culturalcontexts
Cultural contexts refer to the environments—historical, social, economic, linguistic, religious, political—that shape how people think, behave, and interpret meaning. They influence norms, values, roles, and the significance attached to actions or artifacts. The concept is used across disciplines, from anthropology to linguistics, to explain variation and change.
Context is both broad and specific. Broad contexts include national or religious cultures; specific contexts include
In linguistics, context includes discourse, situational cues, and shared knowledge; in literary studies, it encompasses historical
In cross-cultural communication, recognizing contextual differences helps interpret politeness, power relations, and nonverbal behavior. High-context cultures
Researchers must attend to context to avoid decontextualized conclusions. Contextual analysis often uses methods such as