Editing Cross-cultural (section)

==Cross-cultural studies==

Cross-cultural studies is an adaptation of the term ''cross-cultural'' to describe a branch of literary and [[cultural studies]] dealing with works or writers associated with more than one culture.  Practitioners of cross-cultural studies often use the term ''cross-culturalism'' to describe discourses involving cultural interactivity, or to promote (or disparage) various forms of cultural interactivity.

Cross-culturalism is nearly synonymous with [[transculturation]], a term coined by Cuban writer  [[Fernando Ortiz Fernández|Fernando Ortiz]] in the 1940s to describe processes of cultural [[hybridity]] in [[Latin America]].  However, there are certain differences of emphasis reflecting the social science derivation of ''cross-culturalism''.

The term "cross-culturalism" became prevalent in cultural studies in the late 1980s and 1990s.<ref>Joseph Trimmer and Tilly Warnock, ''Understanding Others: Cultural and Cross-Cultural Studies and the Teaching of Literature'' Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1992.</ref>  An early proponent of the term was the Guyanese writer [[Wilson Harris]], who wrote in ''The Womb of Space'' (1983), that "cultural heterogeneity or cross-cultural capacity" gives an "evolutionary thrust" to the imagination.<ref>Wilson Harris, ''The Womb of Space'' (Westport: Greenwood, 1983): xviii.</ref><ref>Wilson Harris, ''The Unfinished Genesis of the Imagination'', ed. Andrew Bundy.  London/New York: Routledge, 1999.</ref>

[[Anthropology]] exerted a strong influence on the development of cross-culturalism in literary and cultural studies.  French anthropologist [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] was a key figure in the development of [[structuralism]] and its successor, [[post-structuralism]].  Cross-influences between [[anthropology]] and literary/cultural studies in the 1980s were evident in works such as [[James Clifford (historian)|James Clifford]] and [[George E. Marcus|George Marcus]]'s collection, ''Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of Ethnography'' (1986).  Harvard anthropologist [[Clifford Geertz]] was cited as an influence on literary critics like [[Stephen Greenblatt]], while other literary/cultural scholars turned to works by [[Victor Turner]] and [[Mary Douglas]].

Like multiculturalism, cross-culturalism is sometimes construed as ideological, in that it advocates values such as those associated with [[transculturation]], [[transnationalism]], [[cosmopolitanism]], [[interculturalism]], and [[globalism]].  Nevertheless, cross-culturalism is a fundamentally neutral term, in that favorable portrayal of other cultures or the processes of cultural mixing are not essential to the categorization of a work or writer as cross-cultural.

Cross-culturalism is distinct from [[multiculturalism]].  Whereas [[multiculturalism]] deals with [[cultural diversity]] within a particular nation or social group, cross-culturalism is concerned with exchange beyond the boundaries of the nation or cultural group.

Cross-culturalism in literary and cultural studies is a useful [[rubric (academic)|rubric]] for works, writers and  artists that do not fit within a single cultural tradition.  To the extent that cultures are national, the cross-cultural may be considered as overlapping the transnational.  The cross-cultural can also be said to incorporate the [[Colonialism|colonial]] and the [[postcolonial]], since [[colonialism]] is by definition a form of cross-culturalism.  [[Travel literature]] also makes up a substantial component of cross-cultural literature.  Of the various terms, "cross-culturalism" is the most inclusive, since it is free of transnationalism's dependence on the nation-state and colonialism/postcolonialism's restriction to colonized or formerly-colonized regions.  This inclusiveness leads to certain definitional ambiguity (albeit one derived from the term [[culture]] itself).  In practice, "cross-cultural" is usually applied only to situations involving significant cultural divergence.  Thus, the term is not usually applied in cases involving crossing between European nations, or between Europe and the United States.  However, there is no clear reason why, for example, [[Alexis de Tocqueville]]'s ''[[Democracy in America]]'' or even [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Annie Hall]]'' (in which the protagonist experiences culture shock after traveling to [[Los Angeles]] from [[New York City]]) could not be considered cross-cultural works.

Although disagreement over what constitutes a "significant" cultural divergence creates difficulties of categorization, "cross-cultural" is nevertheless useful in identifying writers, artists, works, etc., who may otherwise tend to fall between the cracks of various national cultures.

=== Cross-cultural studies in the social sciences ===

{{main|Cross-cultural studies}}

The term "cross-cultural" emerged in the social sciences in the 1930s, largely as a result of the ''Cross-Cultural Survey'' undertaken by [[George Peter Murdock]], a [[Yale]] [[anthropologist]].  Initially referring to [[comparative studies]] based on [[statistical]] compilations of cultural data, the term gradually acquired a secondary sense of cultural interactivity.  The comparative sense is implied in phrases such as "a cross-cultural perspective," "cross-cultural differences," "a cross-cultural study of..." and so forth, while the interactive sense may be found in works like ''Attitudes and Adjustment in Cross-Cultural Contact: Recent Studies of Foreign Students'', a 1956 issue of ''[[Journal of Social Issues|The Journal of Social Issues]]''.  

