The Figuring Foreigners Out reading was an interesting look at placing cultures on a sort of spectrum with two extremes on either end. There was Individualist vs. collectivist, the different levels of nonverbal communication, Monochronic vs. polychronic, Internal vs. external, Indirect/high context vs. Direct/low context, and each of these analyzed the ways in which a culture may be able to be categorized. I personally thought it was really interesting to think about the monochronic vs. polychronic divide in cultures and how societies value and orient their time. I think that it is very difficult to think of some of these attributes as cultural tropes that sort of create these stereotypes. So many of these categories involve incredible levels of generalization. I think that that can be very dangerous and misleading when trying to understand a culture and the different identities that exist within those cultures. For example, with America I think that it would be very difficult to make an accurate generalization for many of these categories. That being said, one cultural category I think that has some validity is monochronic and polychronic, mostly because I have personal experience that I can refer to. I definitely see how Italian culture was far more polychronic, living in Italy, you can see how the systems are built with different values. Time is far less of a currency and the culture is not built on efficiency, but rather on quality of time. Alternatively, categorizing a culture as Internal v. External seems far too much of a generalization for me. Although I completely see the validity of core values of a culture influencing people’s personalities, I think that this is far more of a personal life outlook and that there would be too much differentiation to categorize a whole culture as one or another. The maps on the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture surprised me, and the data that was collected was at times difficult to read. I was surprised at some of the European country's data points, and similarly the data from African countries went against all that I had previously learned about those cultures.
I think that with French culture there are a lot of generalizations, trope making, and stereotyping. There is a connotation of sexuality, of rudeness, of the diet especially that paint the French as very specific and nationalistic. I think that this can especially be a deterrent for learning the language. I have heard multiple different implications that French people will not respond to you if your French is not good enough, and that they don’t like foreigners. Leaning into this stigmatized behavior makes the idea of learning French a bit intimidating, but I know that hearing one thing about a culture and letting that control your thoughts and fears is not productive. Food is a big cultural factor in French culture and the sentiment that dining should take time and that there should be no rush. I think that this one thing that kind of drew me to wanting to learn more about French people.
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