Analysis of the cultural dimensions present in the dialogue "How do you spend the day?"

Analysis of the cultural dimensions present in the dialogue "How do you spend the day?"


The dialogue in question between an interviewer and a lady starts with a simple question "how do you spend your day?" in which it is possible to imply a form of enhancement of the positive face of those who receive this question because it is possible to recognize the possibility of organizing one's time in the best possible way, also as a function of one's free time, intended as a central element of the quality of life in harmony with the cultural dimension called "satisfied".

 In fact, the lady with her initial "well" positively ratifies the application as legitimate and continues informing us of a widespread cultural behaviour in Italy, that is, the figure of the "commuter" worker, where the worker must travel for more than one hour in order to reach the job location. So the condition of the "commuter" worker is broadly in tune with the "restrain" cultural dimension because the working distance reduces the possibility of "free time" for a person.

The second question will be "and where does he have lunch?" as a typical question according with the relevance of catering and "eating" as the most widespread way in Italy to adhere to a "satisfied" cultural dimension and with the related possibility of enhancing one's positive face during the day. In essence, food is a fairly available way to experience "positive emotions" within Italian society. The reply of the lady highlights another Italian custom, namely to eat at the company canteen as a place where there is a tendency to emphasize group membership in harmony with the cultural dimension of "collectivism" but at the same time you can live this situation with a "weak avoidance of uncertainty" because the dishes in the canteen are generally less good then home or in a restaurant. In the same way, going to the canteen is a way to adhere to a dimension of "strong avoidance of uncertainty" because costs are reduced and therefore a form of clarity of costs is achieved.

The next question is "what job does your husband do?" preceded by "tell us about it?" as a way to report the costs incurred by the negative side of the interviewer because he cannot do his job completely without more details from the lady's reply. Therefore her question about "husband's job" is a way to adhere to a dimension of "strong avoidance of uncertainty" because I need clarity to do my job. The lady replies with a simple and laconically complete job description, that is " him work as an employee" is a way to protect her need for a negative face with a description that leaves little room for enhancing the positive face of her husband. The interview continues with the next question "What time him usually come back in the evening?" in order to obtain more details and not to pay costs for his need for a negative face inherent in the work of those who must carry out an interview. In the lady 's reply we see the situation of the commuter reappearing very clearly who finds himself losing his need for a negative face due to the fact of having to travel and go home always tired in harmony with a "constrained" cultural dimension where the absence of free time and above all a feeling that things do not depend on my will. In practice, "commuters" must accept a "strong avoidance of uncertainty" because it is necessary to keep the job even if this costs a lot of effort in a broad sense and therefore you live with little consideration for your well-being. This places the lady's husband in a "masculinity" dimension because work prevails over the family.

Then the questions are addressed to the lady but in truth it can be observed at the beginning of this interview how the lady spoke of her husband first as if she had assisted her person in the light of the relationship with her husband as happens in many cases for women because a gender difference prevails in terms of social and emotional representations. Afterwards, the dialogue resumes with the following question "how does the lady spend the day?"

The lady's reply begins with "I wake up an hour later (than her husband) to signal her adhesion to a" family "in keeping with the" collectivism "dimension as well as" later "is a lexical expression for indicate the acceptance of having to pay costs to protect her negative face towards her husband. The description of her first daily activities are also a way to enhance her need for a "positive face" when she says that "I do a little makeup , I wake up the children, I dress the girl, we have breakfast and I take the children to school by car "and in the end I go to work too.

The lady's way of enhancing her positive face is in the "masculinity" dimension in which women have to take care of children as a social role. Hence adherence to this model allows this possibility of recognition of one's positive face in the role of "conscientious" mother within a "collectivist" type of "conscientious" us. At the end of these activities, the lady mentions that "I go to work too" so it is a form of balance between family life and work as within the "femininity" dimension. To do her job, the interviewer asks "what job do you do?" as a usual way of defending one's negative face as happened previously.

