4.1 Introduction
4.2 Guidelines literature
4.3 Tasks for literature
4.4 Three poems
4.5 The Little Prince
4.6 Malamud's Black
4.7 Guidelines for films
4.8 Tasks for films
4.9 Guidelines songs
4.10 Stranger than you
4.11 Bibliography

4.2 Guidelines for using literature to develop intercultural competence

Veronika Rot Gabrovec

FOLKTALES

Note: Some of these ideas may well be used with other literary genres as well.

  • Find something in the story you know well from your own fairy tales.
  • Is the topic/theme/story something that you encounter in your folktales as well?
  • Find something in the story you don't know at all from your own fairy tales. Write a "letter back home" to a character from one of your tales, and describe the "culture shock".
  • Underline the features that appear to belong to a culture different than your own, and explain how they differ. Do the differences blur the meaning(s) for you, and/or make the story more exotic/strange/interesting?
  • Do you think your response to the text was conditioned by the culture-bound associations and connotations? Which part/elements do you find particularly troublesome?
  • What information does the text give you about the people, their life and relationships in the past?
  • Can you trace the ways the story has changed over time? Do you have a variant of this story in your country?
  • Are there any stereo/typical characters (people, animals etc) in the story? Are such characters known in your country as well?
  • Who is the main hero? Is there an equivalent of such a character in your tales? (e.g. the tenth daughter, the youngest son, Mischa the Bear, . )
  • Who are the foil characters? Is there an equivalent of such characters in your folktales? Rewrite the story using the characters known in your culture.
  • Is the register of the story very formal or informal? How does it compare to the folktales from your back of the woods?
  • What kind of language is typically used in the fairy tales from your country? Would that be the standard form of language / non-standard accents / a non-standard form of language / archaic language forms?
  • Illustrate the story or change it into a comic strip. Use all sorts of (stereo)typical features of your culture (typical hairstyles, costumes, types of houses). Can the story be adapted to your culture? Why (not)?
NOVELS

Note: Some of these ideas may well be used with other literary genres as well.

TITLE

  • With the help of a dictionary, your teacher or your own  knowledge of languages, compare the title of the novel in the original language with its translation. What kind of changes are there?
  • Do you think the changes made in the translation of the title are due to different cultural backgrounds, different knowledge or something else? (Note:Changes happen also when they don't seem necessary at the first sight: some English novels have been published in the States  with a changed title, and some American works in Europe likewise. Compare Down Under vs In a Sunburned Country by B. Bryson, or the titles of some novels by Agatha Christie.) 

LANGUAGE

  • What is distinctive about the language / type of discourse / text
  • If it is archaic - select a passage that you find particularly  interesting, and rewrite it in today's slang of young people. How does that affect the text?
  • If it's very informal / select an interesting passage to rewrite in the standard variety of the language.
  • Create a picture dictionary of the objects that are mentioned in the text and are not known in your culture.

PLOT - What is happening?

  • Could this story be happening in your culture? Why (not)? Support your opinion with examples (similar or different attitudes, value systems, festivals and celebrations, rituals, history etc).
  • Select a passage that you find particularly interesting. Rewrite it as if it were happening in your culture.
  • In pairs, choose a passage from the novel and illustrate it. Compare the illustrations as far as the cultural details are concerned (landmarks, clothes, position of the characters etc). Alternatively, draw a picture of the original text and one of the text being "localised". Check for the differences and similarities.

CHARACTERS - To whom is this happening?

  • Who are the main characters? How do they compare to the characters in similar novels from your culture?
  • Who are the minor characters? Are the same characters used as foils in the novels from your culture?
  • Rewrite the outline of the plot, using typical characters from your literature. Does it still work?
  • Localising the text: Imagine the events in the novel are taking place in your country. How would that affect the life of the characters?
  • Localising the text temporally: Imagine the story is happening nowadays. How would that affect the life of the characters?
  • Hot Seat: Interview one of the characters who has come to visit your town about his impressions.
  • A What-If Exercise: Write a "questionnaire", introducing elements from today's (global or local) life, and asking questions like "What would happen if Character X could use a mobile telephone?", "What if the hero could travel by plane?" (Alternative: "What if there were no cars yet?"). Question at least three of your mates, and then compare the answers.
  • Find a passage where two or more characters talk to each other. How do they address ach other? Do they use any titles, special verbal forms, are there any formal or informal terms of address, anything else?
  • Find a passage where there is a conversation mentioned, but not given in direct speech. Rewrite it in the form of a scene from a theatre play.

SETTING and TIME / Where and when is it happening?

  • Are there any landmarks mentioned? Which setting (if any at all) would be an appropriate equivalent if the novel were set in your cultural setting?
  • What tells you when the story is happening? Is the time with its values and attitudes very different from the present?
  • If the novel isn't a very contemporary one, find some music from the same time. Compare the verbal, and the non-verbal.
  • Imagine you are a director, shooting a film based on the book. Where in your country would you find an appropriate location for filming?  Think of the costumes and props, visual effects, music, you can even choose the actors to appear in your movie. What would cause you most problems? 

