.\etwhile shopping are dressed like thequeen with a lot of blue .. ,

Translation

Translation

Also "sir" on the waiting listNobility in England also has to waitits turn.

Translation

ROME - in the visitor's book hesimply wrote "Charles", without anyof the titles hehad the right to use.Understatement, that's what theycall it in English. It is that extra-ordinary capacity to reduce the tonewhich distinguishes a real gentle-man from any ordinary nouveauriche.

Translation

A sniper shoots at RoseThe Englishman is unruffled"That's not how you kill a general".

-----,"""~-,:,~~ ---~'-~----,';:'--~':.,-

Panorama

Cornere della Sera

I -I"k ".1Ma a volte preva e. 0 umor.un negozio vende maschereantigas per cani. A Bond Streetle ladies ehe si incontrano a fare10 Shopping si vestono come laregina con molto colore blu ...(24/1/91)

Anche it sir in lista di attesa(3/3/92)

.- -""~-- -~--"_."l-------~=-:-1- ROMA - sui registro dei visitatori hascrittosernplicemente Charles, senzanessuno dei titoli che pure glispetterebbero. Understatement, laehiamano in inglese. Ovvero quellastraordinaria eapacita di smorzare ttoniehedistingue if verogentleman daun qualunque nuovo nceo.(27/03/92)

Corriere della Sera

Un cecckino spara contro RoseL'inglese non si scompone(Non si uccide cosl ungenerate(20/05/94)

1 Note the American spelling of humour.

The examples below (all taken from quality ~apers or ~eeklies) actually use English words

to heighten what they perceive is not part of their ~_~_lt_u~re~.~__~~ ~~~_-.

Pub de~e"rti pe-r la i~erra in The pubs are deserted due toTV the Gulf war on TV

Translating Cultures

?e q(.~~nl~::;~~~~~l~~~~~h;:~~:~o~~~~:~i~ri;~::~~e~~~~~~~:~:~;o:~o~h~ci~a~:nt~~~~Ity .. _bli ' I" g' monarchy and so on.countries have of themselves: a repu IC, a eye In .- - . ' h . hich news about

. with Ital as an example, we can investigate t e way In w .If we ~ontmu~l ._ tr ~d through the media The first point to note is that the Italian press

pn~~~~::r:~~~~/ln~iS~behaviour in terms of u.nderstate~ent, c~m~~s~:s:~~d~~g~~;~~~;~xample is the following Italian newsp~per he~dh~e fOCUSIng on ajor rcose : -

~omposure during a sniper attack when In Saraje..~v~o~.~~~~~7S7~7SGG77"'Tl

David Katan

CULTURE 2CULTURE !

164

Figure 30. Kramscli's Perception Rings

Kramsch (1993:208) notes that what a culture believes about itself will override any evi-dence to the contrary. She gives a salient example about her compatriots (1993:207): "TheFrench individualists? Any trip to Paris will show the visitor how conformist the French can bein dress and fashion. And yet, everyone believes that 'il n'y a pas plus individualiste que leFrancais'. That myth is tenacious".

This example of self-created and self-perpetuating myths, could equally apply to the Ital-ians. They also believe in their creativity and individual taste - and in particular when it comesto fashion. However, a Sunday Times fashion report (29/12/91 :3,3) suggests that (seen throughBritish eyes) the Italians are even more collectivist and conservative than their French cousins:"The Italian look is the most classic and easy to wear. The Milanese are smart but neveroutrageous, more relaxed than the French, although they do all wear the same thing".

Kramsch suggests that after having distorted perceptions of our own culture, for examplethrough the media and the collective memory, we then compound the distortion by perceiving asecond culture through the distorted perception of ourselves. Each ring around "real culture" inthe following diagram takes us further from what is real, and more into the realms of myth.Intercultural dialogue doubles the myrh-creating potential. Interpreters, in particular, mediatingthese two rings of distortion will need, in turn, to 'right' some of the distortion to allow thecommunication to develop as intended:

Hence, as Kramsch shows, the German image of America is partly an anti-image of itself:desolation and alienation, as seen for example in Wim Wender's vision of America. This is aparticularly important point for translation. Venuti (1995:47) points out that "all translation isfundamentally domestication and is really initiated in the domestic culture, there is, therefore, afundamental ethnocentric impulse in all translation". Translations are commissioned accordingto whether they fit in to the target culture's (distorted, generalized and deleted) perception ofthe source culture. In this way, the ethnocentric perception of the other culture is strengthened,and further domesticized.

It is extremely difficult, as we have already mentioned, to perceive another culture, exceptthrough our own ethnocentric map of the world. Bromhead's view of Britain, which can onlyperceive other cultures in terms of British dominant values is a case in point. If we move tocontinental Europe and the United States, there is still the myth of the Englishman with hisbowler and umbrella, tea at four, and so on. England is a place of nobility and tradition.

This is not surprising, as most day-to-day news about the country abroad is in terms of theRoyal Family, nobility, and prestige events. The worldwide concern over the death of PrincessDiana was a perfect example. It would be difficult to imagine a Theodore Dalrymple typearticle attracting any space at all in a foreign newspaper. What fascinates is what is believed to

I1

Metaprograms ChunkSize Separate shapes - Singlepicture

.. Orientations

The word 'orientation' is another case of a nominalization (in this case, a de-verbal noun).suggesting a frozen state. The verb 'to orient' means "to adjust or align oneself according tosurroundings or circumstances" (CED 1991). People, in fact, tend to orient their way of doingthings consistently over a wide range of circumstances, according to their character or person-ality. In NLP these orientations are called 'metaprograms': "perceptual filters that we habituallyact on" (O'Connor & Seymour 1993:149). Orientations tend to be consistent, but this is not

always the case (emphasis in the original):

In Chapter 4.7, we noted that much of our imprinting is fully developed by the end of school-age. Likewise, metaprograms, and hence personality, are relatively fixed by that stage. But, asO'Connor and Seymour mention above, our orienting can change across contexts.

