POWER CULTURALLY AND POLICALLY DEFINED

Cao Duy Trinh Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 105(05)' 15- 19 POWER CULTURALLY AND POLICALLY DEFINED Cao Duy Trinh College of Sciences - TNU SUMMARY The study of power is as important as the study of culture and politics for a successful foreign language teaching More than just mastering language skills and rules, the students of English language should know what and why they are learning in their language curricula Being aware of the power and power handling in the English lessons should be part of their jobs In this paper, the concepts of culture, politics and power are revised before an introduction of power which is then culturally and politically defined The paper is part of a further Critical Discourse Analysis in which culture, politics, power and values as well as their relationships are carefully considered Key words: culture, politics, power INTRODUCTION Power has much to with culture and poldics as it belongs to them The what-socalled "hard power" and "soft power" may have rooted from the cultural and political origins The study of power, together with the study of culture and politics, is part and parcel of foreign language teaching, especially the English Language Teaching Il is power that influence the decision whal lo leach and how to leach in an English lesson W e need to revise these concepts before looking into power from the cultural and political aspects CULTURE A N D POLITICS What is culture? Apart from academic interpretations, culture can simply be seen as your ways of treating the family members and friends, flying a flag on the national day or celebrating a religious event This is why Samovar el al assumed that culture had subjective elements such as: values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society the subjective cultural beliefs and values you hold that influence your interpretation of the world and the interaction in il Your view about American flag, work imagination, freedom, age ethics, dress, property rights, etiquette, heating and health, death and mourning, play, law, individualism magic and superstition Tel:091262I599 modesty, sex status differential ion courtship, formality and informality, bodily adornmenl and the like are all part of your cultural membership." Samovar e t a l (2007 20) In the book "Communication between Cultures" (2007: 18), Samovar and other scholars also rnentioned cultural elements: history, religion, values, social organizations and language They assumed that culture had its own characteristics: il was learned, shared and transmitted from generation to generation These scholars indicated that it was family, cornmunity and religion that initially made up a culture: ' family, community (country) and worldview (religion) were three ofthe earliest markers in the evolulion of what we now call culture " Samovar e t a l (2007:7) In an official understanding, culture can be known as the finest knowledge of and the best attitudes towards h u m a n ' s mind and heart creations This was especially right in Hornby's statement (1992) when he declared that culture was a refined understanding and appreciation of art, literature, customs, arts, social institutions and so on of a particular group or people Back to everyday life understanding, culture can be sirnply understood as people's habits, their behaviors and ways of life In fact, people live in some places, speak their languages, eat certain foods and vole for the 15 Cao Duy Trinh Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGH$ people they trust in their own ways These people enjoy certain literature works, some pieces of music or specific kind of amusements and their jobs in their routines That is their culture Culture of the society can be abstract or concrete; il is tangible and intangible, ranging from the enamels of the ancestors' potteries to the respect of a wife towards a husband in an Asian country, Together wilh culture (and even above culture in terms of power), politics is another part of a civilized society The word 'polities', as for Beard (2000) had the original meaning in Greek as 'city', 'citizen', 'civic' He was very serious to see that the use of the word "political" has to wilh social and economic change He said if we talked of the politics of food production, that would mean there was something wrong with the production ofthe food or the food production supporting system and change must be made The politics of sport, he then further clarified, included analysis ofthe changing social and economic structure of professional sport Johnston arrived at a broad and practical dimension of the term 'political' which involved power and control of resources He thought that for most people, this term would apply only lo the making of laws by nation