Summary
The article discusses the way Chinese and Americans understand their culture and the way they understand each other’s culture. There are major differences in the way the Chinese see American culture due to its lack of history. Since, China is the oldest civilization still active, they have developed chauvinism about their history and see other cultures as inferior.
The Chinese consider their culture as far advanced and deep as it has historical roots of ancient civilization. The Chinese interpretation of American culture is that it is made by several European or immigrant cultures. The article identifies that Chinese understanding is limited as their approach towards looking at American culture is one-dimensional and they only consider the recent history as part of American culture. The article summarizes that the reality is far from this perspective as Americans have their own understanding of culture.
Americans itself have strong feelings towards their culture and they see American exceptionalism with its modern values as superior to other cultures. But, many Chinese are unable to identify and relate to the way Americans portray themselves as a true culture, as the Chinese believe Americans lack historic presence to call themselves that. Essentially, the reason for lack of understanding of Chinese people is due to their lack of exposure to the American culture. Associating American culture with newness makes sense and the country provided an opportunity to start afresh for many people coming from all over the world. But, it is exactly opposite nature of the American culture that is based on a melting pot and China that descends from Han heritage that makes it tougher for Chinese people to understand the existence of an American culture. Overall, both countries have a culture of their own that needs to be seen from different spectrums to understand their depth and characteristics.
Key Issues and Variables
The key issue discussed in the case is related to the difference in the way Chinese an American people understand their culture. The key variables are the understanding of Chinese and American cultures of people from both countries and how it changes it enhanced exposure to other cultures. Basically, the article identifies the difference in approach taken by people from both countries in determining their culture and its characteristics. The author has explained that due to their difference in opinion over cultural understandings, it’s tough for the Chinese people to term American culture as a real culture like their own. Even though both countries have their own culture, the only way people from one culture can acknowledge the characteristics of another culture is by looking at it through a different angle and understanding that it is different from their own culture.
Effect of Case
The case highlights the way people understand their culture and use the same semantics to understand other cultures. The results is their inability to understand other cultures as they expect them to be similar to their own culture and they use the same dimensions to understand their culture. The article identifies that Chinese do not recognize the presence of a traditional culture in America as they feel that it is a combination of culture of other immigrants. The impact of this understanding is that Chinese people find it difficult to appreciate the modern values and beliefs of Americans as a paradigm of their culture. Chinese believe that their values are mere reflections of their current beliefs that have not historical relevance. This behaviour is common among Americans as they fail to understand other cultures and insult other cultures when they find them to be conservative and lacking in openness. The problem of developing this predicament is that the difference in factors that played a role in making other cultures is not taken into consideration.
Learning from Case
The case teaches that Chinese people misunderstand that American does not have a culture of its own. It is possible as both cultures have several differences in terms of diversity, history, thinking, etc. It is wrong on their part to judge America on the same scale as their culture as they have their historical angle on their side. Similarly, Americans should consider their culture as superior as despite its noble achievement in the contemporary world, America culture is changing constantly. The feeling of cultural superiority is common among Chinese and American people, but there is no evidence that justifies their claim. Rather, it is possible that with better exposure to other cultures, Chinese and American people would start to respect other cultures and acknowledge their presence.
The best way to capitalize on this misunderstanding of other cultures is to educate people and make them aware about other cultures. As people start understanding the difference between their own culture and other cultures, the differences between societies and people will start to dismantle. There are major risks of avoiding such differences in opinion and misunderstandings as our world is becoming Glocal and people from all over the world are interacting with each other. These risks need to be circumvented by making sure people are allowed to question other cultures and understand the differences between them and their cultures. Overall, the goal is to ensure that people from one part of the world understand that other people have their own culture that is different, their culture and should not be judged on the same spectrum.