The job description is made in these terms "I work in the centre, I am a saleswoman, I work in a bookshop from 9 to 4 in the afternoon. In this answer we see how the lady highlights the workplace as a form of enhancement of the his positive face as well as working hours imply a good quality of life with a "weak avoidance of uncertainty" and a "satisfied" type because he creates a feeling of control over his life. The description of his work is instead in harmony with the simple style offered to describe her husband's work, that is, a clear defence of her negative face in terms of the absence of further details of her work. The interview continues with the lunch question "Do you have a lunch break?" to underline the importance of the break and the "lunch" as an important element to face life in harmony with a dimension of "weak avoidance of uncertainty" as well as a "satisfied" feeling because food is a means of saying happy . The lady specifies that she "has lunch" in a coffee place where she sometimes eats a sandwich, a salad or a first plate. In essence, the lady prefers a "light meal in a coffee place" as a way to be in line with a "satisfied" dimension with a feeling of control over one's life and the bar helps to remember positive emotions. Continuing the interview, the lady is asked "and her children? Who is it that withdraws them from school?" with the risk that this request represents a form of threat to protect the negative face of the lady. The reply will be " me" as a strong reply because the lady don't intend to pay any costs in terms of negative face from this question, which represents a form of interactional damage to the need for a positive face of the lady. The lady qualifies her answer saying "when I finish working, I go to pick up Viola at school. The other son Luigi has many activities to do that make the presence of the mother less important. In this way, the activities of his son Luigi are one form of mitigation of the mother's duties to protect her positive face. In practice, these activities aimed at children are intended to enhance the positive face of the mother when, for example, it is mentioned that "going to pick him up in the pool, at the oratory, prepare snack for children, let's do our homework. "Only after strengthening her positive face, is the lady willing to let the children do whatever they want, such as" playing, reading or watching TV ". These are activities that allow children to enhance their need for a positive face after an entire day in which their negative face is often under attack or on the defensive. The lady accepts these "recreational" activities of the children as costs for her negative face but they are benefits for the positive face of the "children" as a classic way of helping children in their eternal dimension of "little ones" to continue being a mother. "clucking" (protective) in harmony with one's need to recognize one's positive face as well as the strong avoidance of the uncertainty prevailing in the relationship between mother and children.

The interview continues with the weekend question as a question to signal the implicit adhesion of the family to a "satisfied" cultural dimension in which leisure time is important, with a feeling of control over one's life. The weekend is also a form of adherence to a cultural dimension of "weak avoidance of uncertainty" since we live with tranquillity and low anxiety, with a tendency to personal well-being and family well-being.

Over the weekend, the family "visits grandparents" as a way to emphasize belonging to an "extended family" in the sense of "collectivism" and to give importance to free time as a "weak avoidance of uncertainty". However, even at the weekend you can feel the presence of "tiredness" which pushes you to adhere to a "restrained" dimension because things do not depend on my will and therefore the family finds itself living with a "strong avoidance of uncertainty" because there is a lack of availability towards one's own well-being. Sunday is a day dedicated to the family, that is, to strengthen the sense of adhesion to an enlarged clan with a "conscious" type of us of this element in which relationships are important within the "collectivism" and enlarged dimension in some circumstances even when talking about friends. The "weak avoidance of uncertainty" dimension and the "satisfied" dimension are instead found when the lady and her husband go "to the cinema and to eat in a pizzeria".

It is interesting to see how within this couple we find the "masculinity" dimension when the lady says "my husband never goes shopping and rarely cooks" in line with a gender difference in terms of social roles but at the same time we find in this couple a balance within the family homework in line with a "femininity" dimension because the husband takes care of the children in the evening. Basically, the husband tries to reduce the costs incurred by his negative face due to his absence throughout the day by playing and caring for the children in the evening to obtain some form of reparation for his wife's negative face. In this way an attempt is made by the father to strengthen his positive face.

