CULTURAL PREPONDERANCE OR SEMANTIC DUE DILIGENCE: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN WITH A CONCEPTUAL TWIST

Abstract

Just as every culture is autonomous in the creation of its social values, it is likewise self-governing in the creation of customs and beliefs that define it. Some of those self-defining creeds are strongly entrenched in the use of language and communication. When an American executive places his/her feet on the desk, the message of authority and relaxation that is being sent is readily understood, while the same gesture in an Arabic country would have a totally different implication, one of disdain and insult. Such implications can be culture specific or culture ubiquitous. To better illustrate the dichotomy, it would be useful to recall Grice’s views on the efficiency of communication as being dependent on adherence to four maxims. In his portentous article ‘Logic and Conversation’ (1975), he shows that prudence and intellect empower human kind in an obliging way to successfully generate and construe messages that are sent via conversational implicatures. This paper aims to explore the fine line that balances these two facets within the realm culture and translation.

Keywords

• culture
• conceptualisation
• social values
• dichotomies
• ubiquity
• cognition