Paper # 2

Ronnie Maynard
701 Butcher Hollow
Van Lear, Ky 41265

Culture and how it relates to communication

The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and

intimate one. First, cultures are created through communication; that is,
communication is the means of human interaction through which cultural
characteristics whether customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws, or other patternsare
created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set out to create a culture
when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies, but rather
that cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are
the residue of social communication. (Redmond)

Without

communication and communication media, it would be impossible to preserve and

pass along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another. One can say,
therefore, that culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and learned through
communication. The reverse is also the case; that is, communication practices are
largely created, shaped, and transmitted by culture.

As individuals start to engage in communication with the other members of

this new group, they begin to create a set of shared experiences and ways of talking
about them. If the group continues to interact, a set of distinguishing history,
patterns, customs, and rituals will evolve. Some of these cultural characteristics

would be quite obvious and tangible, such that a new person joining the group
would encounter ongoing cultural rules to which they would learn to conform
through communication. (Redmond) New members would in turn influence the
group culture in small, and sometimes large, ways as they become a part of it. In a
reciprocal fashion, this reshaped culture shapes the communication practices of
current and future group members. This is true with any culture; communication
shapes culture, and culture shapes communication.

Understanding the nature of culture in relationship to communication is

helpful in a number of ways. First, it helps to explain the origin of differences
between the practices, beliefs, values, and customs of various groups and societies,
and it provides a reminder of the communication process by which these differences
came into being. (Redmond) This knowledge can and should heighten peoples
tolerance for cultural differences. Second, it helps to explain the process that
individuals go through in adapting to new relationships, groups, organizations, and
societies and the cultures of each. Third, it underscores the importance of
communication as a bridge between cultures and as a force behind cultural change.

Works Cited
Beebe, Steven A, Susan J Beebe and Mark V Redmond. Interpersonal
Communication: Relating to others. Pearson Higher Ed, 2013.