During the weekend, the "satisfied" dimension finds itself fully in terms of positive emotions and to make the most of the time with the lady's sports activities. These activities are connected to a dimension with a "long-term temporal orientation" because trying to feel good is a good thing as we find the dimension of "weak avoidance of uncertainty" with the possibility of living with a feeling of tranquillity and control of self.

In this dialogue on daily activities, apparently conflicting cultural dimensions such as the "femininity" and "masculinity" dimension in the management of the relationship between the two spouses appeared. The two dimensions are probably present in many couples as well as the fact that women are forced to adhere not only to the traditional model but also to the modern one in order to meet the expectations of the family as well as of society.

■ Come trascorrete la vostra giornata?



● Beh, mio marito è il primo ad alzarsi, si alza alle sei perché deve essere in stazione alle 7, prende il treno, va a lavorare a Milano. Lui arriva a Milano alle 8, poi prende la metropolitana per raggiungere il posto di lavoro e alle 8 e mezza comincia a lavorare.



■ E dov’è che pranza?
● Ha una pausa pranzo intorno all’una e... mangia solitamente nella mensa dell’azienda.
■ Ci racconti. Che lavoro fa suo marito?
● Lavora come impiegato. In una ditta che produce e vende pezzi di ricambio per auto.
■ E a che ora torna di solito la sera?
● Mhm... Lui finisce di lavorare alle 5 e mezza, riprende il treno e torna a casa alle 7 di sera. Quando arriva è molto stanco di solito sia per il lavoro che per il viaggio, perché fare il pendolare veramente è
molto faticoso.
■ E Lei invece come passa la sua giornata?
● Io invece mi sveglio un’ora più tardi, intorno alle 7, mi lavo, beh mi vesto, mi trucco un po’, preparo la colazione. Alle 7 e 30 sveglio i bambini, vesto Viola, Luigi invece ormai è indipendente, si veste da solo, e facciamo colazione. Poi porto i bambini a scuola in macchina e vado a lavorare anch’io.
■ E che lavoro fa Lei?
● Io lavoro in centro. Sono una commessa, lavoro in una libreria. Eh… dalle 9 fino alle 4 del pomeriggio.
■ Fa una pausa pranzo Lei?
● Sì, anch’io faccio una pausa pranzo, di solito pranzo in un bar, mangio un panino, un’insalata o un
primo piatto.



■ E i suoi bambini? Chi è che li ritira da scuola?
● Io! Alle 4, quando finisco di lavorare, passo a prendere Viola a scuola. Luigi invece un giorno alla settimana va a casa di amici, poi il martedì e il mercoledì va dai nonni che abitano abbastanza vicino alla scuola, il giovedì invece vado a prenderlo in piscina e il venerdì all’oratorio. Quando ritorniamo a casa preparo la merenda ai bambini, facciamo un’oretta di compiti, dopodiché li lascio liberi di fare quello che vogliono. Non so... possono giocare, qualche volta leggono, qualche volta guardano un po’ la televisione, così...



E il fine settimana che cosa fate?



■ Il sabato pomeriggio andiamo sempre a trovare i nonni, che sono contentissimi di vedere i loro nipotini.
Il sabato sera qualche volta usciamo, ma la maggior parte delle volte restiamo a casa perché siamo
molto stanchi e abbiamo bisogno di riposarci dalle fatiche della settimana.
● La domenica è invece la giornata dedicata alla famiglia: di solito facciamo qualcosa con i bambini, oppure andiamo a trovare amici. Qualche volta andiamo al cinema e poi in pizzeria. Mio marito non va mai a fare la spesa e raramente cucina. Ma è molto bravo con i bambini: li fa giocare,
li lava e li mette a dormire.
◆ Io sono molto sportivo: vado sempre a correre dopo il lavoro, due sere alla settimana vado in piscina e una volta alla settimana gioco a pallavolo in una squadra di serie C.