Images of Europe, Stereotypes and Intercultural Contact

1
Images of Europe, Stereotypes and Intercultural
Contact

• Leen Rahnu
• University of Tartu

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Spontaneous images of Europe and feeling of
belonging

• Some trend identified in a study by EC, 2001
• Europe can be defined geographically, but this
  definition is of secondary importance
• What makes Europe Europe is mainly its history
  and culture
• North-South divide in the perception of Europe
  and the EU

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Southern perspective

• Includes both Member States and candidate
  countries, geographically in the south, centre or
  east of the continent
• A place of constant intermingling and exchange
  over the centuries between diverse peoples but
  with common roots
• Europe in opposition to the United States
• There is a more or less spontaneous empathy for
  other Europeans

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Nordic perspective

• Applies to the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark,
  Sweden, Estonia and Czech
• The concepts of roots and cultural proximity are
  given much less prominence
• The sense of common historical and cultural ties
  is less present in peoples minds
• Only weak empathy with other Europeans

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Old Europe and New Europe

• What is the criteria for dividing Europe into
  those categories?
• North-South division
• EU membership
• EU enlargemet as new form of organizing European
  space for everybody involved

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The meanings of Europe in Estonia

• The construction of Estonian identity
• Be Estonian, become European
• Before gaining the independence in 1991
• Strong identification with Europe
• Opposition to (soviet) Russian influence
• Estonian Republic
• Countries influencing the social space
• Europe becomes more diversified gt less easy to
  identify with
• After joining the EU
• Search for uniqueness?

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Interpretations of Europe in everyday
communication

• Interpretation guided by expectations
• Quality
• Wealth
• Cleanness, hygiene
• Interpretation connected to intercultural
  contact
• Borders
• Multicultural Europe

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Expectations

• First time when I experienced Europe ... Yes, it
  was a first perception. In 1994, when new NESTE
  petrol stations had just been built, I was
  travelling form Tallinn to Pärnu, to Riga /../
  then we headed towards Vilnius, and in every
  50-100 km there was a petrol station of European
  standard.
• You might not remember soviet time petrol
  stations, you cannot imagine! It meant a dirty
  place, 10x10 cm window where one had to sneak in
  the petrol coupons, dirty windows with frames,
  leaking petrol. It was not supposed to be like
  that, but it was ... Shity, ugly place as it was.
  No toilets, no possibilities to wash yourself.
• And now, suddenly you experienced it ... driving
  from Tallinn, then border, and after the border
  you still had it cleanness, order! You wanted
  to have a rest, have a cup of coffee, everything
  is nice, THE toilets. Unfortunately people have
  the need to go to toilets, to wash oneself, well,
  and then, for a first time I felt like a human
  being. Europe brings this kind of feeling, more
  human, you get this feeling.

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Intercultural experience

• Blacks, black, blacks, only blacks. They have
  basically conquered the whole Europe already. For
  instance well, I dont know how much you travel
  when you travel, lets say in Denmark, or in
  Netherlands or in ... Germany (even relatively
  less), but there are only blacks. They have
  conquered the whole Europe and why expect them
  not to come here?
• Who wants to work well, who wants to just hang
  around, who wants to steal something this kind
  of people, all European countries are fighting
  with them ... who wants to put something into
  fire, uh-uh-uh.

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How does it matter for intercultural
communication?

• Those images are the basis for identity
  construction, differentiation of us and them
• Stereotypes
• When the expectations about cultural frameworks
  dont match
• gt communication problem

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Training issues

• The awareness of the existence of different
  perspectives
• Knowledge about the content of those perspectives
• Most essential
• Skills and motivation for ongoing negotiation of
• new meanings