Multicultural Manners

Both highly informative and entertaining, Multicultural Manners gives readers the understanding they need, the perfect words to say, and the correct behavior to use in a wide range of cross-cultural situations. This incisive and award-winning guide to etiquette features completely updated etiquette guidelines with special emphasis on post–September 11 culture clashes as well as a brand-new section that demystifies unfamiliar cultures in the news. Norine Dresser identifies key cross-cultural hot spots and suggests methods that foster respect for diversity. Readers will discover the dos and don’ts of successful business and social interaction, detailed tips on avoiding embarrassment in a variety of social settings, amusing firsthand accounts of cultural gaffes, a breakdown of customs, religions, languages, and ethnicities for seventy different countries, and appropriate etiquette for innumerable settings.

Acknowledgments xvii Introduction 1 1 The New Rules of Communication Body Language 11 Child-Rearing Practices 29 Classroom Behavior 37 Clothing and Jewelry 51 Colors 63 Foodways 71 Gifts 91 Health Practices 101 Holidays 115 Luck and Supernatural Forces 123 Male/Female Relations and Gender Issues 141 Miscellany 151 Prejudice 167 Time 177 Verbal Expressions 183 2 Clearing Cultural Confusions A Quick Reference Guide 201 Map 202 Africans 204 Asians 216 South Asians 220 Southeast Asians 226 The Balkans 233 Independent Members of the Former USSR 238 Middle Easterners 249 Bibliography 259 Index 271