What is Cultural Space?

         Every society has cultural spaces. Today, during class we discussed how cultural space influences on our verbal and nonverbal communication practices. In order to understand cultural space, we have to examine everything that surround us; from the architecture of buildings to the language used in a specific environment. Aspects such as, languages, accents, slang, dresses, artifacts, and architectural designs are factors that create cultural space. Collective and individual identities can also be influenced by cultural spaces. Bearing this point, living in a specific area may influence how other people perceive you as an individual or as a group.

            As we were discussing in class, the cultural space might change from culture to culture. For example, in Panama we tend to stereotype people just because of where they live. I can say that maybe happens because it also establishes what is your socioeconomic status in the society. Some of the students from Louisville were saying that in the US is kind of different. They said that they actually had places were the cultural space would be identify people from one culture. For example, if you live in the Vietnamese neighborhood, it is most likely you are Vietnamese.

Another interesting point that caught my attention was when we talked about how we communicate in different cultural spaces. Like the professor pointed out, if you are in the library you would not behave in the same way as you were in a club. There are different types of behaviors, such as whispering and yelling that will influence your cultural space.

As we may know, there are cultural space differences between the US and Panama. One of the most outstanding differences is how we differentiate on greeting people. Panamanians tend to give kissed and hugs when greeting somebody, even if you don’t know the person; that it’s just part of our culture. On the other hand, Americans prefer to only shake hands or wave from a distance, in other words they like their personal space to be respected. The behaviors and patterns of interaction are an important role in cultural space, because without them then it would be hard to perceive how people are.

When talking about displaced cultures, it was interesting to hear how the American students related with this word right away. They told us that even though they are aware that we have a different culture, like any other foreigner they brought their culture with them. Everything they do, they do it like back at home. The same thing happened to me when I went last semester to Louisville, so I totally understand them.

To be honest, before this class I’ve never think about cultural space. Having the opportunity to discuss this topic with people from different backgrounds was very interesting, because we learned how cultural spaces could differ from culture to culture. If you were in the same position as I was, I would really encourage you to reflect more on your surroundings, and understand the different cultural spaces you face daily.