Building a Cultural Bridge: A study of intercultural communication between Sweden and China

Abstract: With the increasing interactions between Sweden and China, it is interesting to see how people of these two countries handle their intercultural communication. Based on my internship experiences, where I encountered many cases of intercultural communication between Sweden and China, this thesis presents some contributions to a better understanding of Swedish‐Sino communications.

The following questions are discussed:
• Where do communication misunderstandings come into play?
• How do individuals get around cultural misunderstandings?
• What factors facilitate understandings in intercultural contexts between Swedes and Chinese?

Through the analyses of three difference cases, the significance of this thesis shows that:
• Culture is a process.
• Cultural differences exist not only between cultures, but also within cultures.
• Intercultural encounters do not always end up as cultural misunderstandings, while much of the literature on intercultural communication dwells on the issue of difference and misunderstanding.

This thesis argues that intercultural communication needs to nurture a more reflective ethic of difference in which difference is not only recognized and tolerated, but in which recognition and tolerance should be seen as a precondition for the development of new forms of understanding, in the face of difference.

At the end of this thesis, the factors that facilitate understanding in intercultural relations between Swedes and Chinese are discussed. It also emphasizes the important role an intermediary plays in intercultural communication and the reader should gain better, more accurate and in depth understanding of Swedish‐Sino communication.