Interdisciplinary and Intercultural (Mis)understanding: An Ethnography of Communication

Abstract

The following paper examines communication between members of a research team during a two-day meeting in April 2007. The interdisciplinary research team, which was focused on sustainable development in Romania, included members from both Romania and the United States. Using Bakhtin’s dialogic approach and his concept of heteroglossia, I identify the multiple discourses influencing various participants in particular conversations. I examine the way that participants’ different disciplinary and cultural identities, as well as the language barrier between English and Romanian, resulted in misunderstanding and frustration.