Download Culture Bound Differences in Mode of Greetings in Hindus

ijcrb.webs.com
FEBRUARY 2012
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
VOL 3, NO 10
Culture Bound Differences in Mode of Greetings in Hindus and
Muslims-----A Case in Intercultural Communication.
Abdul Baseer
M.Phil. (English), Ph.D. (English) candidate at International Islamic University, Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Lecturer in Linguistics
Government College University, Faisalabad , Pakistan
Sofia Dildar Alvi
M.A. (English), M.Phil.
Lecturer in English
Government College University
Faisalabad
Pakistan
Fareha Zafran
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
Abstract
Despite having lived together for almost more than one thousand years, Hindus and Muslims
do have considerable cultural differences due to difference of Cultural Capital, a term
borrowed from Bourdieu (1977). This paper brings forth the differences in greeting manners
of both these ethnic communities. Although the Middle Region Communication ( Meyrowitz,
1985) is more and more obvious today between these extreme communities----- e.g. media
bringing them together by decreasing the distance between their backstage and frontstage
communication points (Goffman,1959), and making their different scripts (Abelson, 1981)
and schemata homogenous ----- this paper presents the intercultural communication
difference when the members of both these communities do greet eachother following their
own greeting manners.
Key words: Intercultural, communication, pragmatics, greetings manners
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
93
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
1. Models and Principles
Co-orientation Model (Chaffee and McLeod, 1968; McLeod and Chaffee, 1973; Suzuki,
1997) is the underlying constituent model of Communication Principle (Gruning and Hunt,
1984). While Communication Principle accounts for the equality of the communication actors
in the process of two way communication, the Co-orientation Model explains this nature of
equality through agreement, accuracy, and congruency. This model emphasizes a
communication leading to a joint action. Messages are understood on the basis of a cultural
situation. But due to the difference of the Cultural Capital----- a system of mental evaluation
schemata for perceiving the world around us and assigning values to it, and these influence
peoples’ values and value choices ----- the intercultural communication breaks down and the
message gets misinterpreted. Goffman’s Theatre Model (1959) of backstage vs frontstage
captures only to a minor degree the phenomenon of social change: due to a gap between these
stages the phenomenon of social change becomes ununderstandable for the communication
actors belonging to two or more different cultures. Hindus are a totally different cultural
community having their individualistically representative identity quite distinct from that of
Muslims. Difference of Cultural Capital exists still, despite the fact that both are coming
closer by having found a Middle Region Communication plan through the experience of
centuries old mutual living and, after partition, through the Indian TV channels.
2.Methodology
The present study deals with the phenomenon of misinterpretation of the messages sent
through verbal and nonverbal greeting signals by Hindu communication actors to some young
Muslim boys involved in that specific communication. Since Hindu greet in quite a different
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
94
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
way, their non-verbal greeting signal may lead to a communication breakdown when greeting
to Muslims. This study focuses with respect to this problem on the Hindu visitors coming
from India (Ptyala) to Nankana Sahib (a place near Faisalabad), the Janam Bhomi of Sikh
Saint Baba Guru Nanak, so a sacred place of worship for them. Although this is the sacred
place of the Sikhs, some Hindus do visit it also out of respect. The participants of the study
were eleven in number: seven middle aged Hindus and four young Muslim boys (minor
workers) who worked in Nankana Sahib. The visitors from India were the members of a
Patyala based Hindu Parmarker family. They consisted of seven members: five males
(Anopam, Nitin, Manish, Shayam and Karan) and two females (Radhika and Narayani). They
came to Nankana to pay homage to Baba Guru Nanak and fulfilling their Manat. The four
Muslim boys were Zia, Afzal, Zubir and Farid. For the present research a seven- point
structured interview was conducted. The study reveals that the young Muslim boys
sometimes misinterpret the nonverbal greeting signal/s (e.g. joining of hands upright flatly)
sent by a Hindu visitor. Seven point structured interview deals with the questions aiming at
the greeting manners (both Verbal and Nonverbal) of Hindu visitors and young Muslim boys
at Nankana Sahib, stressing the difference of greeting styles keeping in view gender, age,
relationship and religious/ social/ cultural values as variables. During the interview, all of the
five male Hindu members provided the same answers, i.e. there was no difference in their
answers. The two females did not answer for the questions. They only said that the same
answers (answers by males) could serve as their answers to the seven questions as their
opinion is not different from that of the five males. The content of the four young Muslim
boys was also the same: Muslims’ greeting style is same among every Muslim individual
living in the Subcontinent. The answers of the Muslim respondents show that non-Muslims’
nonverbal greeting signal is quite different from that of Hindus. So the young Muslim boys
understudy misinterpreted the nonverbal greeting signals of the Hindus: Hindus’ nonverbal
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
95
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
greeting styles seem to them as more than greeting. These signals carry some additional
meaning/ value. While to Hindus these are nothing more than their centuries old cultural
system of greeting.
