Implication of Hall’s Concept of High-/Low Context Culture in Making Meaning of Mwazindika Spirit Healing Dance from Dawida Community in Kenya by Westerners

Abstract

Culture is a complex system that influences how individuals perceive and interact with the world. High-context and low-context cultures are terms used to classify different societies on how they communicate. According to Hall (1981), high-context cultures incorporate high-context communication that relies on indirect, nonverbal cues and shared understanding within a group. Low-context cultures encompass low-context communication which uses direct, explicit verbal language to convey most information. Drawing on Hall's cross-cultural contexting theory, the distinction between high-context African traditional dance and low-context Western dance reflects their societies' respective communication styles. African dance relies heavily on unspoken, shared knowledge and cultural cues to convey complex information. It is considered "high-context" because their meaning is deeply embedded within a specific cultural and social framework. This study uses Hall’s concept of high-context and low-context culture to provide insight into how differences in communication style can militate against shared meanings and understanding of traditional African dances by non-Africans. The researcher—a native with insider perspective—uses Mwazindika spirit healing dance from the Dawida community in Kenya to explore the outworkings of the high-/low context continuum in dance mediated messages to provide indigenous perspectives in the study, understanding, and appreciation of African traditional dance forms.