(The "Sacred Heart," at left in Robert Brady Museum, at right, the low-context "sacred head")
Okay, so here's the deal with "high-context" v. "Low Context" cultures. I have some issues with it. We've read about these concepts in a book by Mexican-Canadian Betty Ramos (who now lives in Mexico). The book is called The Geocontext and as of now it's only available here in Mexico despite being in English. It was cheifly written for buisinesspeople, but her central idea is that Mexico's "high-context" culture should complement the U.S. "Low Context" culture to form a "Geo-Context" culture. She admits that this will not be easy because of values on both sides of the fence
Especially here in Mexico, the demonization of the "Malinche" (a term used for Cortez's translator/mistress, fluent in numerous languages) has implications, especially for women who want to exist in a "Geocontext." She had many complicated things to say about the whole "Malinche" buisiness, which could fill an entire other post.
So, without further ado here are the high and low contexts, as best as I can sum them up.
Please note that these are Ramos's opinions, not mine. I am not sure what to think at this point. Some people have said that their homestay parerents were anything but "high context."
Low Context
As the name implies, in a "Low Context" culture people are more "to-the-point" and direct in conversation. Prices are not negociable, "yes" means "yes" and 4:00 means 4:00. Hence the context does not matter as much as it would in a "high-context" culture. Also, people value individualism and the present, rather than society and the past. This does not mean they are bad team players, as their ability to put aside emotions makes compromises more easy at times.
Laws have to be written out in order to be followed. Lawsuits are more common in some low-context countries. At least in theory, equality is considered important. The United States, Brittain, Germany, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are all low-context, as is arguably Russia, under the system that Betty Ramos uses.
High Context:
With high context cultures, the context matters a good deal more. The language is used is often more flowery and less direct. "Yes" often means "No" or "Maybe." 4:00 can mean 4:15 or 4:30, especially for social gatherings. Hence in order to express true apreciation, you have to make sure it sounds like appreciation, not dismissal. Politeness is important, and takes a much longer form. To thank someone, one should not just say "thank you." One should also include why one is thankful.
However, joking complements on physical appereance are also accepted in some high context cultures, even though in low-context cultures they are considered harassment. This is because the context in which they are said matters.
Emotion generally matters more in high-context than in low-context societies. Indeed, the word "romance" can also refer to a group of languages (Spanish, French, Portugese) derived from "roman" latin. Emotions in high context culture are often reduced to steriotype and the export of Mexican soap operas does not exactly discourage the steriotypical image. However, like all cultural standards, those surrounding emotion are also a bit complicated (see below).
High-context cultures put more emphasis on one's standing in society, which is different from the low-context concept "self-esteem." Most words in English (a low-context language) that include "self" have very few translations into other languages. Social obligations, particularly involuntary ones such as loyalty to one's family are seen as important.
In terms of countries, Mexico, Columbia, and Japan are all high-context. Southern Europe (including Spain and Italy) is also somewhat low-context, or at least it has been in the past.
Problems that I see with this scheme:
It's not bad, but I see some shortcomings. Even Betty Ramos sees shortcomings within the scheme, such as the difference between "male" (in most countries low-context) and female (in most countries high-context) cultures. She also mentions differences between regions and even individuals. Many cultures (such as in Northern Mexico) are already mixtiures of "high" and "low" contexts.
I've got a few of my own problems with it.
First off: "High" v. "Low"? Any scheme that divides the world into two categories seems suspicious. I particularly have some issues with where exactly to put France in this scheme (pretty low-context, but not as low-context as Brittain? Or is it more low-context?). Also assuming that Mexican customs will resemble Japanese ones just because of them both being "high-context" may get you into trouble, particularly concerning "piropos" (complements and cat-calls flung by men at women).
"High" and "Low" are somewhat charged words to use in any situation, as they imply that one is better than the other.
In addition Ramos mentions Catholic v. Protestant influence on the U.S. and Mexico, saying that high-context Mexican culture, with it's emphasis on social hierarchical obligation and non-verbal communication can be seen as Catholic-influenced, whereas Protestantism has had the opposite influence on U.S. culture.
