Beyond Culture

Hall describes culture in Chapter 1 as omnipresent and interconnected with all aspects of human life; it impacts personality and expression, thought and movement, the personal and institutional, and economics and government. Anthropologists agree on three aspects of culture: 1) “it is not innate, but learned” (16); 2) it has interconnected facets; and 3) it is “shared” and differentiates groups. Culture encompasses both explicit, consciously understood elements and underlying, often unconscious, assumptions and patterns of behavior. Hall emphasizes that culture shapes individuals’ perceptions, thoughts, and actions, influencing everything from communication styles to social norms.

According to Hall, an extension enhances a function of an organism and allows it to evolve and adapt without altering its body (53). They can be tangible, like cameras and vehicles, or intangible and abstract, like language and math.

Hall introduces the concepts of high-context and low-context cultures to describe different communication styles and cultural orientations; understanding the distinction between high-context and low-context cultures is essential for effective cross-cultural communication. In a high-context culture, much of the information is implicit and embedded in the context, relying heavily on shared cultural knowledge, relationships, and nonverbal cues. In such cultures, people often understand each other without the need for explicit verbal communication, as meaning is derived from the context of the situation and the shared background of the individuals involved.