The best reason for the layperson to spend time studying culture is to learn something useful and enlightening. … This can be an interesting process, at times harrowing but ultimately rewarding. One of the most effective ways to learn about oneself is by taking seriously the cultures of others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you.

—Hall (1959, p. 31)

These are the words of the anthropologist Edward T. Hall, who coined the term intercultural communication in his seminal book The Silent Language in 1959 and who is credited with launching the field of intercultural communication. Hall’s words about culture would become the defining features of the intercultural communication field: that a serious interest in culture is important ...

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