“Mom! Stop saying ‘thank you’ so much!” “We do say “thank you” a lot in the United States,” I thought. I never realized how much until that moment. I knew in Mongolia, unlike the U.S., ‘thank you’ was saved for truly important events. Thanking someone for holding open a door or giving directions was close to an insult. (“Why are you thanking me? Of course I’d do that. Any decent person would!”) Yet those words viciously found a mind of their own and slipped effortlessly off my tongue.
I remembered that conversation as I read John Condon’s brilliant and engaging new book, It Goes Without Saying: Culture as Communication. Presumably a volume that highlights the theories of Edward T. Hall, it expands and reaches far beyond Hall’s work. Condon uses Hall, a good friend and colleague, as a foundation to both remind us of Hall’s seminal work and update it. He half-jokingly suggested an alternative title might have been, Variations on Themes By Hall.
In conversation in January 2025, I asked Jack (the nickname for John, which he commonly uses) why he felt the need to write about Hall, and why now? He stated Hall’s work extended far beyond what is commonly remembered, Hall’s concepts of “high” and “low” context. He wanted to remind readers that Hall’s work was much more. For instance, in the chapter “Sensing and Making Sense” Jack notes the intersection of the work of neuroscientist David Linden on how we interpret the world with that of Hall’s sense of what “was at the heart of ‘culture.’” Hall spoke of culture as what we individually experience; Linden of the fact that science has shown there is no objective experience, only that which is perceived and colored by individual expectations and comparisons. The mention of Harvard’s Explicit Bias Test (IAT) and discussion of how neuroscience discoveries assist in understanding our notions of bias, culture, education and policing seems especially pertinent in the current atmosphere of fear and forbidding of diversity and equity programs. Condon approaches these topics with a clearheaded and compelling analysis.
One of the joys of this book is that, even though Jack Condon is an exceptional scholar and professor in his own right, he isn’t selfish. He recognizes the best in many fields and doesn’t hesitate to include them. For instance, I’ve been fascinated by what neuroscience research has shown us about the brain’s functioning. So I found the reflection of neuroscientist David Linden’s musing on how his untreatable cancer was (or was not) impacted by meditation re-enforcing, moving and provocative. How much does our brain impact the physical aspect of healing? And if our brains are malleable enough for prayer, mediation or exercise to impact them, does the same hold true for culturally influenced behaviors?
The chapter From Spaces to Places was especially intriguing for me. Thinking back to the visit to Mongolia I refer to in the opening paragraph, I remember my bewilderment at their use of space. A stretch of highway intermingled modern high-rises with gers (aka “yurts” in Russia), with junk yards, with grazing lands, with Soviet style apartments and back to another high-tech high-rise office building. As one guest in our party stated, “In the U.S. you know if you’re in a good neighborhood or not but here, everything is all mixed together.” The apartment we were lent was as large and modern as any I’ve seen in the U.S, (with a spa-like bathroom) yet the family happily went, as they called it, “to the country” to stay in a small unheated cabin without running water, sleeping on benches or the floor. When we traveled, I shared our approximately 270 square foot ger with others in our party; in my case a family friend I barely knew and two Russian women who spoke no English. Until I read It Goes Without Saying: Culture as Communication, I’d never considered how these three spaces and buildings shape and reflect modern Mongolian culture or the Mongolian people.
I challenge anyone reading this book to not find a story, anecdote or insight that they can relate to. Jack’s inclusion of experts from a myriad of fields assures us we will. Hospital chaplain Sharon Waller’s reflections on how her patients experience time after a terminal diagnosis; David Linden’s poignant musings on mortality, seen through the lens of neuroscience; and Thomas Kochman and Jean Marvrelis’ study of Corporate Tribalism especially struck home.
I did find one problematic issue. Because one need not read the chapters in order, I found myself skimming the book, getting caught up in a sentence or idea, and then I was hooked. “OK, I’ll just read this paragraph. Fine! This section of the chapter. Ok, the entire thing!” Suddenly whatever I was going to do slipped in importance and I was glued to the book. What a delightful problem to have!
It’s a rare day when scholars of note such as Deborah Tannen, Georgetown University and author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation and Matthew Liebmann, Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard, give glowing reviews of a book in a field not their own. They’ve used words such as “incisive” and a “treasure trove.” I’ll add required reading for anyone who is serious about learning what it means when they see the term ‘intercultural.’ That being said, whether you are new to the field, an expert who wishes to “update” Hall, or the random reader interested in a “good read,” Jack Condon has given us a wealth of experts, viewpoints, and an update of Hall’s work, woven together in a highly readable, often humorous, reminder of the importance of Edward T. Hall’s work. Go read it. You won’t be sorry.
Condon, John. (2025) It Goes Without Saying: Culture as Communication, 535 pages. Randon Mouse Press. $38.00 Softback
Deborah Orlowski,
Founder, Dahlia Keynotes and Workshops,
Intercultural Links, Inc. U.S.A.
Past Conference Chair, SIETAR USA
