Question

Select at least 1 concept from the Culture chapter, and discuss IN DETAIL how this concept is illustrated in the film The Lost Boys of the Sudan. Your response should be no less than 100 words. Make sure your response illustrates that you fully understand the concept you are discussing.

See an example write up for one concept below using the scene and concept we discussed in class (NOTE: You can not use this scene and concept for your assignment. However, you can apply a different concept to this scene, or describe a different scene in the clip that illustrates this concept.)

1) Culture shock is illustrated very clearly in the scene in which Peter eats lunch with his workmates. In this scene, Peter states "the time I came here, I was thinking [about going] back to Africa. I see different things and things are different for me. Everybody is busy. You can't get friends. Time is money...In Africa there is no time is money...I feel like going back, I say, this place there is no friends here." Culture shock is the mental or physical strain a person experiences when trying to adjust to a new culture. In this scene, Peter is describing the difficulty he had adjusting to the values of American society that place importance on time and 'keeping busy'. He is used to a culture that emphasizes the importance of relationships and friendship, and felt that the American emphasis on the importance of time does not allow for real friendships. This focus on friendship is so important to him, he thought about leaving the US when he thought he could not find friends here.

Answer 1

• The story of the Lost Boys of Sudan re-affirms and relates several aspects of intercultural communication. These include differences within the areas of nonverbal communication, social organization and cultural values.
• Early in the film, the protagonists Peter and Santino are at a Kenyan refugee camp, and it is here that one can perceive Sudanese social collectivism. The connection and support system of the Sudanese social structure which includes their family, friends and extends into their villages and nation can be seen by such affectionate, cohesive terms as ‘brother’ and ‘dear’ and by their general demonstrative, warm behavior toward one another.
• In fact, later in the film, Santino reveals his surprise and disappointment at how when in America–one is expected to do everything alone. After all of his roommates leave him alone in his Houston apartment, Santino laments “I am all alone here. No one can live alone” This is in keeping with the ideas of Samovar & Porter who note how most African cultures value collectivism while individuality is stressed in the dominant American ( middle-class white males of European decent) culture.
• An example of differences within the area of nonverbal communication can be seen at the aforementioned Kenyan refugee camp. Here Sudanese males often clasp hands while walking in a show of kinship or friendship. They hug each other in a genuine display of companionship and camaraderie.
• Also, I found something touching about the juxtaposition of cultures presented as Peter is learning to sing Broadway’s Rogers and Hammerstein’s Austrian ‘folk song’ “Adel vise” in music class. Finally, I think Santino aptly sums up the experience of all individuals who leave their home culture and attempt to assimilate into a new, unfamiliar one: “There is no heaven on earth.”