Autoethnography: Intercultural Communications

An auto-ethnography is a self-reflection put into writing of a person’s experience about a particular incident pertaining to his/her understanding of a social, political and or cultural environment of a society. One person’s auto-ethnography may differ to another person’s even if they are researching on a similar subject. This is due to the differences in research methods used, levels and means of observation, different perspectives and cultural background in interpreting another culture’s values and norms. I wrote this auto-ethnography evaluating the means of communication used between people of different cultural backgrounds and how the world has become a global village with mixed cultures within a society. 

Interacting with someone or a group of people from another cultural background may be a difficult task. The main cause is language barrier or the different means of communication. Henceforth, I usually tend to be quiet when I find myself mixed up in a group of people from different backgrounds and moreover in an environment with people who do not understand the language that I understand which is English and/or Shona (Zimbabwean native language). However there are incidents when you need something from someone who is from a different cultural background and you just have to find a way to communicate with that particular person despite the language barrier either by learning the language, finding an interpreter of simply using gestures.

I managed to go to an Italian Flea market Porta Portese in Rome. The moment you get there, the first thing you might ask yourself is whether it is an Italian Flea Market because the majority of the market stands are owned by Asians: Indians, Bangladeshi and Pakistani.  The second question that clicks after taking a few strolls in the market is, “which ethnic group are these people from?” At some point I considered all of them to be Indians because of the stereotype I had towards the majority of the vendors and small supermarket and business owners.  According to J N. Martin Intercultural Communications “stereotypes are widely held beliefs about some group and they help us know what to expect from others.” That is true to a certain point depending on the particular group of people one will be dealing with.

 

In most African countries that I have been to, I have personally experienced that Indians are one of the most well-known business traders whether on a small scale or large scale. However in this case I was partly wrong of what I thought of about Porta Portese flea market because most of the vendors were Pakistanis. I only figured that out by chance of interacting with one of them after he persuaded me to purchase one of his belts which later resulted in us having an intense discussion about the belts’ quality, sizes and later negotiated the price. I wasn’t surprised by that activity though, after all I basically knew I would expect such an incident because of the Asian vendor stereotype I had. Furthermore, back home in Zimbabwe, local flea market vendors have adapted a similar way of the Asians marketing skills of negotiating until the customer ends up unwillingly buying just because the vendor lured him due to his eloquence and politeness.

The vendor automatically knew I understood English and greeted me in such a welcoming manner which I thought before, was only accustomed to African cultures. Greeting someone first before any conversation or just basically greeting is one of our African cultural values. That gave me flash backs and memories of back home in Zimbabwe about family and friends, something that hadn’t happened to me since I came to Italy. This shows that Pakistanis have quite similar cultural norms and values as to our African ones like greeting one another as if we knew each other already. Or probably he just uses that tactic as a way to attract customers, but I didn’t take it in that manner though. 

While observing one pair of black, elegant slim fit jeans at one stand. The owner of the stand, an Italian man probably in his mid-thirties approached me and just called out the price in an aggressive harsh manner. I felt that there was a major difference and total shift in the way he spoke to me as compared to the way the previous Pakistani vendor welcomed me to his stand. I wasn’t pleased with the Italian’s approach which made me take off instantly. This then boggled my mind, “is that how he is and do all Italian vendors approach their customers in such a manner?” Or probably it’s because he sees that I am a young African man and won’t even be able to afford it. Such a small act caused me to have a negative stereotype of Italian vendors. 

What surprised me was that about ninety percent of the flea market stands were owned by either Indians, Pakistanis or Bangladeshi. The other ten percent of vendors were Italians and probably other Europeans. It was like an Asian community in Italy that dealt more with flea markets and cheap small scale trading. Quite similar to China-town or an African market. This shows how global the world has become, immigrants are opening up businesses in foreign countries and as they do so, they slowly assimilate or integrate with the local culture and its language. T K Nakayama Intercultural Communications “Assimilation is a type of cultural adaptation in which an individual gives up his/her own cultural heritage and adopts the mainstream cultural identity. Integration is a type of cultural adaptation in which individuals maintain both their original culture and their daily interactions with other groups”. Most of the vendors could speak fluent Italian and English. Some could even predict the language a customer spoke probably just by the way they were dressed, walked and gave eye contact. Showing that each culture has its basic norm known globally.

 I believe stereotypes are for the ignorant. In order for one to know the values and norms of a different culture, he/she has to physically experience it by interacting with the people, furthermore learning the language and this usually results in having either some negative or positive culture shock within oneself.