Wrapping Culture is concerned with problems of intercultural communication and the possibilities for misinterpretation of the familiar in an unfamiliar context. Starting with an examination of gift-wrapping, Joy Hendry demonstrates how our expectations are often influenced by cultural factors which may blind us to an appreciation of underlying intent. She then extends this approach to the study of polite language as the wrapping of thoughts and intentions, garments as body wrappings, constructions and gardens as wrapping of space, and even to the ways in which people may be wrapped in seating arrangements, or meetings and drinking customs may be constrained by temporal versions of wrapping. Throughout the book, Dr Hendry considers ways in which groups of people use such symbolic forms to impress and manipulate one another, and points out a Western tendency to underestimate such non-verbal communication, or reject it as mere decoration. The ideas she presents should be valid in any intercultural encounter and demonstrate that Japanese culture, so often thought of as a special case, can supply a model through which we can formulate general theories about human behaviour.

About the Author
Joy Hendry is both Principal Lecturer and Oxford Brookes University and Reader in Social Anthropology at the Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies at Stirling University. Her previous books include: Marriage in Changing Japan; Becoming Japanese, and Understanding Japanese Society

Reviews
Quite remarkable ... she writes with wit and style and expounds her thesis with plenty of illuminating evidence and anecdote ... Hendry in this book makes another enormous contribution to a social analysis of Japan. This is enriching reading for anyone, especially those who have a commitment to being involved in Japan either for business or leisure. * Insight Japan *
an original and stimulating account of contemporary Japanese culture ... Hendry writes prose which is lucid and refreshingly jargon-free * John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198280286
Author Joy Hendry
Format Paperback
Page Count 216
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 13mm