and local officials, the election of those officials, the credos and actions of political parties, relation among national governments etc However, he pointed out: Yet in fact, the term poUlical has a much broader field of reference It refers to anything thai has to with power and the control of resources of every conceivable kind In this iinderslanding, a great many things about language leaching are polilical Johnston (2003:53) Thus, many issues of polilical nature not look like whal the term brings to them Poverty, unemployment, gender issues or even a distant addressing in party conversation may be political or have deeply rooted in politics In fact, Thomas et al (2004) mentioned George Orwell's claim that 16 105(05): 15-19 * in our age there is no keeping out of politics All Ls.sues are political issues' Anyway, politics cannot work if il is not turned into some kinds of power Politics is nothing without power: Politics is concerned with power, the power to make decision, lo control resources, to conlrol other people's behavior and often control their values (Thomas L.^/a/2004: 36) POWER AND POWER IN TERMS OF CULTURE AND POLITICS Power is a complex and abstract concept, but an infiuential force in our lives Power is invisible, indirect and, many a lime, hidden from our perception We, the citizens of a society and members of a community, can direcl other people and can be directed by some others People lend lo protect their rights and lo consider obedience the duly of other people Thus, the New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (1999) defined power: Power is., the ability of its holders to exact compliance or obedience of other individuals to their will The strongest man is never strong enough always lo be master unless he transforms his power into right and obedience into duty Fairclough helped us to answer the questions what the power looks like or whal it does lo us in our lives with the statement: Power exists in vai-ioiis modalities Power is often enough exercised through depriving people of their jobs, their homes, and their lives Fairclough (2001:3) And Coultas reminded us of power: Power can rarely be said to exist unless it is related lo another feature, like gender or ethmcity or occupation, and combined with a particular set of contextual circumstances Coultas (2003-45) We can sec power as a body of culture and politics wilh the feet standing in the ground of culture and the head supporting the politics In other words, power is seen lo be built of culture and politics as a continuum: the foundation is culture and the governing top is politics (Figure I) Cao Duy Trinh Tjp chi KHOA HOC & CONO NGHE 105(05): 15-19 POLITICS: LAW & REGULATIONS/INSTITUTIONAL POWER /POLITICAL VALUES (IDEOLOGY) CIILTIIRE: FAIMILY BRINGING UP/SCHOOLING /CHURCH/CULTURAL VALUES Figure Power buill of culture and politics Table I Key Differences between small and large power distance societies - general norm, family, school and workplace (Hofstede, 2000:139) Small power distance Inequalities among people should be minimized There should be, and there is to some extent, interdependence between less and more powerful people Large power distance Inequalities among people are both expected and desired Less powerful people should be dependent on the more powerful, in practice, less powerful people are polarized between dependence and counter dependence Parents treat children as equals Parents teach children obedience Children treat parents as equals Teachers expect initiatives from students in class Teachers are experts who transfer impersonal truths Children treat parents with respect Teachers are expected to take all initiatives in class Teachers are gurus who transfer personal wisdom Table Key differences between small and large power distance societies - politics and ideas (Hofstede, 2000'139) Small power distance The use of power should be legitimate and is subject to criteria of good and evil Skills, wealth, power, and status need not go together The middle class is large All should have equal rights Powerful people try to look less powerful than they are Power is based on formal position, expertise and ability to give rewards In the paradigm of power body in figure 1, Large power distance Might prevails over right: whoever holds the power is right and good Skills, wealth, power, and status should go together The middle class is small The powerful have privileges Powerful people try to look as impressive as possible Power is based on family or friends, charisma, and ability louse force drives the culture to the goals beneficial to the assume that politics rests on a culture (as governing people In terms of values, we can history, traditions, beliefs, values and so on to say a political values (ideology) are, to a large decide the governing