Methodology
A critical interpretive approach is applied to this case, highlighting the value of intersectionality and reflexivity to bring to the fore the complex interplay of language and identity and their resulting power effects (Mahadevan, 2017; Primecz et al., 2009; Primecz et al., 2016; Zanoni et al., 2010). In order to deconstruct cross-cultural interactions it is important to move beyond the static categories inherent in the cultural values dimensions literature. Interactions are necessarily dynamic due to the multiple facets of identity which become more or less salient as they are played out in ever-changing contexts. Depending on the desired outcome, an individual draws on different aspects of their identity, behind which lie a multiplicity of voices. These voices compose the varied language repertoires, or resources, derived from the experiences of each individual. We therefore adopt the negotiated, situated approach to cross-cultural communication as developed by social identity theorists and sociolinguists who focus on the way in which different aspects of personal background condition expectations and reactions within the context of specific encounters (Blommaert, 2010; Gumperz, 2003; Martin-Jones et al., 2012).
When interacting with others, individuals are constantly interpreting what they see and hear in order to make sense of what is happening. At the same time, they deploy their linguistic resources and send signals as to who they are which influence the perception the other has of them and the relationship between them. The negotiated, situated approach to the analysis of interactions allows us to demonstrate how changing voice according to context can have a positive impact on empowerment in a communication strategy (Steyaert and Janssens, 2015; Kramsch, 2012; Ozkazanç-Pan, 2015).
Case Presentation
In this section, we present a case narrative which illustrates the importance of being aware of the multiple identity markers embedded in each individual. Our analysis highlights the value of adopting an intersectional approach to make sense of the paradoxical situations which often arise in cross-cultural encounters because of accents and the way people speak.
Case Narrative
An American lawyer specializing in international mergers and acquisitions took a new position in the Paris headquarters of a French multinational firm. According to the Human Resources director, the fact that this lawyer not only had the requisite professional credentials and experience, but had studied French and was a true âFrancophileâ, was decisive in the recruitment process.
The authors interviewed this lawyer in the context of a study of multicultural/multilingual teams. The lawyer had been in this job for 24 months. The narrative that follows spontaneously emerged while discussing the experience of integration in France.
I arrived in Paris 2 years ago, very much looking forward to taking on this new position in a city I have always loved from my frequent but short visits. I speak French, have always tried to keep up with French culture and news coming from France, but this is the first time Iâve lived outside of the U.S. One of the first things that surprised me in dealing with the French on a daily basis, in day-to-day life, was that the first thing they would say is: âOh! Youâre Americanâ! They immediately identified meâbecause of my accentâas being âAmericanâ. I was at first taken aback as it was the first time I could sayâto others, as well as to myself!ââYes, Iâm Americanâ! Because in the U.S., Iâm âAfrican Americanââand my belonging to the black community has always identified me first. People have always labelled me as such and I have always felt rooted in my community. âAmericanâ for me was âmainstreamâ America, âwhiteâ AmericaâI, on the other hand, have always felt, and been labelled, âAfrican Americanâ. So imagine my surpriseâand, I must admit, in a certain way which surprises even me, a new-found prideâat being seen, identified, by my French peers and neighbors as âAmericanâ! In the U.S. I had to fight to become a lawyer, to build a professional reputation feeling an âoutsiderâ in mainstream America. And here I was in Paris: the American lawyerânot the âAfrican Americanâ woman, the black woman lawyer who âmade itââwith the undertones of the negative stigma of affirmative action never far away. I must admit I enjoyed this ânewâ skin, this new identity!
Then something changed. My French became more proficient, more natural, I felt I was finally losing my American accent that French people quickly recognized. Personally, I was looking forward to better exchanges, communication with the French. But instead I realized I was getting certain looks, there was a certain hesitation in interactions, and certain kinds of questions started coming up more frequently. It wasnât âoh, youâre American!â but âwhere are you from, the Antillesâthe French West Indies?ââAnd little by little I started connecting the dotsâthe strange reaction I was gettingâor what I felt was a strange reactionâwas due to my losing the âAmericanâ status as I was losing the American accent and with it the privilege of being the âAmerican in Paris.â Instead I realized I was being seenâand treatedâas âblackââI was living the French stigma attached to the people from the French West Indies when in the MĂ©tropoleâ or in Paris. So I started a survival experimentâI exaggerated my âU.S.â accent and, indeed, I was again treated with the ârespectâ I felt when I first arrived in Paris! I recovered my privileged status! I once again became the âAmerican in Parisâ!
Key Insights and Interpretations: Adopting an Intersectional ApproachâThe Paradoxical Consequences of Superior Language Skills
Mainstream research argues that individuals with âsuperiorâ language skills, measured by the yardstick of native speaker fluency, are imbued with status and power by simple virtue of their language skills (regardless of other competenciesâor lack thereof). This notion is based on two assumptions: first, there is a âone-size-fits-allâ evaluation of linguistic proficiency; and second, attaining this âobjectiveâ level of proficiency will necessarily result in communicative efficacy. Our case debunks this equation and questions the relevance of a singular model of linguistic proficiency as defined by an ideal (or idealized) native speaker. By introducing the importance of taking into account the diverse identity markers of each individual when it comes to communication, we demonstrate how a proficient speaker, interacting within a given context, can in fact lose power. This important lesson on language and empowerment can only be understood by using an intersectional approach (Boogaard and Roggeband, 2010; Crenshaw, 1991; Frame, 2016; Zander et al., 2010) and adopting a critical reflexive stance to appropriately interpret aspects of identity that become more or less salient according to context (Ozkazanç-Pan, 2015; Yagi and Klein-berg, 2011). In this case, our protagonist has to deal with her multiple identity markers which, as the narrative shows, determine how her discourse and message is received by others, and therefore impact the quality of communication itself. Thanks to her cross-cultural sensitivity and reflexive stance, she has the counterintuitive realization that gaining superior language skills impacts her negatively in terms of status in her new environment of Paris, France. Her ability to contextualize interactions and her capacity to adopt a âself-reflexive moveâ between self and larger contexts proves she has integrated what has been theorized as the âdialectical approachâ (Martin and Nakayama, 2015). This ability has been identified as an important intercultural competence.