It is our orientations which govern how perception is generalized, distorted and deleted. Awell-known example of how an orientation distorts reality is as follows. A bottle that has beenopened and drunk from can either be perceived as being half empty or as half full. Ourperception of it has little to do with that actual bottle and the quantity of liquid inside (reality).Perception is distorted to fit in to the way we orient ourselves to the world in generaL Ourperception of the contents ultimately has to do with who we are. In this case, very possibly,

optimists or pessimists.

167

In this section we distinguish between general orientations, also known as learning styles, and

culturally formed orientations.

Metaprograms are systematic and habitual, and we do not usually question them if theyserve us reasonably well. The patterns may be the same across contexts, but few people areconsistently habitual, so metaprograms are likely to change with a change of context. Whatholds our attention in a work environment may be different from what we pay attention to

at home.

9.2 Cultural Orientations

Translating Cultures

Not only are the British (in general) conservative in their taste, but they also retain elaboraterituals concerning, for example, the Christmas event (the stocking, the tree, carol singing,Midnight mass, The Queen's speech at 3 p.m.), and in particular the Christmas lunch (turkey,stuffing, the Christmas Pudding, mince pies). Anything else, as a recent advert for plump

Christmas turkeys states, "just isn't Christmas".There are of course numerous other rituals which a large minority, if not the majority, of

....U,lU'''''' engage in. In many cases, the rituals are very different to what they believe to be part of

culture.In conclusion, Ritchie (1981:223) points out the importance of myths and cultural

orientations: "But what a people believe themselves to be is not invalidated by lack of per-formance in keeping with the belief'. We will now turn to what lies behind the beliefscultures hold, and what motivates people within their cultures to behave in their various

patterned ways.

Translation

David Katan

._-;,.~-

Face to Face with the Queen

... th~ Italian President's secretary,SerglO Berlinguer, linked to theestablishment through his wifeLiza, [is not allowed to put] hisfbot in the drawing room, whereasthe corgi dogs can freely enter,greedy for chocolate biscuits whichwill be served to the queen and tothe president [CossigaJ togetherwith Earl Grey tea, cuculllbersandwiches, smoked salmon andcream cakes. The queen will beextremely busy both before andafter the tcte-1Hete with Cossiga:following the Champion Stakes,the hurdles at the Cheltenham racetrack, on television; and examiningthe budget with the Chancellor ofthe Exchequer ...

A tu per tu con la regina

Panorama

.,. it segretario del QuirinaleSergio Berlinguer; legato

all'establishment attraverso lamoglie Liza, [non pub mettere}piede nel salottino dove invecepossono entrare liberamente i canicorgi, golosi dei biscotti dicioccolata che saranno serviti alla~egina e al pre.ridente [Cossiga}Insieme t;tl te Earl Grey, aisandwich al cetriolo, al salmoneaifumicato, ai pasticcini alla panna,Prima e dopo if tete-it-tete conCossiga la regina sadJ occupatissima: per seguire alla televisione lachampion stakes, carsa a siepiall'ipPodromo di Cheltenham e peresaminare con it CanceZliere delloScacchiere it budget ...(3/3/92)

The popular .imag~ ~s also denoted by the lack of variety of food metaphors to describe~~~;~~~)~fItalian origin,as noted by Irving Allen in his publication The Language ofConflict

!he advertisin.g of Br~t~sh products in Italy is, naturally, selective. The whiskey is for~efme? ?eople WIth exquisite taste. The cars are exclusive: Range Rover and Jagu ~ Th t -IS Twining hi h zi he i . . ~ ar. e eaco .'. s, w ~c gives t ~. Impres.sIOn of a population of public school boys drilled in

nformity, sobnety and tradition, ThIS particular brand is actually drunk b 11 .~.' .f th lati ~ ~ .~ ~.~ . y a sma minority~ b.~.~ le popu anon, even fewer of whom would be sure of the pronunciation without reading thea e.

diti the~ther sid~ of the Channel, it is the British who believe that it is the Italians who aretra itionalists, p~tIcularly when it comes to food. Notice, for example, how the stereot e hasbeenhusedeffectively by The Daily Telegraph, to attract readers to take part in a compe~~on towatc the 1990 World Cup competition in Italy:

166

Yet it is als~ the B.ritish ,:"hobelieve in "meat and two veg", who go abroad to find (and relish~e~tau,r~nts m Spain, Majorca, Crete, Corfu, and a host of other British holiday haunts special~Izmg Ill. ~-

L T~lljJl$tJi#:elVli!lW witlWsitI AllDayBacon and Eggbreakfasts

169

Core Values

Core Values

Value

Value

Value

Value

32. The Construction of Cultural Orientations

Many authors (and disciplines) have come up with a taxonomy of cultural orientations.Fl01ren,ce Kluckhohn (Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 1961:10-20), who coined the term 'value

lentation' suggests that there are five' basic problems common to all human groups. They arefollows:

ValueOrlentationsurDimensions

Ten Orientatious

rShe also mentions a sixth common human problem, the human conception of space, but admits that thebrlentations "have not been worked out sufficiently well to be included" (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck1961:10).

exceptions, then we can begin to build a useful grammar primer of what actually happens in thecontext of culture.

The CulturalIceberg.cultural orientation is a shared metaprogram: .a culture's tendenc~ to:vards a partI~ular w,ay

f rceiving. The orientation or metaprogram influences how reality IS modelled, .1.e. which:s;:ts are to be generalized, distorted and deleted. An orientat.ion is based on a number of~omplex and interrelated (and sometimes conflicting) values, w~Ich,as. we have seen, are alsoin dynamic relation with a number of other factors. At the h~art lie the fixed and total~y-ou~-o~awareness core values. The diagram below illustrates the relation between values and ~~entatlOns,

There are relatively few core values. These generate ~ ?umber of ~ore spe~IfIc value.s,illustrated by the arrows, A cluster or set of these spe~lf~c v~ues wI~1 result m a .ce~amorientation towards or away from a particular way ofpercervmg, m~erpretmg.and ~ehaVI?g m anumber of contexts. Because imprinting in the environment is soc~al, the .0rIentatIOn WIll ~lso

to be social, and therefore reality within a specific culture WIll be distorted, generalizedand deleted to suit the cultural orientation:

David Katan

SinglePicturefielddependencesortingfor samematchinginductivegeneralglobalsyntheticholistic

Separate Shapes field independence sortingfor different mismatching deductive specific local/part analytic atomist

168

Example descriptions of this diagram are as follows:I. there are three separate shapes2. there are Some triangles, one upside down, in a picture3. there is a picture with two identical triangles and one upside down4. there is a (single) picture of triangles

Response number one shows a definite orientation towards the left hand column (separateshapes) while number two begins to notice the differences first, and then focuses on the picture.Answer three, instead, begins at the right, focusing on "a single picture" and then moves to theleft. Finally, response four focuses exclusively on the whole: the gestalt. "Gestalt" actuallymeans an organized configuration or pattern of meaning.