NARRATIVE

Who is telling the story? How?

  • Is the type of the narrator usual in your cultural tradition within a certain time or a certain social context? (e.g. omniscient narrator, limited 3rd person narrator, a first-person narrator)

How is the story being told?

  • Think about the chronological order, flashbacks, flashforwards, the stream-of-consciousness etc. Would you have to reorganise the narrative to make it seem natural/common in your culture?
  • Are there any bits of information about the real world that help the reader understand the text? Are there any bits of information in the text that help the reader understand the real world?
  • Are there any bits of information about the real world that might puzzle the readers? What kind of knowledge do you lack to understand them completely / factual, cultural, something else?
  • Intertextuality I: Find texts/songs/films from your back of the woods that deal with the same/similar topic. Compare and contrast.
  • Intertextuality II: Are there any characters from other texts/films/songs mentioned in the text? Do you understand the references easily or do you need some help?

PSYCHOLOGICAL level

  • Do the characters seem psychologically real, and their actions plausible in your culture? Could you understand their motives easily? Is it because the narrator describes the characters' mental states so clearly? Do you understand them because of your cultural background, or because of something else?
  • Are there any other psychological states mentioned/discussed in the text (e.g. dreams)? Are there any public symbols (flags, signs, skulls, wedding rings, flowers, landmarks) or individual/private symbols (e. g. Gatsby's green light, Holden's ducks) mentioned? Can you relate to them easily?
  • Do the colours and numbers mentioned in the text have the same meaning in your culture and in the culture the text is from or is about? Think about them on two levels: first explore the universal, dictionary meanings (e. g white/wei3/bela), then explore the specific meanings (e.g. white as the colour signalling innocence, purity or mourning).
  • Find the passages in the novel where the characters either verbally or otherwise show their attitudes to time, to showing emotions, gender issues, physical beauty, bringing up children, family, old age, education, social classes, other races and nationalities, religion. On the basis of these passages, draw a chart showing your opinion of the value system in the community/country described in the novel.
  • Find the passages where inappropriate (verbal or non-verbal) behaviour is described. Write a diary entry, summarising one or more of these passages as if you have witnessed them and adding your own commentary of the event.
  • Write a letter on behalf of one of the characters to a friend from another culture. Focus on one of the events in the novel, and explain what it meant within your culture (defined by the novel). 
  • Write a letter to one of the characters. Focus on one of the events/symbols etc in the novel, and ask about the meaning. Explain why the event is difficult to understand for you.
  • Every now and then stop, and predict what a character would do if s/he belonged to your cultural context. Then read on, and see if your predictions have been correct.

NON-VERBAL elements

  • Focus on the descriptions of the characters' movements, posture, facial expressions, sounds they make, their personal space, touching etc. Enact the passages if necessary. What do you find unusual (if anything)? Why?
  • Introduce the necessary changes that would make the described non-verbal behaviour more usual in your culture/nowadays: rewrite the passage or enact the part once again with the changes.
  • Find a passage where the non-verbal behaviour of a character is described, and no direct speech or explanations are added. On the basis of the descriptions, add your own text: write down the thoughts the character might have in that particular moment.
TRAVEL NOVELS

Note: Some of these guidelines may well be used with other literary genres as well.
 
While reading a travel novel, take notes on:

the narrator/the subjective factor:

  • Who is the narrator? Do you know which country s/he is from? Does it matter where s/he is from? Why (not)?
  • What does the narrator focus on / is s/he more interested in landmarks, people, attitudes, celebrations? Does s/he compare the culture s/he is in with the culture s/he comes from? How? Is s/he critical, curious, interested, patronising, . ?
  • Pay attention to the tone of the voice the speaker adopts, the choice of vocabulary, choice of topics.

the landscape:

  • If you didn't know which country the book is about, would you guess? What gives the country away?
  • Check the internet, coffee table books, or encyclopaedias and collect additional materials (e.g. photos) on the landscape in question.
  • Which features seem very exotic to the narrator, and which to a reader from your country?
  • Having seen the narrator's interests, which features of your own country would you definitely show to the narrator if s/he decided to come to your back of the woods? Which places in your country have a particular meaning for you? Compare your notes with a schoolmate's.

the people:

  • Does the author's/narrator's representation of people contribute to stereotyping, or does s/he try to dismantle them? Support your opinion with appropriate quotes from the novel.
  • Which attitudes/value systems described in the book would a reader from your country have problems to understand? Why? How do they compare to the value systems of your country?
  • Write a passage that would explain where a culture shock awaits a reader from your country.

