Understanding Global Cultures

Metaphorical Journeys Through 34 Nations, Clusters of Nations, Continents, and Diversity

Martin J. Gannon, Rajnandini Pillai

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781483340074
• Edition: 6
• eBook ISBN:
  9781483384894
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: International Business
• Index: Business

In the fully updated Sixth Edition of Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 34 Nations, Clusters of Nations, Continents, and Diversity, authors Martin J. Gannon and Rajnandini Pillai present the cultural metaphor as a method for understanding the cultural mindsets of individual nations, clusters of nations, continents, and diversity in each nation. A cultural metaphor is any activity, phenomenon, or institution that members of a given culture consider important and with which they identify emotionally and/or cognitively, such as the Japanese garden and American football. This cultural metaphoric approach identifies three to eight unique or distinctive features of each cultural metaphor and then discusses 34 national cultures in terms of these features. The book demonstrates how metaphors are guidelines to help outsiders quickly understand what members of a culture consider important.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief Contents
• Detailed Contents Note: With the exception of Chapters 1, 29, and 38, the major subheadings in each chapter highlight each of the key features of the specific cultural metaphor, and each key feature is then used to illustrate how the cultural metaphor dynamically plays out in each national culture.
• Preface Understanding Cultures in Depth
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Introduction
• Chapter 1 Understanding Cultural Metaphors
• Part II Authority-Ranking Cultures
• Chapter 2 The Thai Kingdom
• Chapter 3 The Japanese Garden
• Chapter 4 Bedouin Jewelry and Saudi Arabia
• Chapter 5 Đòn Gánh The Two Sides of Vietnam
• Chapter 6 Kimchi and Korea
• Part III Scandinavian Egalitarian Cultures
• Chapter 7 The Swedish Stuga
• Chapter 8 The Finnish Sauna
• Chapter 9 The Danish Christmas Luncheon
• Part IV Other Egalitarian Cultures
• Chapter 10 The German Symphony
• Chapter 11 Irish Conversations
• Chapter 12 The Canadian Backpack and Flag
• Chapter 13 Australian Outdoor Recreational Activities
• Chapter 14 French Wine
• Part V Market-Pricing Cultures
• Chapter 15 American Football
• Chapter 16 The Traditional British House
• Part VI Cleft National Cultures
• Chapter 17 The Malaysian Balik Kampung
• Chapter 18 The Israeli Kibbutzim and Moshavim
• Chapter 19 The Italian Opera
• Chapter 20 Belgian Lace
• Part VII Torn National Cultures
• Chapter 21 The Mexican Fiesta
• Chapter 22 The Turkish Coffeehouse
• Part VIII The Base Culture and Its Diffusion Across Borders (Clusters of Nations): The Example of China
• Chapter 23 China’s Great Wall and Cross-Cultural Paradox
• Chapter 24 The Chinese Family Altar: The Expatriate Chinese Outside of China
• Chapter 25 The Singapore Hawker Centers
• Part IX India: Tradition, Modernity, and Diversity
• Chapter 26 India: The Dance of Shiva
• Chapter 27 India: A Kaleidoscope of Diversity
• Part X An African Perspective
• Chapter 28 The Nigerian Marketplace
• Chapter 29 South African Townships
• Chapter 30 The Sub-Saharan African Bush Taxi
• Part XI The Struggle for Cultural Identity and the Splintering of Nations: The Case of the Russian Empire
• Chapter 31 Russian Ballet
• Chapter 32 Estonian Singing
• Chapter 33 The Polish Village Church
• Part XII Same Metaphor, Different Meanings
• Chapter 34 The Spanish Bullfight
• Chapter 35 The Portuguese Bullfight
• Part XIII Popular Music as Cultural Metaphors
• Chapter 36 The Brazilian Samba
• Chapter 37 The Argentine Tango
• Part XIV Overlapping Cultural Metaphors for Geographically Related Nations
• Chapter 38 Cultural Metaphors for the Caribbean
• References
• Index
• About the Authors
• Publisher Note