It should always be remembered that the idea of polarization is a convenient model (delet-ing, generalizing and distorting the far more complicated reality), and that any orientation is, asthe word suggests, no more than a tendency towards one way of perceiving the world. Creatinga taxonomy of these orientations is necessarily limiting. However, if we remember that none ofthe orientations operates in isolation, and that, as in grammar, we have levels of delicacy and

One of the orientation metaprograms suggested in NLP regards chunk size. Chunk size hasalready been introduced during the discussion on local and global translation styles. The polar-opposites of chunk size are the generalities (the context) or the details (the individual wordsthemselves). This chunking orientation has an important place in Gestalt therapy, and is nowunderstood to be a major factor in learning.

To see how we normally and unconsciously chunk, we can look at the following example.The diagram can be perceived in at least four different ways, depending on this local/globalorientation,

Figure 32. Testing Orientation: Local or Global?

All four answers are correct, just like the bottle being half-full Orhalf-empty. This sorting ofinformation comes under a variety of names- depending on the field and the application. Theterms below come from Gestalt psychology, cognitive psychology and linguistics. Apart from'sorting' and 'mismatching' which is only to be seen in NLP literature, the other terms nowtend to be used across all disciplines:

2 See also Laura Gran's (Gran& Dodds 1989:94)study on brain hemispherefunction for a further list ofnames.

171

Inkeles andLevinson

reliltionsbjp to authority Power distanceparticular:

.onship between theindividual and

At this point we should look at the cultural iceberg (see Chapter 2.4.) once again.

34. Brake's Iceberg ofCultural Orientations

of the items below the waterline is a cultural orientation. ~n the ~ollowing chapter we willour attention on two cultural orientations which ~utomat1callymf~ue~ce the way we use

la]ngl1a~~e to communicate: the orientations towards action and commumcat1~n... id' fl b h . . and hence commurucation ill a wrc erThe other orientations directly in uence e aVlOur, . . -- . . Brake et

A short explanation of these orientations, and the possible options ac~ordmg t~. :(1995) is give~ below, both to give the reader an idea of the array o~ posslb~e co~ matIo~,

and also because a number of these orientations will be :et~~ed to .mour dl~cusslOn.on . e. .. .. .. . t tions Where there is a significant difference ill labelling, theaction and commumcanon onen a .

authors responsible have been shown.

it'nmslatil1g CulturesDavid Katan

neitherpartnerfuturecollateralbeing-in-becoming

Belief in or Focus on...evil goodconqueror victimpast presentindividualist linealbeing doing

Orientationwith regard to...HumanityNatureTimeSocial relationshipfiActivity

170

I. What is the character of innate human behaviour?Human Nature Orientation

2. What is the relation of man to nature (and supernature)?Man-Nature Orientation

3. What is the temporal focus of human life?Time Orientation

4. What is the modality of human activity?Activity Orientation

5. What is the modality of man's relationship to other men?Relational Orientation

Value orientations are complex but definitely patterned (rank-ordered) principles, result-ing from the transactional interplay of three analytically distinguishable elements of theevaluative process - the cognitive, the affective, and the directive elements - which giveorder and direction to the ever-flowing stream of human acts and thoughts as these relate tothe solution of 'common human' problems.

For each of these questions there are three possible responses that constitute a culture's(dominant or variant) value orientations. Her definition of value orientation is as follows(ibid:341):

It should be pointed out that every culture and every individual will, in theory, have accessto every orientation, but will tend to favour the use of one orientation over the others, andconversely will have difficulty in comprehending the other orientations. A cultural mediator,on the other hand, should have almost equal access to all orientations. This may of course resultin dis-orientation through too much choice.

Kluckholm's orientations are as follows:

Trompenaars (1993) follows Kluckhohn's dimensions adding a further two taken fromTalcott Parsons' (1982) 'five pattern variables'. Hofstede (1991) has four orientations, whichhe terms 'dimensions', adapted from the sociologist Alex Inkeles and the psychologist DanielLevinson (1969:447), who suggested four issues which qualified as common basic problemsworld-wide.

Brake et al (1995:39) have ten orientations, an amalgamation of Kluckhohn, Talcott Par-sons, Hofstede and Hal1.4 Their taxonomy is the most comprehensive in the literature (to date),and forms the framework for the following sections.

4 Brake et al. have integrated other authors too, but those of most interest here are the five orientationsintroduced by Kluckbohn (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck 1961); Hall's (1982, 1983, 1990) time, space andcontexting, and Hofstede's (1991) four dimensions.

Fluid/Fixed TimeFixed time cultures perceive time technically. A minute is sixty seconds: "Time is money", and

5 For more details on indicators of orreraanon d ... -.particular,Hofstede (1990' Trompenaar (1~~;)s. a!lH stadtlStICS regarding a culture's orientation see, in

, s, _ amp en-Turner and Trompenaars (1993).

173

Openaccessto personal lifespace;butaccess, position andau-thority etc. segregated according to context.Selected entryto individual's privatelife space; butrelationship,position, authority, etc.crosses contexts.

