Intercultural Communication
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CMST340CommensurabilityPrincipleChapter5.pptxCMST 340 Commensurability Principle
“If everything in “IC” is a matter of a specific “POV”, is it possible for cultures to communicate?”
“Is there anything “general” that makes “IC” possible?”
“IT’S EVERYBODY’S WORLD!”
CMST 340 Commensurability Principle
Look for meaning: “Generalness”
“A Universal”: appears under the same form in each and every culture (housing, tools, etc.)…The inherent common nature of people
“how people are able to agree on meaning”
Example: gesture: form circle with thumb and index finger…Japan- money $$ U.S.- things are o.k.
What’s needed to generate meaning?
The world (World)
Some representation of exploration (Symbol)
A place for storing (Mind)
CMST 340: Commensurability Principle
The “Look for Meaning” involves:
A Semiotic Look: “What’s in a Word?”
A Cognitive Look: “What’s on our Mind?”
A Corporeal Look: “What’s in the World?”
CMST 340 Commensurability Principle
1. A Semiotic Look: “What’s in a Word?”
Do we have the ability to understand and agree on meaning?
Linguistic Relativity: the way a culture thinks and acts depends on its language! To what degree?
Strong Version: linguistic determinism, the symbol used and its meaning
Weak Version: connection between linguistic structure and the way people think and act
Example: What does “Baseball” mean in America/ Japan?
(Baseball in Japan/ Am. Players video)
Lacuna: empty space: “snow” example
CMST 340 Commensurability Principle
2. A Cognitive Look: “What’s on our mind?”
Mental process
Every culture believes their system is a true representation of the world
Create similarities in their experiences
3. A Corporeal Look: “What’s in the world?”
Our senses: see, hear, smell, taste, touch
All have in common: our body…everybody
Image-schemas: mental structures that grow out of bodily experiences… “balance”… art, psychology
CMST 340 Commensurability Principle
The Commensurability Principle:
Semiotics, meaning in language symbols (symbolic)
Cognitive system of universal concepts (mind)
Corporeal, Everybody grounded in the natural body experiences (world)
(Fig. 9 p. 121)
CMST 340 Commensurability Principle
Example: John in culture X gives watch as gift
“Manifesting category”: (fig.11 p.125) involves terms of “manifested” and “manifesting”
Commensurability Principle Defined:
Nature of commensurability is dynamic
3 levels of meaning: corporeal, cognitive, symbolic
IC is a spiral process different cultures comparing “maps”
“IC” is a process whereby people from different cultures compare their maps and search for common ground, using the same forms and levels of meaning representation!
CMST 340: Commensurability Principle
Short Definition:
Commensurability Principle is comparing cultural maps to find common ground.
