Communication Between Cultures

countries’failures with the West and Western values because modern society is usu-

ally associated with“Western ideas, institutions, and values.”^176 This inability to

accommodate to modernity has resulted in a division of Islamic thought. Some of

these disparate views are presented in Table 5.9.

It is overly simplistic to consider Islam as the wellspring of current problems in the

Middle East and among European Muslim communities. What we see is the historical

memory of the“Islamic Golden Age”being employed as a vehicle to recruit impression-

able, disaffected young men and women to a radicalized interpretation of their faith.

Deeper socioeconomic difficulties and issues of representative political governance lie

at the heart of Muslim extremism, and it is essential that we understand that. Moreover,

we need to recognize that Islam“will remain a significant political and social force for

reform because majorities of Muslims today stress the importance of its role for the prog-

ress of their societies.”^178 In short, the more we understand Islam and Muslims, the

more interculturally competent we become because“religion is embedded in culture.”^179

DEVELOPINGHISTORICALMEMORYCOMPETENCY FOR

INTERCULTURALCOMMUNICATION INTERACTIONS

The overviews of selected national histories provided in this chapter were intended to

illustrate how cultural values can often be a product of past events and to examine

the role that collective historical memory plays in the construction of worldview.

Those values and worldviews can and generally do come into play during intercultural

communication interactions. In some instances, the historical event may be widely

known, and all participants will be aware of its potential influence. For instance, the

U.S. historical record of slavery, the genocide of indigenous peoples, and the incarcer-

ation of Japanese Americans are generally well known, and people usually approach

those topics cautiously when interacting with an African American, Native

American, or Japanese American, respectively. Less recognized in the United States

are Mexicans’enduring feelings about the injustice their country suffered in the

Mexican-American War. And people in the United States are also unlikely to realize

that the Indian city of Bombay changed its name to Mumbai in 1995 because the

former name was considered a reminder of British colonial rule. People in the Middle

East view the Crusades quite differently from people in Europe and the United States.

A Russian student complained to one of your authors that U.S. students seldom have

an awareness of the millions of Russians killed in World War II. There are, of course,

many other examples of culturally differing perspectives of historical events.

TABLE 5.9 Current Divisions of Islamic Thought^177

FACTIONS POSITION

Modern secularists Western oriented; advocates separation of state and religion.

Modernists Islam and modernity are compatible; Islam should inform but not

dominate public life.

Conservatives/

traditionalists

Emphasizes past Islamic authority; old Islamic laws and norms

should be reinstituted.

Fundamentalists Calls for a return to Islam’s earliest period; Islam must purge itself

of corrupting Western influences.

The Legacy of Islamic History 195

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