Individual privacy v morepublic useof spacePreference for distance/low physical contact v proximity 1highphysical contact

Japanese have an orientation towards public space and distance, with open-plan offices,small communal living quarters, but very little physical contact (public/distance). In com-on, an American or European house or office will tend towards the private, and higherIs of proximity are tolerated (private/proximity). We have already mentioned (in Chapter

I) Hall's appropriate distances for white North Americans when discussing culture at thevel of environment. Typical appropriate distances for Southern Europe will be closer, and

uch too close for the British.

be spent, used and wasted. "On time" means technically 'on time', and apologies areed between 1 and 5 minutes after, depending how close to fixed time the culture is. Time

gement, 'Just in Time' and 'Time and Motion' studies work well in these cultures.rican, German and Swiss cultures are particularly conscious of technical time.\lid time defines punctuality with more flexibility. "Subito" in Italian technically means

iately". It is the standard reply given by those in the service industry when beingfor service. The informal meaning is "I'll be with you when I have finished what I'm

". In fluid-time cultures, delays are expected and tolerated. A meeting can start fifteenty minutes late depending on the culture without undue tension being created. Those withd-time orientation have difficulty in comprehending the Italian informal but institu-ized quarto d'ora academico/ "the university fifteen minute sliding start" much loved by

academics and students alike. It is always useful to check which time is being talkedut: e.g. "German time", "Italian academic time", "Neapolitan time", "Milan time", and so

sI/Present/Futureoriented cultures emphasize tradition. Any change tends to take place over a long period

in relation to the past. The historical context is paramount to understanding the present, andry itself is highly valued. This is certainly true of Italy with many of its road namesding an event or personality in history. Television interviews (both in Britain and in Italy)to concentrate on the background of the subject in question, much to the irritation of the

rican guest who wants to talk about 'now' .Present-oriented cultures, such as America, emphasize the here and now. "History is bunk,"4Henry T. Ford. The future also is not so important: "time waits for no man"; "take care of

y and tomorrow will take care of itself." Long-term planning tends to be in terms offive to

years at maximum (Hall 1990:141).uture-oriented societies can plan ahead to the next generation, Japanese business plans takeunt of the past and can plan for the next hundred years in "the eternal cycle" (Adler

1:30-1; Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars: 1993:138; Brake, et aI1995:52). Italy also hasfuture orientation in terms of relationships. Once formed they are expected to be long term,

ith dues and favours to be repaid over a long period.

David Katan

Awayfrom/Towards

NLPthrough timein time

reactive..NLPproactive

Hallmonochronicpolycbronic

Trompenaarsinner-directed

outer-directed

Brake et al.

control harmony constraint

PastlPresentlFuture (Kluckhobn)

9.3 A Taxonomy of Orlentations"

Environment

172

CUI~ures vary in .their perception of the environment. They may feel that they can control the~~Iron~ent, as In "Just D~ It" discussed in Chapter 5.4, and are in charge of their own destinyd ;.rnat~vez), ~t the oppositeend of the cline, the environment (including supernatural forces'

es my, u? .as a m~asure of control over them (Che sara sara, Inshalla). 'CO:d~~' U~lted St~tes IS a pr!me example of a control orientation, from its insistence on air-

th ~on~n~ to t e conquenng of space and "the buck stops here". Southern Europe on the~aner affin IS clos~r to a constraint orientation, with people more willing to acc~pt the'impor-

ce 0 orce majeur and acts of God.

tio~ ~~~r~rCtePtion of t~e environment is the dominant Native-American and Eastern orienta-, I ... IS 0 operate In harmony with real or perceived environmental forces.

Time

Monochronic/Polychronie~~ll (1983) d~vote.s most of his book to ~e eult~ral understanding of time, Monochronic time. . tures perce~ve time as the frame. The focus IS on the task rather than the relationshi .. and~hed~les ~e Important and adhered to. According to Tannen (1992) men in general(in torthth:e~~:d~~~st{;e ~ore task oriented th~n women. With regard to national cultures, ratherthi . '. or ern uro~ean~ and Amencans also tend towards this orientation. Those withm:~t~nentatIOnwThould cons~der It rude to interrupt a meeting, client or phone call to attend to

er pers~n. e word "interrupt" is itself a monochronic word . .tiO=~~~ch.romc or ~ulti-~ocus cUlture~, on the other hand, place greater emphasis on the rela-th /P, and multi-tasking. Tasks WIll be completed according to relationship needs rather. an irne needs. In a bank, serv.ing only one person, and not answering the phone or anotherImlPortant person WOUld. be c.onsld,eredrude. Mediterranean, Arab, South American and -Asiancu tures tend towards this onentation.

174

175

NLPProceduresOption

HoJstedeMasculine

Feminine

HoJstedeStrongUncertainty AvoidanceWeakUncertainty Avoidance

etitive cultures privilege the more masculine character. There are winners and losers,le "live to work", workaholics are respected, and material success is a high motivator.

perative cultures, on the other hand, work together as interdependent teams, "work to live"place a higher value on the quality of life, Japan, Germany, Italy and the Angle-Americanntries are all competitive cultures. High-cooperative cultures include the Scandinavian

ntries, Spain and a number of South American countries.

ea, and Southern Europe plus France and Italy, do not reduce situations to simplistic, These cultures emphasize difference, uniqueness and exceptions, from food and restau-to the application of parking fines and queuing. We have already mentioned the universalistican difficulty in understanding the particularist Mexican approach to speeding offencespter 2.3.rge Orwell noted how it is possible to be particularist in a politically collectivist societypolitical satire Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal

others". This orientation nurtures the patronage system, which can work for the good ofcollective society as in Japan, or for the individual group or family as in Italy,"

future is an unknown quantity for all cultures, and day-to-day life can also present peoplethe unknown. The degree to which a culture feels threatened or uncomfortable with

biguity, uncertainty or change, is an indication of its orientation towards order or flexibility.an, Greece, Italy and Germany have a strong orientation towards order, and tend to avoidbiguity or change in all things, Hence change tends to comes about through destabilization

d revolution, In Italy, though conviction and the impression of structure is highly valued, its_ icularist orientation ensures that the orientation towards order is never fully achieved.The Angle-American countries have a relatively high toleration for uncertainty and change.

ccording to Hofstede (l991:II3), Great Britain is the most unperturbed of that group, ands forty-eighth out of the fifty-three countries surveyed in terms of "the extent to which

bers of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations", Singapore, at number-three, has the highest toleration, These cultures have less need for detailed rules which

tempt to define all situations. Flexibility (except for time itself), choice and options arelued.

