Communication A Critical/Cultural Introduction
Deanna L. Fassett | John T. Warren | Keith Nainby
COMMUNICATION
A Critical/Cultural Introduction
•
CHAPTER 9: INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN CULTURE
Overview
• Explore how interpersonal communication is mediated by culture
Appreciate relational partners as whole people, rich with their own experiences and feelings
Describe the role of power in relationships, particularly in terms of relational struggle
Articulate and practice the importance of communication, in general, and listening, in particular, to all aspects of relationship development and negotiation
Interpersonal Communication
•
Relationships always exist within cultural structures, including
– ideology (how power gives rise to and sustains norms and patterns),
– history (how the past makes possible the conditions of the present), and
– individual creativity (the agency or self-determination that makes possible our ability to resist or comply with “the way things are”)
The interior life of any relationship emerges from the discussion and embodiment of language and meaning, through shared experiences—both
painful and pleasurable, individual quirks, and even inside jokes.
– Share a moment in which you recognized that a relationship was emerging.
Interpersonal communication describes the interaction or exchange that occurs between people who are in an interdependent relationship.
Interpersonal communication occurs when people have some sort of commitment to or stake in each other.
Name some relationships where the people to some extent, rely on or fulfill
something in each other.
Self and Other
• Communication is the bridge that connects two or
more people.
– “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun” (Geertz, 1973, p. 5)
• Culture is inherently relational. Culture emerges in and through the relationships we form.
https://www.pexels.com/de/foto/beziehungdrinnen-familie-frauen-206582/
• People are constantly making and remaking culture
• Culture is expansive and intricately woven series of threads that spans the stable parts of a structure.
• Culture is strong, however it requires maintenance.
– The Other is another person whom you see as a whole person, fully realized. What does it take to know a person fully for who they are?
https://www.pexels.com/photo/threewomen-in-white-and-blue-top-1038172/
Frames and Play
•
All relational communication occurs in a context or frame, meaning the environment or set of circumstances that helps you understand how to process or interpret an instance of communication.
– All contexts are marked by
• time,
•our identities,
• our perceptions,
• and the power relations that affect how we build and sustain our relationships.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/4k-wallpaper-adorable-blur-boy1148998/
Self is a carefully crafted performance, one that we all style, rehearse, and produce for an audience.
– Who you are is a compilation of choices
that you arrange for those around you.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/hand-full-of-blood-673862/
Relational Dialectics
Three Relational
Dialectics
1. A balance between connection and separation.
2. A balance between certainty and uncertainty
3. Self-Disclosure and Interdependency
• Relational dialectics help us explore how our relational lives are
– always in flux and
– always shaped by contradictory impulses that arise in and through our communication.
3. Self-Disclosure and Interdependency
https://www.pexels.com/photo/wall-picture-photo-portrait-18178/
• Self-Disclosure
– Revealing information about yourself another person would not readily know about you, is a key characteristic of any relationship.
• Interdependency
– a sense of feeling as though you both contribute to and benefit from the relationship.
Martin Buber,
I and It & I-Thou
• 2 relational types
• I-It, a relationship between a subject (the I) and the
•
object (the it).
I-Thou, a relationship, a living moment of being with another.
• Distinction between “I-It” and “I-Thou”
– Relationships seem unique and important
– Relationships are fluid
– Ethic of responsibility
• If we want to be in a relationship,
– we must meet other people where they are,
– and adapt to our ways of seeing and being.
•
•
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi
le:Martin_Buber_portrait.jpg
What does it take to approach relationships with other people in this way?
What kind of benefits might there be in doing that work?
READING REFLECTION CHAPTER 9
Instructions:
1. After reading chapter 9, write-up your responses to the prompts below.
2. Submit your reading reflection as a .pdf in Moodle.

Reflection questions:
What was the most meaningful, interesting, or significant thing you learned from this chapter?
Next, answer the following:
1. Describe how you see yourself through the eyes of others. Who were the most important people or groups that shaped your concept of self? What
was the impact of culture on your creation of self? What messages were you given about who you were/are? What does this tell you about the impact of other’s communication on how you have come to understand who you are?
2. What negative effects could occur if we do not practice compassionate or critical listening in our interpersonal relationships?
3. In Faith’s Interpersonal Notes (in Moodle Week 11) there is a section titled “Conflict management styles”. Read through the styles, and answer the following:
• What is your preferred conflict management style?
• What do you believe that says about you as a person?
• Do you ever vary your approach to conflict resolution? If so, how, and under what conditions?