The part I found interesting to read was how communication genres and the rules that define them are culture specific, pg 217. Trenholm compares the American coffee break which is considered informal to the Japanese tea-break (aisatsu) where tacit deals and unofficial paths are carved over green tea and sponge cakes. I found an interesting article this week on the BBC, that talked about how the White House welcomes world leaders and how they are treated in a certain way to build relationships or given the cold shoulder to show they are ‘foes.’
Every act is carefully staged and they make sure no photo opportunity is missed, if it makes the president look good or to show the world who is our new friend. An example of this is the picture of President Obama eating a cheeseburger at a local joint with President Medvedev of Russia. This goes to show that tacit deals are not only part of Japanese culture, but they take place everywhere, including the US and can be during a coffee-break, lunch or state dinner.
Here is the news article link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10470615
I found this section interesting to read as well. It made me think about all the different ways in which our culture, and other cultures, use certain events to finalize deals, make amends, or show interest. It made me think about the time my friend invited me to a basketball game because her co-workers mom had extra tickets from her company’s box seats. I felt like a VIP sitting in the seats and I asked why my friends coworkers moms company had so many seats, it turned out they had two boxes in the stadium. My friend told me they use the boxes to bring clients to for business meetings, and to get together with the client. It made me realize how much some companies rely on extra things, such as seats at games, to help seal the deal with clients. It is funny to think about how the some may make their final decision through tea, while other companies make their decisions at sports games.
ReplyDeleteGenres can be very manipulative. It's like acting, every situation one can just switch characters, change their role and develop into someone or something else that better fits the situation at hand. What is real and what is embellished can be difficult to distinguish. For example, President Obama with the Russian President how can we truly know we are really getting along buy them eating lunch? I bet they just bumped into each other and rather than be an awkward moment, they decided to say hi. I know i do that!
ReplyDeleteGenres was a fun concept to think about. Thank you!