Open lecture with Miriam Driessen, Lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Oxford

Language barriers are typically seen as impediments. They supposedly jeopardize communication and drive a wedge between speakers. In this talk, I show that language barriers can also be productive. At Chinese-managed workplaces in Ethiopia, misunderstandings enable communication as much as hinder it. They are central to everyday interactions between expatriate supervisors and Ethiopian labourers who do not have a language in common and make do with gestures, foreigner talk, and a rudimentary pidgin language. While some misunderstandings are unintended, others are not. Appreciating misunderstandings as understandings and not necessarily as failures to understand helps grasp their productive role in communication. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research in Ethiopia, I show how misunderstandings allow speakers to understand what they want to understand instead of what they are expected to understand, enabling them to implicitly voice their opinions and possibly achieve goals that run counter to the intentions of the counterparty. Strategic miscommunication also allows speakers to save face and prevent tensions from escalating. In short, miscommunication serves critical functions, especially in cross-cultural encounters steeped in unequal power relations.

 

Miriam Driessen is a lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Oxford. Her research explores Chinese-led development in Ethiopia and examines issues such as labour, migration, language, and law. She is the author of Tales of Hope, Tastes of Bitterness: Chinese Road Builders in Ethiopia.