Cultural Shock
The stories that are told in Distant Mirrors
reflect how people can be so
comfortable with the way they live that they
will never realize what is around
them. This does not happen unless they take
the initiative to research the"outside world." I focused on three stories. These
three stories share in
the fact that when the person researched a new culture
they were in awe of the
differences and similarities that they found. Plainly
put, these anthropologists
underwent a culture shock; "disorientation
experienced by a person suddenly to
an unfamiliar culture." Each
anthropologist migrated to America in order to
compare and contrast their
culture to a country with all types of cultures. The
first story that caught
my attention was, "First Impressions: Diary of a
French Anthropologist in
New York City," by Francoise Dussart. Dussart decided
to migrate to New York
for a taste of its "exoticism"(p.34). She had
previously been living in
Australia because she was studying Australian
aboriginal culture. Once she
arrived at New York, she heard many stories about
where the "good" places
were and where not to end up. She ended up staying
exactly where she was told
to stay away from, "West 107th Street"(p.35). Her
stay here involved seeing
the everyday problems that America and many other
countries face, which are
poverty, drug abusers, and unwed mothers. Dussart is
surprised that what she
was told was true. She describes these problems as"depressing." Dussart also
finds that there is a distinction between poor
neighborhoods and rich
neighborhoods. The "poor" neighborhoods consist of
mainly minorities, and the
"rich" neighborhoods consist of mainly Caucasian
people. She states this
clearly when she says, "When I note "poor" it is a
poor Hispanic and black
population, and when I write "rich," it is
predominantly white..."(p.37). In
conjunction to this, Dussart also makes the
observation that depending on
what nationality you ask where they feel safest;
their reply will most likely
be an area, which consists of their race. Clearly
this was a huge culture
shock for Dussart because she says, "I can’t think
of a European city in
which wealth and poverty exist in such close
proximity."(p.37) She was
surprised by the things that she witnessed and by
the way society functioned
in New York because that is not how her society
functioned. As a resident of
New York, I have observed that when you have lived
surrounded by such issues
all of your life, they become in a way "numb" to
you. Eventually, it gets to
the point where you know it exists, but since you
see it ever day you become
aware that you can’t change these problems. I can
do things to help try to
eliminate these problems, but the problems will never
fully diminish. Someone
that is not part of this type of society will be in
shock by the things that
they encounter. It is only natural, and by the end of
her essay she realizes
this, "The tendency to judge must still be fought. I
still make comparisons,
but less often." Dussart realized that her culture
does influence how she
looks at the world around her. The second story that
caught my eye was "The
Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an
American Cultural
Value," by Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel. Poranee is an
anthropologist from
Thailand. She went to America to see how the two cultures
varied. Poranee’s
conception of how Americans interact was, as she eventually
discovered, very
inaccurate. For example, it came as a surprise to Poranee that
when someone
asks you how you are doing, they do not really want to know, and
they are
just asking you out of respect. It is a way of greeting people. This
was
contrary to Poranee’s culture. In Thailand, when someone asks you how you
are
doing they expect for you to actually discuss things with specific
details.
Poranee states, "We were reacting like Thais, but in the
American context
where salutations have a different meaning, our detailed
reactions were
inappropriate. In Thai society, a greeting among acquaintances
usually requests
specific information about the other person’s
condition..."(p.69). She looks
at how different American verbal interaction
is from those of Thailand. Poranee
looks at all aspects of American culture
including the way they eat. Her
Thailand values conflict with American’s
everyday routine of compiling all
types of food on their plates. This comes
as a culture shock to Poranee because
she says, "If I were to eat in the same
manner in Thailand, eyebrows would
have been raised at the way we piled our
food on our plates, and we would have
been considered to be eating like pigs,
greedy and inconsiderate of others who
shared the meal at the table"(p.71).
As you can see clearly, Poranee’s
values are a very important part of who she
is. She also goes on to describe how
different family structure in Thailand
is from in America. Looking at
Poranee’s perspective as a whole, one can
reach the conclusion that she is
very observant when it comes to the
differences in these two cultures. As much
as she wants to learn and explore
the American culture, it is second nature to
incorporate her own cultural
values. The functions of American society came as a
complete culture shock to
Poranee. This is evident when she states, "Although
Thais may admire the
achievements and material wealth of American society, there
are costs,
especially in the value of individualism and associated
social
phenomena"(p.73). The mere fact that uses the word phenomena
demonstrates the
culture shock, which she has experienced. The third story I
found interesting
was, "A Cross-Cultural Experience: A Chinese Anthropologist
in the United
States," by Huang Shu-Min. Huang is an anthropologist from
China. He describes
his cultural values as, "A reverence for age and custom,
a high motivation
toward scholarly achievement, and a strong sense of
responsibility toward
society had all been incorporated into my thinking
throughout the process of
growth"(p.29). Huang takes these values with him
while he spends time in San
Fransico. While there, he observed everything
with a critical eye. Huang
experienced culture shock in a big way. He says, "
While we may claim to
reject our culture’s values and moral standards
enmasse, in the deeper layer
of the heart and mind, our thinking and behavior
may still operate, even though
unconsciously, under the same set of
beliefs"(p.30). In simple terms, no
matter how much a person wants to conform
to a different culture, their actual
values will always be revealed because
it is unconscious. Even down to the way a
person eats, talks, interacts,
their values are present everywhere they go.
Huang tries to understand
culture as a whole by observing cultural values and
human interaction. Huang
ends with a very strong statement; "It is hoped that
by such a consistent
practice of self-examination, we may come to understand the
deeper meaning of
culture on a firsthand basis"(p.33). He also says that we
must examine
ourselves in order to see that our culture does form who we are.
These
anthropologists took the initiative to try to understand culture as a
whole,
but in doing so, they experience culture shock. It is only natural
to
experience this because we as humans use what we have been taught, and
what we
have seen and incorporate it into how we view our own culture as well
as others.
I can say for myself that if I were to go to a different
country, I would impose
my thoughts and opinions on their culture because it
would be an unconscious
act. At the same time, it is important to be
open-minded to other cultures. If
everyone were to exercise this, it would be
a little easier to understand other
cultures.