3.Seven Point Structured Interview
A structured interview keeping in view the variables of gender, age, relationship and
religious/ social values was developed having seven direct questions aiming at the nature of
greeting convention (both verbal and nonverbal) in Hindu visitors and the Muslim young
male minor workers who work near the sacred place at Nankana. The language of the
interview was Urdu as both the groups could communicate in Urdu only. While the content of
their answers as well as the questions are presented in English (see Appendix). The
researchers/ interviewers asked them seven questions related to above-mentioned variables
and recorded the answers after listening to them carefully.
The interview consisted of seven points. First question asks about the nature of
greeting manner when greeting to the member of the same gender. Second asks about the
same when the counterpart in greeting belongs to the opposite gender. Third question aims at
the nonverbal greeting style of the respondents. Fourth question is about the nature of genderoriented nonverbal greeting style. Fifth asks about the age as variable influencing the greeting
manner. Sixth question explores whether the degree of formality/ informality has any effect
on the style of verbal and nonverbal greeting. Last question focuses on finding whether
greeting is a social norm only (e.g. merely a force of habit constructed through the
phenomenon of Social Facts) or it is the integral part of the moral values stemming through
the religious culture of the communities in question.
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
96
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
4.Analysis of Qualitative Data
The focus of the analysis is finding the difference of greeting styles in the already mentioned
groups belonging to two different religion- based cultures. (For items of the interview see
Appendix).
1. Hindus greet their counterpart involved in greeting stage of communication through a
verbal sign ‘Namasty’. This they do quite the same while greeting to their counterpart
of both the genders. Muslims’ verbal greeting signal ‘Aslam o Alikum’ also remains
the same for both the genders. So the difference between both the communities is the
difference of verbal sounds.
2. Both the Hindus and Muslim respondent answers were not different from that of the
answers to the question 1.
3. Hindus while saying Namasty raise their hands flatly and upright together. Moreover,
the younger ones bend down to earth and touch the feet of the older counterpart.
Pakistani Muslims shake hands during greeting while saying Aslam o Alikum. So
difference of nonverbal greeting signal is obvious. Muslim boys say that for sometime
in the beginning they took Hindus nonverbal greeting signal as their appeal to be
forgiven, for no obvious reason, by the other person involved in communication. For
them Hindus’ nonverbal greeting signals of joining hands and touching the feet was a
signal to convey that they were seeking forgiveness from the other person. Burt after
sometime they began to understand that Hindus greet nonverbally in this way.
4. Male Hindus when greet females, they bend their necks a bit out of respect. This
submissive posture of neck while greeting females is common in both the Hindus and
the Muslims of course.
5. Age does matter in greeting modes for both the Hindus and Muslims. Both have
submissive posture when greeting to the older counterpart.
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
97
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
6. The verbal greeting signal remains the same in both communities as mentioned above,
while nonverbal greeting signals vary according to the degree of formality/
informality with the greeting counterpart. In informal situations only the verbal
expression conveys the greeting message, while nonverbal signals become less
important.
7. Greeting in both the communities is a moral value stemming from the religious
concepts. Both Hindus and Muslims do greet because greeting is the part of their
religious code of conduct while developing a contact with the other person. It is a
religious norm rather than the social one.
5.Results
The interviews show that the Muslim young workers misinterpreted sometime in the past the
nonverbal greeting signals of joining hands and touching the feet of the older counterpart by
the Hindu visitors to Nankana Sahib. Their nonverbal signals of greeting were interpreted as
their appeal for apology. But after sometime these Muslim boys found Middle Region
Communication plan, so began to interpret Hindus’ nonverbal signals correctly.
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
98
ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
FEBRUARY 2012
VOL 3, NO 10
References
Abelson, R. (1981). Psychological Status of the Script Concept. In American Psychologist.
Vol.36.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge University Press.
Chaffe, S. and McLeod, J. (1968). Sensitization in Panel Design: A Coorientational
Experiement. Journalism Quarterly. Vol 45.
Goffman, E (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday, Anchor Books.
Gruning, J. and Hunt, T. (1984). Managing Public Relations. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc.
McLeod, J. and Chaffe, S. (1973). Interpersonal Approaches to Communication Research.
American Behavioral Scientist. Vol 16.
Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No Sense of Place. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Suzuki, S. (1997). Cultural Transmission in International Organizations: Impact of
Interpersonal Communication Patterns in Intergroup Contexts. Human Communication
Research. Vol 24.
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
99
ijcrb.webs.com
FEBRUARY 2012
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
VOL 3, NO 10
Appendix
Structured Interview
Culture bound differences in mode of greetings.
1. How do you greet the person of your gender?
2. How do you greet the person of cross gender?
3. What are your non-verbal greeting manners?
4. Are there any gender specific fixities in non-verbal greeting manners?
5. Does age matters in changing the greeting mode? If so, explain how.
6. Does relationship matters in changing the greeting mode? If so, explain how.
7. Is greeting an integral moral value or a mere social norm in your culture?
COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
100