People from Eastern and Western cultures have differences in their
perception and understanding of the world that are not well represented
by a collectivist/individualist distinction. Differences in worldview
are inscribed in personal relationships and the ways in which people try
to understand the "other" in relation to themselves. When people from
the East and West encounter one another, these differences are brought
to the fore in jarring moments of culture clash. Such encounters, seen
through a contextualized narrative lens can offer insights for deeper
cross-cultural knowing.
In Narrative and Cultural Humility Ruthellen Josselson recounts her
time teaching group therapy to Chinese therapists over the course of ten
years and illustrates her own profound experience of cultural
dissonance. For example, many of her students regarded her as what they
termed "a good witch" seeing her as a transformative healer purveying
something magical rather than a teacher of psychotherapy with theories
and techniques that could be learned. At the same time, she was often
mystified by their learning styles and organizational processes which
were so different from her own experiences. In these instances, along
with others chronicled in the book, Josselson confronts the foundational
(and often unconscious) assumptions embedded in cultural worldviews (on
both sides) that are manifest in nearly every interaction. This
re-telling underscores the need for cultural humility when narrating
one's experiences and the experiences of different relational cultures.
While narrative is
always rooted in culture-bound worldviews, it can also be a way of
bridging them. Narrative and Cultural Humility ultimately tells the
story of what it means to recognize our own unspoken assumptions to
better connect with people of another culture. It also highlights the
values and needs that are universally human.