See also Mead (1994:111-137), and his discussion on The Mafia.

David Katan

Ho.fstedeHighPowerdistanceLow Powerdistance

NLP

(tend to) Internal + Independent/Proximity(tendto) External!+ Co-operative

Brakeet al.HierarchyEquality

Brakeetal,IndividuaIismCollectivismTrompenaars,UniversalismParticularism

-Power

- Individualism

- Diffuse/Specific

~:~~dca~ a~so b~per~eived ~s psychologicaj (Trompenaars 1993:73-76). The degree to which. i ua s et 0 ers .i~to their life (psychological space) tends to change with cultur A '

can.s tend t? the specific. New acquaintances become intimate friends over a relativel men-pen~fd, of time, ~owever: t?is relationship (including both entitlements ~nd Obligati~n:h)_o;tspeci ic to a particular acnvity or sector. s

A ~iffuse life space orientation, on the other hand, has a relativel uard-acqual?tanc~s,However, once a relationship has been formed wheth y ~., ed approach toentry, mcludmg entitlements and obligations is expected to all ( fer ~usmess or personal),is a pri I f h'. areas 0 pnvate space. Germanyword ,,~~ e~~mpde~. t ISsystem, a?d Italy also tends towards this system, The meaning of the

orientati~:~ Th:~or~ i~:~l~c:~~:~~:;~:l~~~~~:t:db~te~~~ii:~e~~ll vary according t~ cultural

~:g~~eS~~~~;:I~~;~~U~~i~t::~t can ~e distributed ~~enly, with an attempt at reduci~g therelatively high po d' .atlvely, hIera:chy and visible status can be emphasized. Italy is a, wer istance country, while Northern Euro B'. .

ticular tend to e h .~.I' .pe, ntam and the States m p.ar-mp asrze Iow power distance S th A' .

Southern Europe tend to res ect his -'. ou. mer~ca, ASia, and (to a lesser extent)dress . . . .p igh power distance. The Importance of 'respect' wh d-~~SSlllg a person,. address rituals, and the degree of HAP or LAP t elan u __en a

citizens have, are indications of a culture's power distance Orientatio~~ g. age most of the

(Japahn is t.he. most well-known "we", collective, oriented culture, However Southern Europ.easue as Turkey and Greece) C tr I id S .'. ' ~. n

relyin . on ti ht social ,enfa an outh ~me:Ican countries are even more collective,th'} g ..- networks for most commumcatlOn. America leads the HI" "d

mg cultures on all individualism indexes while Northern ,0 your ownare also heavily individualisr Differ '. b Europe (such as Italy and France)

.. . ences etween these co tri .universaiistic/particularist orientations. . un ries occur most on the

Universalist codes are universally applicable, There is a tende t I'procedures and t I h' - ncy 0 genera ize laws and( h

' . ? app y t em universally, American mass-production, McDonald's sneak- .as we ave seen m Chapter 4 I) and Hen . F d' " . . . ,elS

as it's black" symboliz..e th de -. f 'ry or. s You can have any colour you like as longe esire or umversahsm

Particularist cultures, such as those on the Russian subcontinent, Asia, Central and South

e aim of this chapter is to:introduce Edward T. Hall's Theory of Contexting in communicationdiscuss the links between contexting and left/right brain distinctionsillustrate a number of the language behaviour differences as a result of contexting'differencesshow the relevance of contexting for a cultural mediator involved in translation andinterpreting.

Sh3lptE~r 10. Contexting

e of the guiding orientations, which perhaps could be termed a rneta-orientation, isntexting'. This term was coined by Hall in 1976 (1989:85~128) and further discussed in3 (59-77), The basic concept is that individuals, groups, and cultures (and at different

) have differing priorities with regard to how much information (text) needs to be madeplicit for communication to take place,The words 'text' and 'context' have particular meanings here. Context is "stored information",

as such is very close to Halliday's (Halliday and Hasan 1989:47) "non-verbal environmenta text" which is made up of "the context of situation and the wider context of culture". In

t~rms of communication, according to Hall (1983:61) it is "the amount of information the otherp~rson can be expected to possess on a given subject", while the text is "transmitted information".

Both Halliday and Hall, among many others, point to the fact that communication entailsppth text and context Gregory Bateson's comment (as cited by Ting-Toomey 1985:83) is clear'~nd to the point: "All communication necessitates context and ," without context there is nomeaning".

Halliday suggests that the context of situation is "the total environment in which a text~rifolds" (Halliday and Hasan 1989:5, 36) but then goes on to say: "In the normal course of life,~l day and every day, when we are interacting with others through language ." we are makinglnferences from the situation to the text, and from the text to the situation", It seems that here:f:J,alliday is concentrating on the immediate context of the text within a single frame of culture.

all's context though, is explicitly both the context of situation and the context of culture, Le. iteludes the beliefs and values that determine the behaviour to be interpreted.Clearly, also, in any communication, the speaker and listener will have their own perceptionti1e context. The more these perceptions are shared then the more possible it will be, as

~lliday suggests (Halliday and Hasan 1989:5), to use them as a framework for hypothesizingat is going to be said. Sperber and Wilson (1986: 15) also understand 'context' in terms ofception rather than reality. They suggest that it is "the set of premises used in interpreting anranee" and that it is "a psychological construct, a subset of the hearer's assumptions aboutworld, It is these assumptions, of course, rather than the actual state of the world, that affect

~ interpretation of an utterance".Halliday (Halliday and Hasan 1989: 12-14), on the other hand, sees context of situation as a

tangible construct (visible and audible):

