THE ICEBERG CONCEPT OF CULTURE
Edward T Hall (1976)
In 1976, Hall developed the iceberg analogy of culture. If the culture of a society was the iceberg, Hall reasoned, than there are some aspects visible, above the water, but there is a larger portion hidden beneath the surface.
The external, or conscious, part of culture is what we can see and is the tip of the iceberg and includes behaviours and some beliefs. The internal, or subconscious, part of culture is below the surface of a society and includes some beliefs and the values and thought patterns that underlie behaviour.
SURFACE LEVEL CULTURE:
The most easily seen elements, in which the emotion level is LOW
- Food
- Dress
- Music
- Visual arts
- Literature
- Language
- Celebrations
- Games
DEEP LEVEL CULTURE:
Unspoken rules, attitudes, beliefs and values, in which the emotional level is HIGH
- Courtesy
- Conversational patterns
- Concept of time
- Personal Space
- Rules of conduct
facial expressions
- non-verbal communication
- Body language
- Touching
- Eye contact
- Patterns of handling emotions
- Notions of modesty
- Concept of beauty
- Courtship practices
- Attitudes towards elders
- Ideals of child rearing
- Concept of cleanliness
- Tempo of work
- Relationship to animals
- Concept of food
We must learn the internal culture of others by actively participating in their culture:
- When one first enters a new culture, only the most overt behaviors are apparent.
- As one spends more time in that new culture, the underlying beliefs, values, and thought patterns that dictate that behavior will be uncovered.
- What this model teaches us is that we cannot judge a new culture based only on what we see when we first enter it.
- We must take the time to get to know individuals from that culture and interact with them.
- Only by doing so can we uncover the values and beliefs that underlie the behavior of that society.