ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses cultural myths: the myths cultures have about themselves and have about others. It introduces a taxonomy of orientations. Claire Kramsch points out that most people do not realize that meaning is based on a 'social construction of cultural myths'. Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Tumer distinguish between cultures that tend to accord status according to 'who' someone is and those cultures oriented towards awarding status to proven results regardless of background. A cultural orientation is a shared meta-program: a culture's tendency towards a particular way of perceiving. The orientation or meta-program influences how reality is modelled, that is which aspects are to be generalized, distorted and deleted. Edward Hall devotes most of his book to the cultural understanding of time. Monochronic tune cultures perceive time as the frame. The focus is on the task rather than the relationship; and schedules are important and adhered to.
