National cliche or good metaphor?

Previewing the Article

“The mind is a computer”, a professor says. This phrase is a metaphor, a type of figurative language that makes comparisons.

More than 25 years ago, an American, Martin Gannon, noticed that his new German wife did not talk at the dinner table, a habit he later concluded was distinctly German. Observations of cultural differences like these led him to metaphors as a way to understand societies. He began to study how to characterize a society with a single object or tradition that best describes its nature.

The author of this article seems to suggest that Mr. Gannon cultural comparisons are valid to some extent. However, as the title of the article, “National cliché or good metaphor?” suggests, he lets the readers reach their own conclusions.

Before You Read

Before you read the article, discuss this question. Have you ever had experiences in which you were confused by the behaviour of someone from another culture? What was the misunderstanding?

As You Read

As you read, look for the metaphor given for one of the societies described and the way in which Gannon explains the choice of metaphor.

National cliche or good metaphor?

by Don Oldenburg

The Washington Post

Washington - Soon after his wedding 25 years ago, Martin Gannon knew something was not quite right. Every night he would watch patiently as his bride ate in virtual silence. He did not know why - not until 14 years later, when the young business professor moved his family to Kassel, Germany, to do research under a Fulbright fellowship.

His wife, Doris, then and still thoroughly American, looked forward to spending a year in the country where she was born and raised before moving to the United Stated at the age of 9.

“I found that my wife was more similar to the Germans than she was to the Americans”, said Mr. Gannon, who quickly recognized his own dinner behaviour to be at odds with a nation of people who see eating as a most serious business.

“I happen to be Irish-American, and the Irish really don’t eat that way. Food is secondary to conversation for them”.

5 If quiet meals proved to be a minor cultural clash in an otherwise harmonious marriage, they also started Martin Gannon’s thinking about cultural mid-sets, about how people in a society think, feel and act purely because they are members of that society.

Three years ago, after an extended stay an Bangkok, he felt he had found a way to characterize behaviour in terms to promote understanding: metaphors. He fashioned a seminar to pursue such culturally potent metaphors at the University of Maryland.

Aided by graduate students, many of them foreigners, he explored ways in which to characterize diverse societies. The three-year effort has produced a 500-page manuscript the table of contents in which is a collection of image-including entries such as the Mexican Fiesta and Belgian Lace.

Using metaphors as a serious way to describe societies is relatively new, Mr. Gannon said. He credits anthropologists with experimenting with the device, and organizational theorists with applying it in their field (the organization as “machine”, for instance). To Martin Gannon, “it is the best way to cut into the culture”.

To understand what “the Fatherland” is all about has little to do with the aggressiveness and rigidity often attributed to Germans. “What they really are is reflective of a symphony”.

10 Not only is music a cherished part of German character and history, but Mr. Gannon contends that symphonic music symbolizes the dynamics of German society. As in a symphony orchestra, conformity is valued, order is important and rules are many, he says. And each person is expected to contribute fully his or her talents for the good of the whole.

The German education system further supports full participation by emphasizing efficiency and preparation for a place in society for everyone.

“The German”, Mr. Gannon said, “sees himself as an integral part of society” and values combined effort. “If you approach German society that way, it is a lot easier” to understand.

Similarly, the French would prove far less frustrating to other cultures if approached with the metaphor of “the French Vineyard” in mind, Mr. Gannon said. “France is a heavily agricultural country, much more so than Germany or the United States,” he noted. That rural element, combined with a Cartesian educational system that emphasizes rational thought and mathematics, plants a perfectionist in the vineyard - a relationship reflected everywhere in France.

“You touch an apple in a shop in Paris and they get annoyed because you are violating the perfect picture they have developed there”, Mr. Gannon said. Try to close a deal with a French business executive you met only recently? Same reaction.

15 “The French want to know you, and they really won’t deal with you until they get that”, he said. “In the vineyard you nurture relationships”.

For Spanish society, the metaphor is a bullfight, “which really reflects Spanish culture, and is not a sport whatsoever”, Mr. Gannon said. It is the proud individualism of the matador, the gang-like relationship of those in the bullring that reflects the personal relationship in Spain.