At first I thought this made perfect sense, noticing that religious signs here usually had images of saints rather than directly stating everything through words, like in Tennessee, my home state. Then I started thinking and realized Tennessee was "high context" compared to the "low-context" northeastern United States. However the South-East is also more historically Protestant and the Northeast more Catholic.
So, I'll keep what Ramos says in mind for what I should say, but I don't know if I can reduce the world around me like that.
So, without further ado here are the high and low contexts, as best as I can sum them up.
Please note that these are Ramos's opinions, not mine. I am not sure what to think at this point. Some people have said that their homestay parerents were anything but "high context."
Low Context
As the name implies, in a "Low Context" culture people are more "to-the-point" and direct in conversation. Prices are not negociable, "yes" means "yes" and 4:00 means 4:00. Hence the context does not matter as much as it would in a "high-context" culture. Also, people value individualism and the present, rather than society and the past. This does not mean they are bad team players, as their ability to put aside emotions makes compromises more easy at times.
Laws have to be written out in order to be followed. Lawsuits are more common in some low-context countries. At least in theory, equality is considered important. The United States, Brittain, Germany, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are all low-context, as is arguably Russia, under the system that Betty Ramos uses.
High Context:
With high context cultures, the context matters a good deal more. The language is used is often more flowery and less direct. "Yes" often means "No" or "Maybe." 4:00 can mean 4:15 or 4:30, especially for social gatherings. Hence in order to express true apreciation, you have to make sure it sounds like appreciation, not dismissal. Politeness is important, and takes a much longer form. To thank someone, one should not just say "thank you." One should also include why one is thankful.
However, joking complements on physical appereance are also accepted in some high context cultures, even though in low-context cultures they are considered harassment. This is because the context in which they are said matters.
Emotion generally matters more in high-context than in low-context societies. Indeed, the word "romance" can also refer to a group of languages (Spanish, French, Portugese) derived from "roman" latin. Emotions in high context culture are often reduced to steriotype and the export of Mexican soap operas does not exactly discourage the steriotypical image. However, like all cultural standards, those surrounding emotion are also a bit complicated (see below).
High-context cultures put more emphasis on one's standing in society, which is different from the low-context concept "self-esteem." Most words in English (a low-context language) that include "self" have very few translations into other languages. Social obligations, particularly involuntary ones such as loyalty to one's family are seen as important.
In terms of countries, Mexico, Columbia, and Japan are all high-context. Southern Europe (including Spain and Italy) is also somewhat low-context, or at least it has been in the past.
Problems that I see with this scheme:
It's not bad, but I see some shortcomings. Even Betty Ramos sees shortcomings within the scheme, such as the difference between "male" (in most countries low-context) and female (in most countries high-context) cultures. She also mentions differences between regions and even individuals. Many cultures (such as in Northern Mexico) are already mixtiures of "high" and "low" contexts.
I've got a few of my own problems with it.
First off: "High" v. "Low"? Any scheme that divides the world into two categories seems suspicious. I particularly have some issues with where exactly to put France in this scheme (pretty low-context, but not as low-context as Brittain? Or is it more low-context?). Also assuming that Mexican customs will resemble Japanese ones just because of them both being "high-context" may get you into trouble, particularly concerning "piropos" (complements and cat-calls flung by men at women).
"High" and "Low" are somewhat charged words to use in any situation, as they imply that one is better than the other.
In addition Ramos mentions Catholic v. Protestant influence on the U.S. and Mexico, saying that high-context Mexican culture, with it's emphasis on social hierarchical obligation and non-verbal communication can be seen as Catholic-influenced, whereas Protestantism has had the opposite influence on U.S. culture.
At first I thought this made perfect sense, noticing that religious signs here usually had images of saints rather than directly stating everything through words, like in Tennessee, my home state. Then I started thinking and realized Tennessee was "high context" compared to the "low-context" northeastern United States. However the South-East is also more historically Protestant and the Northeast more Catholic.
So, I'll keep what Ramos says in mind for what I should say, but I don't know if I can reduce the world around me like that.
I realize the sacred hearts look like sacred boobs with that mask above them. Probably a joke by the late art collector Robert Brady, whose house I visited recently.
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