http://rw-3.com/2008/11/cultural-perspectives-the-eyewitness-vs-the-reader/ Global Cultural Training for International Business Thu, 10 May 2012 18:28:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://rw-3.com/2008/11/cultural-perspectives-the-eyewitness-vs-the-reader/comment-page-1/#comment-72 Sayalee Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:19:20 +0000 http://rw-3.com/?p=269#comment-72 I think this is a very interesting question to be asking. As a student of Anthropology in India, we'd often been advised to be skeptical of the 19th century enthnographic literature written by 'armchair' European social scientists on Indian communities, without having visited India even once (and rightly so, if I may add). However, ironically enough, now that I'm living in Europe, I find that somehow my most reliable knowledge of European culture derives more from books than the actual experience of living in Europe. The written word (say, about the history, culture or traditions) of a place often tends to be more reliable, more researched and informative than a singular opinion held by a subject. I think this is a very interesting question to be asking. As a student of Anthropology in India, we’d often been advised to be skeptical of the 19th century enthnographic literature written by ‘armchair’ European social scientists on Indian communities, without having visited India even once (and rightly so, if I may add). However, ironically enough, now that I’m living in Europe, I find that somehow my most reliable knowledge of European culture derives more from books than the actual experience of living in Europe. The written word (say, about the history, culture or traditions) of a place often tends to be more reliable, more researched and informative than a singular opinion held by a subject.

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