The dialectical approach to intercultural interactions highlights the finding that competence does not reside solely in the individual, but emerges while negotiating interaction with the other(s). As this case shows, a standardized, universal measure of effective communication does not exist. Rather, it results from the interrelationship that is constructed in context and is therefore a fluid, dynamic and ongoing process that reflects both individual sociolinguistic competence and an awareness of the societal constraints and geopolitical context within which the interaction takes place. An individual must constantly adjust their mode of communication depending on the dialectical tensions that are at play in a given situationâindividual/societal; privileged/disadvantaged; global/local; past/presentâto achieve effective cross-cultural communication.
The present case reveals the multiple polarities that exist both within the individualâwith which intersectionality allows us to come to termsâas well as between the individual and the context in which they evolve. Here, a black, female multilingual lawyer from the United States confronts, among other things, the heritage of French colonialism and the legacy of FrenchâU.S. cultural and economic relations as they interweave in her everyday encounters. Thanks to her ability to take distance, both reflexively and in establishing rapport with others, she finds a way to deal with this constant dialectical interplay in order to successfully negotiate communication. Indeed, an individual can be both advantaged and disadvantaged according to the different social categories to which they belong and the changing contexts in which they interact. At any one time, and depending on context, an individual can be marginalized or empowered by virtue of the âcross-cuttingâ aspects of identity (Boogaard and Roggeband, 2010). As seen in the narrative, she has internalized the fact that status hierarchies are âcross-cutting.â She therefore silences her fluency by self-censoring her more French-sounding accent to recover her American voice, which carries more positive identifying markers in postcolonial France.
By consciously speaking with an American accent, she removes the identifying marker associating her to the French Antillais community, which still must contend with postcolonial bias, and recuperates the higher-status marker as âAmerican.â This understanding of the potential inequities that are at play in intercultural interactions enables her to consciously appropriate communication strategies, thereby empowering her to better negotiate interpersonal encounters.
Power and CCM: Power Relations and the Value of Reflexivity in Intercultural Contexts
When the protagonist first arrived in Paris, her accent immediately identified her to the French earâfrom a cultural point of view particularly sensitive to accentsâas âAmericanâ. Because of her âstrongâ accent, the colour of her skin suddenly lost importance; a fundamental aspect of her identity was relegated to the background. In the United States, she never left her âblack skinâ. She was always African American, a group marked with a strong identity, as opposed to (both literally and figuratively) mainstreamâmeaning âwhiteââAmericans.
When people in France referred to her as Americanâdropping the âAfricanââthe multiple facets of her identity were reshuffled. Although in mainstream French culture, the image of the âAmericanâ is far from being unequivocally positive, people from the United States nevertheless are often positively associated with power and prestige. As both political allies and economic rivals, the United States and France have long had a âloveâhateâ relationship which has played out on different levels over the years.
One aspect of this ambivalent relationship resides in the language issue. The French pride themselves on having âenlightenedâ the world over the centuries and are highly protective of their cultural heritage. One of the many ways in which this is manifested is their sensitivity to the place of the French language in the world today, in face of the increasing importance of American English. In France, the language is cherished as a national treasure, embodying the high âidealsâ of the French culture, a message which is conveyed as subtext to learners of French as a foreign language.
Another important aspect to remember in order to appropriately contextualize this case is the fact that in its national narrative, France has been a haven for the oppressed and, as such, has welcomed individuals who had been marginalized by mainstream America. Viewed as a beacon of tolerance, Paris became a creative hub for the many artists, writers, musicians, and others who were ostracized in the United States at different periods in recent historyâmost notably for being communist or simply because of the colour of their skin. Paris âadoptedâ these intellectuals and artists, now able to pursue their careers in a more favorable environment, which gave rise to the favorable image of âthe American in Paris.â
In her narrative, she admitted that being considered âthe American in Parisâ, with all the connotations that may bring to mind, provoked a feeling of unexpected pride. It is this self-awareness that would help her readjust to eventually successfully navigate through this complex intercultural situation.
As a black woman who was raised and educated in the United States, she was used to dealing with identity politics and confronting difference, especially while pursuing her studies and career. Her resulting self-awareness empowered her to consciously play with voice, as she adapted her behavior and way of speaking depending on with whom and where she was speaking (Kramsch, 2012). Here we see that mastering the âlanguage/cultural specificâ elementsâin this case the French language and âclassicalâ French cultureâis not enough to (re)-act appropriately in context. This type of reflexive behavior has been identified as an important âlanguage/culture general skillâ (Mughan, 2015), a skill most often found in bi- or multicultural individualsâthose exposed to two (or more) national cultures from birth (Hong and Doz, 2013). In this particular case we see how an awareness of the multiple facets of identity, or intersectionality, is an alternative way for an individual to acquire this valuable competence. Intersectionality, therefore, when used strategically, becomes equally empowering.
Ironically, for a white person, speaking âperfectâ French would have elevated status in France. However, as a black person, her perfect French meant that her identity markers were once...