Lecture
Linguistic and cultural identities in Africa - Wierzbicka meets Hofstede
- Date
- Friday 7 December 2018
- Time
- Series
- This Time for Africa!
- Location
- P.N. van Eyckhof 4
2311 BV Leiden - Room
- 0.04
Abstract
Wierzbicka has shown that in principle, one can talk about differences in cultural values by looking at differences in meaning between key words in different languages. Hofstede has demonstrated a way of discussing differences in cultural values by looking at survey responses. In principle, both methods provide a way of describing cultural similarities and differences that is independent of received wisdom. In the research for my Master thesis, I have attempted to use the Hofstede method for examining the overlap or difference between cultural and linguistic identities in Africa. The outcome is not a uniform picture. The talk will provide a brief overview of some of the most interesting results.