Usage of "cross-cultural" was for many decades restricted mainly to the [[social sciences]].  Among the more prominent examples are the [[International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology]] (IACCP), established in 1972 "to further the study of the role of cultural factors in shaping human behavior," and its associated ''[[Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology]]'', which aims to provide an [[interdisciplinary]] discussion of the effects of cultural differences.

=== Cross-cultural films===

*''[[The African Queen (film)|The African Queen]]''
*''[[Anna and the King]]''
*''[[Babel (film)|Babel]]''
*''[[Bride and Prejudice]]''
*''[[Jodhaa Akbar]]''
*''Mammoth''
*''[[Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence]]''
*''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]''
*''[[The Last Samurai]]''
*''[[The Man Who Would Be King (film)|The Man Who Would Be King]]''
*''[[The Namesake (film)|The Namesake]]''
*''[[Outsourced (film)|Outsourced]]''
*''[[Princess Tam Tam]]''

=== Cross-cultural theatre ===
{{main|Intercultural theatre}}

In the early 21st century the term "[[intercultural]] theatre" is preferred to "cross-cultural theatre." 

==== Companies ====
*[[International Centre for Theatre Research]]
*[[The Bridge Stage of the Arts#Betty Comden review excerpted|The Bridge Stage of the Arts]]
*[[TheatreWorks (Singapore)]]
*[[Darpana Academy of Performing Arts]]

==== Plays and theatre pieces ====
*''Homebody/Kabul'' by [[Tony Kushner]] 
*''Indian Ink'' by [[Tom Stoppard]] 
*''[[Madama Butterfly|Madame Butterfly]]'' (1900) by [[David Belasco]] 
*''[[Miss Saigon]]''
*[[Peter Brook#The Mahabharata|''The Mahabharata'']] by [[Peter Brook]]
*''[[The Mikado]]'' (1885), a [[comic opera]] in two acts by [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]
*''[[The Gondoliers]]'' (1889), a [[comic opera]] in two acts by [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]

=== Characteristics of cross-cultural narratives ===

Cross-cultural narrative forms may be described in terms of common characteristics or [[Trope (literature)|tropes]] shared by cross-cultural writers, artists, etc.  Examples include [[primitivism]], [[exoticism]], as well as culturally specific forms such as [[Orientalism]], [[Japonisme]].

Cross-cultural narratives tend to incorporate elements such as:
*[[acculturation]] or resistance to acculturation
*[[culture shock]]
*[[ethnography|ethnographic]] description
*overcoming of social obstacles through [[acculturation]], [[trickster]]ism, [[kindness]], [[luck]], hard work, etc.
*return home (often accompanied by further [[culture shock]])
*social obstacles such as [[discrimination]], [[racism]], [[prejudice]], [[stereotype]]s, linguistic difficulties, [[linguicism]] 
*[[travel writing]]

=== Cross-cultural music ===
{{main|Ethnomusicology}}

Music has long been a central medium for cross-cultural exchange.  The cross-cultural study of music is referred to as [[ethnomusicology]].

===Cross-cultural theatre directors===
*[[Peter Brook]] (United Kingdom)

=== Cross-cultural visual artists ===
*[[Foujita|Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita]] (Japan, France)
*[[Paul Gauguin]] (France, Tahiti)
*[[Isamu Noguchi]] (United States, Japan, France, India)

=== Cross-cultural writers (autobiography, fiction, poetry) ===

*[[Meena Alexander]] (India, Sudan, England, United States)
*[[Elvia Ardalani]] (Mexico, United States, Iran)
*[[Ruth Benedict]] (United States, Dutch New Guinea, Japan)
*[[Aimé Césaire]] (Martinique, France)
*[[Joseph Conrad]] (Poland, England, Congo)
*[[Charles Eastman]] (Sioux, United States)
*[[Olaudah Equiano]] (Igbo, United States, England)
*[[Lafcadio Hearn]] (Greece, Ireland, United States, Japan)
*[[Joseph Heco]] (Japan, United States)
*[[Rudyard Kipling]] (India, England, United States)
*[[Jhumpa Lahiri]] (England, United States, India)
*[[Anna Leonowens]] (India, England, Thailand, Canada)
*[[Spike Milligan]] (India, England, Ireland)
*[[Yone Noguchi]] (Japan, United States)
*[[Marco Polo]] (Italy, China)
*[[Victor Segalen]] (France, China)
*[[Khal Torabully]] (France, Mauritius)