Lumumba, Hammerskjoeld and the 1960 Congo Crisis: a Case of International Misunderstanding?
- Jan Blommaert (Seminar of Swahili and the Development of Languages of Developing Nations Ghent University)
Abstract
A number of influential works on the 1960 Congo Crisis, as well as most theoretical models of intercultural communication, consistently explain conflicts between cul- turally different participants in terms of features of ethnic communication style, cognition, value systems etc. A general picture emerges in which culture is seen as the cause of conflicts, misunderstandings, or communication breakdown. An ana- lysis of six letters exchanged between Lumumba and Hammarskjoeld during one of the crucial episodes of the Congo Crisis reveals that ethnic features of communica- tion style are the consequence, rather than the cause of conflicts.
KEY WORDS: Congo (Zaïre), history, linguistics
How to Cite:
Blommaert, J., (1990) “Lumumba, Hammerskjoeld and the 1960 Congo Crisis: a Case of International Misunderstanding?”, Afrika Focus 6(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/af.v6i2.6129
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