various emerging forms of culture

  • Explore what the author describes by the term "culture". Make a list of things you would personally count as culture, and a list of things/concepts the author considers culture. Can you identify any common elements?
  • If possible, find various editions of a book and compare the front page. Which parts of a country/culture do the different cover pages show? Do you think they offer the reader a stereotypical insight into the culture, or a new, fresh view?
  • List the different aspects of the author's home society he draws upon/from to make his/her point.
  • Draw up a list of positive terms which the author uses in connection with the country described. To what extent can you make judgements about the attitudes and values representative of the culture on the basis of this list?
  • According to the author, how do people react to various "stimuli" like natural catastrophes/ sports / dangerous animals / tourists / people from other regions of the country? Can you widen these reactions to identify examples of attitudes rooted in the society?
  • In your opinion, how is the stereotype about the people from this country influenced by the country's politics?
  • Keep a portfolio of articles / pictures / video & audio recordings from your and other countries on various issues (same sex marriage, abortion etc). How much stereotyping can you find? How do the collected items compare to the facts/stories that appear in the travel novel? Do you think the author is objective or subjective?
  • What kind of attitude do the people in the country have towards heritage? Do they celebrate any past events? Compare this to the celebrations in your country.
  • Which is the most popular sport in your country? Can you explain why it is so popular? Is it popular in the country described? Which of the mentioned sports are popular in your country?
  • Were you surprised/annoyed by anything the natives of the country you are reading about said/did? Why?
  • Differences in the way the land has been settled and/or used may be reflected in different vocabulary and different ways of using the vocabulary. Find the words that reflect that.
  • Are there any particular concepts the people in this country generally associate with a particular time? (e.g. World War I/Gallipoli for Australians, etc) What about the people in your country?
  • Find parallel texts, different in genre (e. g. Bill Bryson's travel novel Down Under and Alison Lester's picture book Are we there yet?). Do they both/all focus on the same aspects of culture? Which? Why (not)? Write a review of both/all texts and explain which one you find most interesting and useful for a reader from a different culture.
POETRY

Note: Some of these guidelines may well be used with other literary genres as well.

  • The content: can you think of any sets of values, beliefs, attitudes in your community/country/culture that would compare to the ones expressed in the poem?
  • Read the poem aloud. Is the rhythm you hear familiar to your ear?
  • Are there any particular sounds (created by alliteration/assonance/repetition etc) that transfer you to a different culture? Which sound could be used if you rewrote the poem to make it fit in your culture?
  • Explore the form of the poem. Can you think of any author that uses the same form in your country? As these days various forms are used globally, explore if the form in question is traditional in your culture or not. Can you explain why (not)?
  • Are the images familiar to you? Which of the images make you see that the poem you are reading doesn't originate in your country? Or are the images shown universal?
  • Underline the comparisons/metaphors, similes. Do you easily see/understand why these are used? What makes it difficult for you to understand' Is it the genre or the image that is unfamiliar to you?
  • Language: What kind of language is used in the poem? Is it standard, non-standard, archaic, a dialect? If you rewrite it (e. g. in a non-standard language/ in a dialect), which other changes does that cause?
  • Rewrite the poem in another form (e.g. a sonnet as a haiku). What did you have to change beside the form?

For concrete examples of activities and lesson plans, go to Tasks and activities for literature, Three poems by Liz Lochhead, Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, and Malamud's Black is My Favorite Color.
 
See recommended poems, novels, tales and short stories in the bibliography under: Further reading, viewing and singing.

ADVERTISEMENTS / VISUAL STIMULI

Advertisements seem very useful materials for intercultural training. They are (unfortunately) omnipresent and (fortunately) often have literature-like characteristics. As by default a media text cannot be reduced to a single meaning and as it is very clear that in any given culture one accepts the dominant codes, advertisements therefore usually prove very effective in reconciling the various meanings. Therefore, analysing advertisements can help the student to become more of a critical thinker than a gullible receiver / reader of various texts and images.

  • Which meanings do you associate with the signs used in the advertisement? How many meanings do the individual signs have?
  • Think about the icons/signs used, and look at the way how a different group or the audience from another culture might look at this particular ad (e.g. certain animals, scarcely clad women etc). Might the icons mean anything else there?
  • Which necessary changes would therefore have to be introduced if you wanted to publish the ad elsewhere in the world? To get your ideas confirmed or rejected:
    • Check the internet
    • Check the magazines that are also published in other countries (e. g. Cosmopolitan).
    • Have the ads for a particular product been changed in other countries (i. e. are there different colours, different clothes, other models)? How? Can you use your knowledge of the particular country/culture to explain the differences?
  • Explore the codes of construction. Check how the signs are assembled, what they signify: setting, props, codes of non-verbal communication (like facial expressions, pose/posture, gestures, etc), codes of dress, colours. How many of them can you see? Where are they placed?
  • Make a list of the codes of construction, find their meaning(s) in your culture and foresee any possible misunderstandings that might occur if the advertisement were published in another culture.
  • Which words are used in the slogans included? Would the same expressions be appropriate / acceptable in another culture? Why not?
  • It has often been claimed that in general people are rather passive consumers of the various products offered by mass media. Thinking about the advertisements and commercials in your country, do you agree with this statement?

See sections 4.7 and 4.8 (Guidelines for using films and Tasks and activities for films: Real women have curves) for more ideas on visual materials.

next chapter: 4.3 Tasks for literature