176

Deductive/Inductive

Altemative labe,lling ~or ,deduc,tiveli~ductive has already been given at the beginning of thechapter. Deductive thmkmg onentanons focus on theories IOgl'C and .' . I This is. f . . . .. .,. pnnclp es.' IS IS very~~: o. Ge~m~ny and ~rance, and. to a lesser extent Italy. Situations are classified according to

~d.y existing th,eones, Inductive cultures are more pragmatic and specific, starting fromempirical o~servat~on. Facts and statistics are highly valued, The United States and Britaiparticularly inductive, m are

Thinking

David Katan

Linear/Systemic

Lin~ar-orie~t~d cultures,will dissect problems into logical and precise sequences, look fordetail, precrsion and mmute cause and effect such as the McDonald' it . tioi f h, . ' ., - S 1 emlza Ion 0 t es~rvICe counter routme, Systemic, on the other hand is holistic, and tends to look at the full~lcture" the background and rel,ati.onships with other parts of even bigger pictures, Explana-tions WIll be less ill terms of stat~stlcs ~nd logic; but rather in connections, feelings and similes.It~ly tends towards the systemic, while Japan isa dear example of the most systemicallyonented culture, .. -

179

M

ES

SA

GECulture Z

Low TextHighContext

CultureAHightextLow context

MESSAGE

also Katan (1994a).Heard on ZFM, American Forces Radio (1995-96).

Translating Cultures

'Figure 36. Contexting the Message

Hall suggests that contexting is a fundamental aspect of culture, and that members of apUlturewill have a shared bias, either towards communication through the text or the context.;This will be their guiding principle with regard to all decisions to be made. However, as wehave already noted in the introduction, orientations can change according to situation. Below,following other authors, we will refer to a High Context Communication orientation as 'HCC'lj.nd a preference for text as a Low Context Communication orientation or 'LCC' .

Hall's contexting theory is "begging to be connected" (Vincent-Marreili 1989:473) to ailanguage based theory of communication. In her paper is a clear indication of how the theorycan prove fruitful in understanding Anglo/Italian cross-cultural miscommunication.' George~imons, et al (1993) have also made extensive use of this HCCILCC polarity in their volumeon cross-cultural business management. They also suggest that all cultural orientations dependon this meta-orientation, which they relate to two principle types of culture: 'loosely woven'and 'tightly knit'. The metaphors relate to the adaptability of a loosely woven fabric, which hasyet to take on a final form and can be stretched without damage. This is compared with a dense,interwoven, more solid fabric - and more resistant to change. We begin to see parallels herewith the uncertainty avoidance orientation: either towards structure or flexibility.

How much written information is available for the foreign visitor, and how much will needto be obtained from a local informer is a possible indication of how high or low context aculture is. In New York, there are helpful signs indicating the best time and angle from which aphotograph should be taken at every tourist site. In Cairo there are no signs telling you which

yramid is which - but there is no shortage of guides.On American Forces radio,' there are a variety of public service adverts, not just about AIDS

lfud smoking, but giving advice that would strike higher context communication cultures as"Obvious', Le. the sort of advice that would be passed on informally (out-of-awareness) and

ugh observation:

The description is in terms of_ a simple conceptual framework of th h di ..th fi Id . . rnree ea mgs:

e le what IS happeningthe tenor who are taking partthe mode what part the language is playing.'

Pro~lems in understanding, through translation or otherwise, arise from the fact that the as-sumptions about the world differ. Widdowson (1979'138) h the i _. _ .

t I . - . . Sl ows e Importance of shanngmu ua assumptions m successful communicarion with this well known co - ti h __- nversa Ion exc ange:

Both parties 'knew' that "I' _. . th b th" did _.. ._-. . m In e a I not mean what was textually said. As a result

t~e ~etamessage IS successfully communicated through what is already shared. In a th'situation, between two other people who do not know each . th lb. no er

d o er, ess can e assumed to beun erstood; and the conversation might be as follows-'

I A:doorbeIl!! IB: I'm in the bath.A: Ok.

Interlocutors in each communication event will usually . t fI . "- ou -0 -awareness, arrange them-se,ves and oth~rs along the context scale. We tend to believe we know how much needs to beSaid andexplamed t? have o~r message understood the way we meant. Whether or not this istroue, ~s Wecannot mind read: ISusually difficult to objectively judge. In cross-cultural commu-mcatron, the scope for error ISeven larger.

There are two aspects to communication (text and context), each represented by a triangle:

David Katan178

(phonerings)A: Oeorge?

. B: Yes?

A: Look,I'm a lit~e tied up at the moment - do youthinkyoucouldanswerit andask thto phonebackm 10minutes? em

B: Sure.Whereis it?(phone stopsringing)A: Never mind.

Figure 35. Hall's Triangles

. ~~ ?n~ theore,tical, ex~eme, all t~e information that is to be conveyed is made visible, or~xp icit, .m ~h~ te~t. ~Ian~l~. Whll~ at the Other extreme, no text is necessar as all the~formatw~ IS implicit, Le, It IScontained in the 'context' triangle. The diagram, a~apted fromIall (1983.61): below shows how both triangles operate together in a cline to form the _

s.age. He explains that "as context is lost information must be added if _ . . t . me~, - ... - .. meaning IS 0 remam

: For further details, see Halliday and Hasan (1989) andTaylor Torsello (1992)sfeealso Scollon & Scollon (1995:66-69) and their discussion on metacom~unication and unclear

re erence. -.

181

Translation

... it's natural that young people,particularly those with college oruniversity qualifications, would preferto wait for an opportunity in their ownarea where they have roots, rather than

move.

-- Typical features of High and Lowcontext operan.ngModes.More loosely knit More tighdy wovenhanow rooted deep rooted~m ,hasis placed on" EmphasiS placed on..

I context-text , .- facts relatIonshIp/feelings_directness indirectness . eonsistenc fleXibility (in mearnng) substance Y (~oclaJIpersonal) appearance rules circums~ees_monochronic polychrome

CQrriere della Sera

... it naturale ehe i ragazzi, specie sediplomati 0 laureati, piuttosto chespostarsi prejeriscano atte~der~qualche opportunita nella zona In CUthanno le loro radici.(3/5/95).