policies) but politics extent, shaped by the (dominant) cultural (authorities wilh values of a society Institutional power) then Cao Duy Trinh 105(05): - Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG N G H $ T h e ideology will then, in its turn, decides CONCLUSION this culture From here, w e can find one end As indicated, p o w e r has much lo d o wilh o f t h e continuum as a cultural power, or "sofl rights p o w e r " of a society - what you personally should obey (advice of y o u r parents, teachers and vicars) power" - and what (rules of the courts) the other end you officially as "hard musl obey lawyers, the policemen, Both culture and the politics are (2000) wrote societies with different about different power distances as have and have language education Il is nol a l w a y s expressed explicitly by the certain s o u n d s , words or grammar In a language, p o w e r is related to and exercised through the decision-makings, attitudes, v i e w p o i n t s , powerful wilh their p o w e r s Hofstede and duty, and don't, not At times, p o w e r seems lo stay a w a y from choices or even the neglects o f t h e speakers, listeners, readers or writers In an English lesson, power may partly described in the following Table & impose on the choices of values to be taught, He assumed that: characteristic to which accepts as a less powerful inequality a who and w h o m lo teach and lo be educated, defined the extent what to teach and learnt, h o w to teach and person in society "Power of a culture distance in power as and considers it learn and so on P o w e r always involves and go first in language education normal" Looking at the table, we can find different gaps of power This is then reflected in this statement: What Hofstede culture, was that in those who hold power are affected apart discovered by power (high power distance) in many the power tho.se power affected significantly by closer (low power some and lho.se who are significantly while in other cultures, REFERENCES out the distinction of the societies can be made by holders holders far ways, and are distance) ( S a m o v a r e t a l , 2007: 146) People nol slay in the same level of power Beard A , (2000), The Language Routledge, London & New York of Politics, Coultas, A., (2003), Language and Social Context, Routledge, London & New York Fairclough N L (2001), Language and Power, Longman, London Johnston, B., (2003) lvalues in English Language Teaching, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, New Jersey, London Hofstede, Geert (2001) Culture's Consequences comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across notions (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications power or powerlessness and always fight for Samovar, L A Porter R.E., McDaniel, E R., (2007), Samovar, L.A Porter, R.E, McDaniel, E.R., (2007), Communication benveen Cultures, It Thomson, Belmont They are people of more or less power, of l[ their struggle, the ideologies of the powerful will be more influential and accepted, as a rule T h e win-win policy is Thomas, L., Wareing, S., Singh, I., Peccei, J S Thomborrow, J., Jones, J., (2004), Language, Society s o m e h o w an Utopia and Power Routledge, London & New York Cao Duy Trinh Tap chl KHOA HQC & CONG NGHE 105(05): 15 - 19 TOM TAT QUYfeN L y c DU'OfI G O C N H I N V A N H O A VA C H I N H T R I Cao Duy Trinh College of Sciences - TNU Viec nghien cuu quyen luc c6 tkm quan nhir nghien cuu van h6a vk chinh trj nhSm phuc vu cho vi?c day ngoai ngiJ th^nh cong Khong chi nim dugc c^c ky n5ng ngon ngCt, ngufri hpc tieng Anh nen biet hpc gl chuong trinh ngon ngiJ ctia minh v^ vl hp hpc nhu v^y Y thiic vS quyen lire vA viec dieu hanh quyen l\rc cac bii hpc tieng Anh nen la mpt phSn nhiem vg ctia ngu6i hpc Trong b^i bio niy, nhiing khii ni?m vS v3n h6a, chinh trj v i quy^n lyc dup'c nhic iai trudc phin gidi thi^u vg quyen luc dudi gdc nhin van hda v^ chinh tn Bii bio l^ mot phin ciia mpt phan tich dien ngon phe phin sau hon d6 vSn h6a, chinh tri, quyen luc vi cic gii tri cung nhu cic moi lien he cua chiing dugc xem xet kJ cang Ttr kh6a: Vdn hda, chinh iri, quyen l\rc Ngay nhdn bdi- 28/02/2013, Ngdy phdn bien- 07/3/2013; Ngdy duyel ddng 06/6/2013 ... (Thomas L.^/a/2004: 36) POWER AND POWER IN TERMS OF CULTURE AND POLITICS Power is a complex and abstract concept, but an infiuential force in our lives Power is invisible, indirect and, many a lime,... o m lo teach and lo be educated, defined the extent what to teach and learnt, h o w to teach and person in society "Power of a culture distance in power as and considers it learn and so on P o... between small and large power distance societies - politics and ideas (Hofstede, 2000''139) Small power distance The use of power should be legitimate and is subject to criteria of good and evil Skills,