Nonverbal Communication and Culture

For a program about “communication,” Nonverbal Communication and Culture is often maddeningly poor at conveying the finer points of its subject. Combining comments from both a handful of scholars (including Charlton McIlwain, an assistant professor of culture and communication at New York University) and a multiethnic group of college students, as well as brief dramatic behavioral sketches, the title examines the role of gestures and facial expressions in nonverbal communication, focusing on the many misinterpretations that can arise due to cultural differences (for example, members of many Asian cultures may lower their eyes as a measure of respect, which Westerners often incorrectly view as meekness). Despite the title, however, the second half of the program covers topics that are decidedly verbal, such as volume, pitch, and inflection in the voice, and the use of paralanguage (guffaws, snorts, etc.). Even with the broadening of the subject, Nonverbal Communication and Culture would still be an informative and useful introduction were it not for the added academic jargon that pops up repeatedly in the form of onscreen lists reminiscent of infomercials (five types of gestures, eight primary emotions, six reasons people use their eyes to deceive—one of which is “regress,” whatever that means here) that literally appear for only a couple of seconds before disappearing, and are not followed-up on in subsequent sections. The program concludes with a brief look at practical applications, including better job interviewing, before ending abruptly with neither summary nor credits. Not recommended. [Note: a companion volume, Cross-Cultural Communication: How Culture Affects Communication, is also available.] Aud: C. (R. Pitman)