The Constructive Marginal of "Moby-Dick": Ishmael and the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

Autor/in	Morgan, Jeff
Titel	The Constructive Marginal of "Moby-Dick": Ishmael and the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
Quelle	In: Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 21 (2011), S.1-16 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1085-4568
Schlagwörter	Cultural Differences; Ethnocentrism; Cultural Awareness; Study Abroad; Measures (Individuals); Models; Literature; Developmental Stages + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kultureller Unterschied; Ethnozentrismus; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Messdaten; Analogiemodell; Literatur
Abstract	Cultural sensitivity theory is the study of how individuals relate to cultural difference. Using literature to help students prepare for study abroad, instructors could analyze character and trace behavior through a model of cultural sensitivity. Milton J. Bennett has developed such an instrument, The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), which measures behavior from ethnocentric to ethnorelative. Cultural sensitivity research has proven time and again that Bennett's DMIS is a strong model after over thirty years. In a 2003 article in "The International Journal of Intercultural Relations," R. Michael Paige and others analyze a new model, co-created by Bennett, called the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). It is based on Bennett's old model. The IDI suggests different stages of development but is so similar to the DMIS that the research shows the strength of Bennett's DMIS, which the author uses with Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" to chart Ishmael's cultural sensitivity. The simplicity of the DMIS may very well help attest for its longevity in the field. The DMIS can be seen as a chart, beginning with ethnocentric behavior. Ethnocentrism moves through three stages, starting with denial, in which the individual appears to even deny the existence of one who is culturally different. Next is the defensive stage. Here, the individual will characteristically denigrate those culturally different than himself. In the final stage of ethnocentrism, minimization, the individual, when gauging one culturally different than himself, will only embrace those characteristics that he also has. The next three stages encompass the ethnorelative phases of cultural sensitivity and are initially marked by the individual's acceptance of difference, followed by his adaptation of certain cultural aspects not native to himself. The last stage is integration, which can be taken ad infinitum, producing a constructive marginal, one who has such a diverse ethnic makeup that he only fits in with other constructive marginals. This process also describes Ishmael, the weary, wayworn wanderer who constructs his own identity in Melville's American classic, "Moby-Dick." (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Frontiers Journal. Dickinson College P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013. Tel: 717-254-8858; Fax: 717-245-1677; Web site: http://www.frontiersjournal.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10