The Relationship Between Culture and Communication

【Abstract】This paper aims to study the relationship between culture and communication. As we know， culture and communication cannot be separated from each other. Several examples are used in this paper to help pepole further understand the close relationship between them.

【Key words】Relationship； Culture； Communication

【作者簡介】龐磊（1997.6.5- ），女，漢族，河南新安人，天津外國語大學，本科在讀，研究方向：商務英語。

Introduction

Culture and communication exist in almost every corner in our daily life. People may not realize their existence or pay special attention to them， but we have to admit that people unconsciously deal with them every day. Therefore， I think it is necessary to figure out the relationship between culture and communication. Hall points out“ Culture is communication and communication is culture.” That is to say when people look at culture and communication， it is hard to decide which is the voice and which is the echo.This saying indicates a close ralationship between culture and communication. They are influnced by each other and they cannot separate from each other. Culture cannot be what is like today without communication and at the same time communication cannot be what is like today without culture.

The definition of culture and communication

Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. It can be divided by two categories including the material culture and the immaterial. “The concept of material culture covers the physical expressions of culture， such as technology， architecture and art， whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as principles of social organization comprise the intangible cultural heritage of a society.”（http：//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/culture 2017.12.17） In a word， almost everything in human life including the peoples behavior， thoughts， values， movies and musics can reflect the culture. Culture is like the water that fish swim in and a reality that is taken for granted and rarely examined. While communication is the act of conveying intended meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually understood signs and semiotic rules. （http：//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/communication2017.12.17） Samovar once said “ Communication occurs whenever meaning is attributed to behavior or the residue of behavior.” For me， I think communication is a process involving exchanging ideas and thoughts between different individuals， different groups or even different states.

The analysis of the relationship between culture and communication

As for the relationship between culture and communicatin， I think communication is influenced by culture and at the same time culture is also influenced by the communication and they are inseparable from each other.

First， the way of the communication and the content in the communication are determined by the culture and help define the culture. As we know all social units deveop a culture. Even in two-person relationship， a culture develops over time. Different cultures may cultivate different rules， values and norms. These different rules，values and norms are rooted in peoples minds for a long time and unconsciouly direct peoples behaviors when people communicate with each other. At the same time， the different behaviors in commmunication also reflect different backgrounds and different values which are the aspects of culture.In this way， the communication can be determined by the culture and can also help define culture. For example， people may use different body languages to convey the same meaning. These different body languages are the results of different cultures. In China and most countries， nodding our heads means that we agree with somebody or we consent to someones requests. However， the situation is totally different in India. When someone shows his or her approvement or gives a positive answer， the person may shake the head. In contrast， people nod their heads to show their negative attitude. As we can see， Indians use the same body language nodding， but it can convey the different message to people.Only the people who know about the Indian local culture can understand what their body languages mean. And this difference also help define the Indian culture itself. Another example is that peoploe in different cultural background may show the different attitudes when communicating. In Chinese traditional culture， people pay much attention to the interpersonal relationship. Impacted by this kind of culture， people tend to be show their warm-hearted and hospitable attitude when talking to other people. So they dont think there is any problem to talk about the ages， professions， income and so on. Chinese people think if people talk about these topics with us， it means people care about us. But in western countries， people pay much attention to their privacy. They think it is rude and impolite to ask people about their private problems such us political belief， income， education and so on. They dont want to interfere othersprivate life and for the same reason they do not want to be interfered by others. These two different attitudes towards the same topics in conversation reveal the different cultural values in eastern and western countries. So from these examples we can conclude that communication， to some degree， is determined by culture and help define culture.

Second， culture is learned， acted out， transmitted， and perserved through communication. When two persons or two groups of people representing two kinds of cultures communicate with each other， it not only means a simple exchange of ideas but also means the exchange of two cultures. In the process of communication， different kinds of cultures are interacted， mingled and learned. So communication is a medium of cultural exchange and cultural inheritance. For example， in the old time， the long silk road already existed providing a communication channel between old China and other central and wetern Asian countries. The caravan on the silk road transported the Chinese goods like silk， tea and porcelain to them and brought their herbs and rare plants to our country. The whole process was a kind of business communication. However， not only those material goods but our Chinese civilization including our papermanking technology and art of printing was also spreaded into the central and western Asia through this business communication. In this way， Chinese culture was learned by other areas to further improve the scientific development and productive force in those areas. Actually， this long silk road linked all kinds cultures including the Chinese culture， Pesian culture， Arabic culture and Indian culture. Various cultures were transimitted and learned through this communicatin channel. Nowadays， with the development of “ One belt， One road” proposed by president Xi， I think this communication channel silk road will play a more and more important role in promoting the exchanges of different cultures. Therefore， communication is a key medium for various cultures to be learned， transmitted and perserved.

Conclusion

Communication is impacted by culture while culture is also impacted by communication. Every culture around the world has its own unique characteristics including ideals， values， beliefs， traditions.These characteristics will in turn attribute ones communication. It is the culture essentially that determine the peoples way of communication. And it is the communication that make it possible that diffetrent cultures can be transmitted and perserved. There is no doubt that communiation plays an important role in promoting cultural development. In a word， communication and culture cannot be separated from each other.

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