Artikel,
Edward C. Stewart: Cultural Dynamics Pioneer
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36 (6): 869--884 (November 2012)
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2012.08.012
Zusammenfassung
Edward C. Stewart's work has been much affected by his own experiences and the historical spaces he and his families of origin have occupied. He remains one of the most complex members of the intercultural field. Although he played a key role in the initial organization of the field in the 1970s, he has also been the quintessential '' outsider.'' As a French-Swiss-Southern American-Brazilian, his multicultural perspective is novel. His initial academic formation was in experimental psychology with a focus on perception. During his whole career he has been creating comprehensive conceptual frameworks for the complex intercultural communication field of inquiry. One of Stewart's earliest pioneering efforts was at the 1974 conference held in Chicago to establish the intercultural field sponsored by the Speech Communication Association (SCA, now the National Communication Association, NCA), the International Communication Association (ICA) and the newly developing Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR). At this conference Stewart's 40-page 1973 '' Outline of Intercultural Communication'' provided the '' text'' that the 200 participants, divided into small groups, discussed. Stewart began his work with a focus on cultural differences, using a contrast culture approach. This approach produced his two most famous works, the '' Contrast American'' or '' Contrast Culture Method (CCM) of Intercultural Training'' and his book, American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Although this approach moves beyond simple contrasts to embrace similarities and the realization that differences are a matter of degree (Paige, 1993), later in his career Stewart focused more on adaptation, on dialectical, and contrasting forces. This all goes back to his original intellectual formation as a student of Harry Helson, the neurophysiologist, and Helson's idea that perception itself is an act of creation. This is the platform upon which Stewart constructed a cognitive/emotional/aesthetic dialectical geometry in which all '' liveliness'' includes seeming opposites AND the space between, the interface where relationships are formed. Stewart's most recent synthesis-in-process is a proposal to create a graduate level university course, '' Culture as the Central Social Science'' and an accompanying text, Forces of Identity (FORID) for Culture-Building. The idea is that this course would be a required course for any of the social sciences. Stewart's latest ideas (see part 6 Epilogue below) move way beyond a simple dialectical orientation to become a five-part (Seenko) framework for analyzing culture. ⺠We examine Stewart's multicultural background and early formative experiences, especially his WWII experiences. ⺠We examine the formative influence on Stewart's work of neuropsychologist Harry Helson's idea that perception itself is a creative act. ⺠We identify Stewart's key contributions to the IC field, the Culture Contrast Method (CCM), American Cultural Patterns, etc. ⺠We discuss his current syntheses-in-progress, a course, a textbook and a five-part framework for analyzing culture.