The Italian opera metaphor, he said, mirrors a society where “the drama is much more important than the individual and where emotions are so great that an individual can’t hold them inside”.

The American metaphor? Football, said Mr. Gannon. “Aggressiveness and individuality. In the United States, the society is individualistic and we focus on specialization. We try to learn something really well so we as an individual can do better than anyone we are competing with. Then there’s huddling: What we’re really good at here is getting together on a problem, working intensely and then scattering”.

I. Getting the Message

A. After reading the article, choose the best answer for each item.

1. Martin Gannon was puzzled by his wife’s eating habits because he was used to

a. eating more quickly

b. talking at meals

c. eating different foods

2. Gannon organized a seminar of graduate students to

a. explore the eating habits of different cultures

b. talk to people from many countries

c. explore ways to characterize different societies

3. Gannon’s efforts resulted in

a. a Fulbright fellowship in Germany

b. an extended stay in Bangkok

c. a 500-page manuscript exploring cultural metaphors

4. The Italian opera metaphor is appropriate because

a. Italians like opera

b. aggressiveness and individuality are stressed

c. drama and emotion predominate in Italian society

5. In doing his study, Gannon assumed that

a. each society has its own metaphor

b. people from a society cannot characterize their own culture

c. it is unfair to make generalizations about a culture

6. Gannon’s goal in establishing metaphors is to

a. show the difficulty of analyzing another society

b. promote understanding between groups

c. show the difference between Americans and Europeans

B. Scan the article. What is the metaphor for each of these countries?

Country	Metaphor
Germany
France
Mexico
Italy
Spain
United States
Belgium

II. Expanding Your Vocabulary

A. Getting Meaning from Context

Use context clues to determine the meaning of each word, found in the paragraph indicated in parentheses. Choose the correct definition.

1. thoroughly (2):	aggressively completely
2. harmonious (5):	without conflict full of music
3. potent (6):	physically strong effective
4. credits (8):	gives as the cause puts trust in
5. field (8):	land for crops area of study
6. dynamics (10):	forces or principles by which a society works prosperity and growth
7. violating (14):	stealing disturbing, spoiling
8. nurture (15):	give food to let grow slowly and with care

B. Reading for Suggested Meanings

Answer these questions.

1. In headline, cliché means an overused or stereotyped expression. Which word is more positive - metaphor or cliché?

2. In paragraph 14, to show the metaphor for France, Gannon gives an example of touching an apple in a shop. What does the example show about France?

3. In paragraph 18, when football players huddle, they get together and discuss the next play they are going to make. Why is huddling a good way to describe American society according to Gannon?

C. Working with Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns tell us about general qualities. Many are used in this article to describe cultures. Complete each definition with the correct abstract noun.

aggressiveness efficiency rigidity

conformity individualism

1. ___ means the ability to produce good results without waste of time.

2. ___ means being energetic and quick to attack.

3. ___ means that a person’s self-expression is as important as the group to which he or she belongs.

4. ___ means following the generally accepted rules.

5. ___ means not being able to change from a set plan of action.

III. Analyzing Paragraphs

Answer the following questions about the structure of the article.

1. Paragraphs 1 through 4 contrast the eating patterns of what two cultures? What are the differences that Gannon observes?

2. How did observations lead to the generalization that is made in paragraph 5?

3. Paragraphs 6 and 7 give the immediate effects of Gannon’s realizations about cultural mind-sets. What are they?

4. Paragraph 8 discusses the influence of other disciplines on the study of metaphors. What two areas contributed?

5. Paragraphs 9 through 18 describe the various metaphors that Gannon developed. Why does he discuss the German metaphor for four paragraphs?

6. Does this article have a conclusion? Is ending with an example a good strategy or would a more formal ending be better?

IV. Talking and Writing

Discuss the following topics. Then choose one of them to write about.

1. What might be the problems involved in characterizing a culture with metaphors?

2. Do you think that Gannon’s metaphors are well chosen? Can you think of an alternate metaphor for any of the cultures he studied?

3. Develop a metaphor for your native culture and try to explain your choice.

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