Comparison of Germany-China on the Basis of Geert Hofstede's Dimensions of National Culture (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Sociology - Culture, Technology, Peoples / Nations, grade: 3,0, University of applied sciences Dortmund, course: Interkulturelle Kompetenzen, language: English, abstract: Coming across the term culture it is most certain that people tend to think immediately of the picture they have already created in mind towards the other culture. Comparing east to west while talking to other people within my family and my class I got usually the same answers: "China - isn't it the country were lots of people live like ants, drinking tea and eating almost everything, mostly rice and even your dog - with chopsticks, driving with their bicycle through the streets smiling all the time; no matter what weather they have?"

Unfortunately I do not know any Chinese people but the prejudices about Germany are widely known. Germany is the country with less people than China. Germans love to grump about the weather when it is raining, they love to drink beer and eat Bavarian veal sausages. In fact the prejudices of Germany mostly deal with the Bavarian part of Germany leaving the impression within peoples mind that all Germans are wearing a Dirndl all day and are distinct individuals.

Having a look at the above mentioned images, illustrating people's usual thoughts of the other culture towards a certain topic it is more a generalized attitude towards a certain country or culture. Today people define the term culture very differently. If they are asked "What does the term culture mean?" we can hardly get exact answers. In fact culture can be expressed in different ways. It can be seen in the language of a country, in its history and art but also in food, music and education. These things are all visible for our eyes but what about cultural behavior and ways of thinking? How do different cultures express their emotions and how are they living together? All these factors in one are illustrating a certain view on a culture for us.