6 For example, Longman (1992).

I dB it '. and compare them on the aboveIf we take two different cultures, such as Ita y ~n n ~m, . ... Id tend to

list it is clear that they can be associated more WItho~e list than. .anothet. Italy wou1, - .. ti htly woven high context bias while the British would tend to operate onoperate on a more 19, ' U d St t it would seem

I I knit low context basis Comparing Britain and the mtea es, 1 .a more oose y. , . . . W h Id I 0 remember thatthat the US is even further down the dine towards low conte.xt... e s ou as. . bl .the oerating mode favoured will, as we have already mentlOn~d,.d~pendon man~ vana es.cult~e, sub-culture, gender, class, age, situation ~nd.of course individual personality. in

That being said there are some useful generahzahons that can be made (alway~ ~ouch~~.the. ositive, to reflect prioritized cultural values). If we think ab?~t the way the BntIsh an t ~-. ? d f hi food and furniture it is clear that the British are lower context, attachItalians regar as IOn, ' 1 desi t te anding more value to functionality, whereas Italy places a higher va ue on esign, as .

aesthetics. . . h . . "The girlsWith regard to appearance, we have already mentioned the CItyWIt ?ut m.lffors. _

in their cheap and flimsy finery (I mean cheap in the aesthetic, not the f1n.ancral sense) ... H.ow:_ Id desni d 19h at them" Another article, pubhshed a year earh.er,

the Italians wou espise an. aus . .... . . 4 65) h LCC titleechoes the same thoughts. The article (The Sunday Times 18112/9, \ d as ~~u I "b -a"Face Facts" and discusses the case of a woman who had been descn e as . g y y

ce) but the expression "get on your bike" has now come into the language, and into recent

. aries 6 h dt1~n. T' . the Italian Employment minister in Berlusconi's centre-nght government aT1z1ano reu, . - . . I _. t it ti invery different point of view when talking about the chronic unemp oymen SI ua IOn

uthern Italy:

h . I. e HCC or LCC will also mean, according to Hall that there will

The fact t at a cu ture ISmor . - . I (1993) have~lso be other related text/context orientations. Victor (1992) and Simons et a. differ t

iproduced lists of typical (and ~implified rather ~an actual~ features of these two 1 erenorientations. With some adaptatlOns, they are outlIned below.

David Katan180

Universities vary their welcome to new students according to how text-based they are. TheBritish and the American have "Freshers' Week'" and "Orientation" respectively. During thistime, administrative, academic and student organizations, and clubs battle for the time toformally and technically explain and entertain. In Italy and other Mediterranean countries, theexplaining and the entertaining is very much more informal and unplanned. Students areinformed through the grapevine.

Some British universities, being older, are more 'tightly woven', and therefore less explicitin their dissemination of information. Two Americans, Bill Bryson and Stuart Franklin notedthe inaccessibility of the culture for an outsider at one of the Oxford colleges:

Waiting for a professor one day, I passed the time by through (the bulletin board an-nouncements). 'Master's Handshaking will take place in Room of the Master's Lodgings.Pleasewait inthe passageoutside,' saidone.Another,morecryptically,announced: 'LagrangianMechanics~ Saturday 11a.m.' . A thirdstated: 'RFC 1stand 2nd XV practiceThurs. 2p.m.' Perhaps50 such noticeswere pinned to the board, all dealing with some important component of college life, and it occurred tome, as I stood there idly looking them over, that I couldn't truly understanda single one. It is a feelingyou soon grow used to in Oxford.National Geographic (November 1995:120)

Other universities, in higher context communication cultures do not even use bulletinboards, and students are expected 'to know' through the informal network of personal contactwhere and when lessons are, and in particular when and where changes have been made. Inan HCC, tightly-woven culture, the participants are expected to share more of the largercontext - whether or not this is actually the case.

Identity, in tightly-woven cultures is closely related to social position. People take theirplace within a pre-formed, stable and interwoven network where change is unusual. Japanwould be a case in point. Trompenaars (1993:93- 106) uses the term 'achievement' and 'ascrip-tion' orientations to explain cultures' options in according status. An LCC culture will tend toaccord status to the person who merits the position through proven capability in the field andthrough election. Particularly important is a written CV. In an HCC culture you already need tobe known for who you are. Long-term contacts and networking become increasingly important- paper qualifications less so.

So, HCC cultures are not immediately oriented to the newcomer (though the guest will bevery well looked after). The United States, on the other hand, is a prime example of a 'looselyknit' society, accepting newcomers into its social fabric. The successful newcomers, however,all have a great ability to change identity. They quickly become, for example, ethnic Black,Afro- or Chinese- American. In this melting pot there is space (both physical and mental) forchange.

Many authors have also likened the LCC and HCC differences in terms of rooting systems.Some cultures have more solid and interwoven roots, while others, with a shallow root systemcan be uprooted without creating great disturbance. Remarks made (reported below) by twoministers (one British and one Italian) on the problem of unemployment reflect this presence orlack of a deep root system.

In each case the ministers' reaction to unemployment is totally 'natural'. In Britain, the ex-Conservative party chairman (now Lord) Norman Tebitt suggested that the unemployedshould, instead of "whingeing" and "scrounging on the Welfare State" do as his father didduring the war and "get on your bike", and look for work wherever it may be. Not only is thisidea firmly accepted by the Conservative party, (and to a large extent by the general popu-

5 "Fresher" is British English, The politically less correct term "Freshman" is American.

183

informatIonlmpllclflyreceived

Informationexplicitlyconveyed

Japanese

Arabic

Latin American

ItalianEnglish

French

North American

Scandinavian (except Finland)German

$wiss-German

High Context Cultures

Low Contextcultures

39. Context Ranking of Cultures

i1'n7n5'lating Cultures

The two cultures, British and Italian, not only disagree on the importance or culturalioriti,~atilon of being "neat and tidy", but there is also disagreement over the criterial equiva-ce.Le, what has to happen for the neat and tidiness value to be met. What is 'tidy' for one

lture will not necessarily meet the criterial equivalence of another. Hofstede (1991: 118)tes a related culture-bound concept, that of 'dirt', or as he calls it "matter out-of-place". Heints out that what is dirty or clean is a relative concept: "The Italian mammas and nannies seert and danger in the piazza where the American grandparents see none".However, the Americans, British and Italians are in complete agreement that the Japaneseve an exaggerated sense of dirt. The Italian fruit seller and newsagent may have "perfectly

manicured nails", but the Japanese train, taxi and bus drivers, for example, wear starched whitegloves. Their gloves, in harmony with the rest of their immaculate uniforms, are expected to

ain clean all day.counts as neat and tidy in Singapore is also very different generally from accepted'civilized' attitudes. Fines for litter dropping in Singapore are taken seriously, and

requiring houses to be repainted are also a sign of the culture's expectations with regard toAs a result, both the Japanese and the Singaporeans tend to perceive the West in much theway as the West sees a developing country, Le. as a dirty place. Dirt, as we have said, is a

irelative concept, and each culture is happy with its own understanding of the concept. Therealways, according to whatever viewpoint we have, be cultures that exaggerate, and cul-that do not come up to our standard. And so every culture positions itself on a cline,

cOlllvinc~~d that its position is the correct one.The following contexting cline comes from a business article adapted by Victor (1992: 143).

theory, in fact, has been developed, like much anthropological theory more in the veryHHprag~mlltic field of business management than in any other field. It should also be pointed out

unlike the other orientations mentioned in the previous chapter, this particular cline is notany published statistics:

The highest context communication culture is the Japanese, which fits our stereotype of their>inscrutable culture, where silence is more valued than the word. At the other end of the cline is

Swiss-German where the stereotype of exacting precision and detailed information fitsLCe position.

An extreme example of a low context character comes from Charles Dickens' Hard TimesThe schoolmaster, Thomas Gradgrind is presented to the reader with these words:

What is hidden in the English remark is as follows:

Surfaeerepresentation:

I gen~~I.'Y foll?w the cultural prlortsauon of dressing for individualpractrcn ity, This, for m.e. ~as now becomean unconscious~out-of-~wareness) habit. r.e, normal. However I have also:~t~~alJse~ ~y/elsponse to other group bebavi~.urnot only as a limitleamedt'::d / na s~ as an Obligation to conform, which I havebehaviour t~th;; ~o~:ilgc~Xt~~~.ture~boundrules to adapt my

I rememberfeeJjn,~ to look neat and tidy

Full Representation

Surface representation:

Iti7~ be neat and tidy

Full Representation

Using the Meta-Model we can im di t I . thobli ed' Th .I' .me la e y note e use of the modal necessity: 'to feelind/'d '1 f e d

vaue.s. tha.t lIe ?ehmd that statement are steeped in a culture which values

VI ua ree om (an onentatlon towards If) A It li 1 . . ."respect" for th It Id h . s.e . n a ian wou d tend to value visible SIgnsof

(.' . 0 ers. wou ,t erefore, be normal' to dress neatly and tidily in public groups

an orientation towards others).

T:e CUl~ure-~oundaspects ofthe normality are hidden in the deletion of the performatives of",:~r s sue .. ~s r:;petto I "respect" or normale /"normal", and in the nominalization of in ordine/ neat and tidy . The full representation (hidden to most speakers) would be as follows:

~:;~: d~es. look a mess, particularly compared to Our BC neighbours. The averageb ti w~~er would not d.ream of working in anything other than starched white coat and

m..owmi le. d. t~ averag.elItalIan banker is kitted opt in immaculate tweed and h~s p.erfectly

amcure mgemai s - as does th I If'li di .. e oca ruit seller and probably newsagent too I'verve m MIlan. I remember feeling obliged to look neat and tidy for th I b I

telephone man / cleaner. e p mu er

fno~~:man .. !he verb.alizat~onof 'ugly' ?outs PC norms (discussed in Chapter 5.3). The article,advistd,bdegm~ b,Y dIsTchussm~ the public outcry which resulted from the police officer's ill-

e escnpnon. e article then moves 0 t I k s B' ." Id- .n 0 00 at ntam as a whole (emphasis inongma an. added):

David Katan

I follow the cultural priorltisatlon of dressing neatly and tidily instnctacc'!rdance ';"ith Italian HCC informal culture.bound rul~sabout SOCial dresslll& that I h~ve learned over the years from mfamily. peers and reinforced III the national media. This, for m~, hasnow become an unconscIOUS (out.of-awareness) habit, i.e, normal.

182

Figure 37. Full Representation ofItalian "normal"

Figure 38. Full Representation ofEnglish "obliged"

10.2 English - the Language of Strangers

185

ring Cuitures

" . ish d American, which many have noted. al t~ ndards under dlSCUSSlOn are Britis an -

o nation s atually seerolike a different langua~e:

. . 'th America nowadays, except, of course, language,reallyeverytlltng IU common W1

The CantervilleGhost

andAmerica are twocountries separated by tilesalIle language,Bernard Shaw,Reader's Digest (Nov.1942)

speakstileworld's mostpopular language ~ so do theAmericans, up to a point.Economist(20/10/90)

. ' tation in the United States to LCC, andmost significant differ~nc~ IS the g;;a~~so~~~;9:12), Canadian-English, notes how thee towards textual explicatlOn. John . o. b id system automatically entails greater

. 1 desi f the Amencan ur an gnu sysw. .' "cal mathematlca- esign 0 ~ . American would) something like up two'ty (emphasis added): "instead of saying (aIS an" h (the Englishman) said keep following

. ht d it's three blocks a ong, e "cks, then take a ng an, 1 . d then its the third turning on the left , .

road for about halfa mile, turn fIght, an 1 lati as noted by Sapir, and recorded IIIThe American technical rather than rough ea cu atron w ,-

is lecture notes (1994:33):

. _. 'fift -fifty' have evolved, for only here do ,weOnly in Amencan culture could the phrase y . n must be quantitative, There IS a

. tangibles' expresslO - . ~ . . ,find such willingness to measure III .- ~ ._ . ' trol of situations which cann