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Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time
Looks at how time is consciously and unconsciously structured in various cultures and how time has been experienced by humans from prehistoric times to the present
232 pages, Hardcover
First published February 9, 1984
22 people are currently reading
1,180 people want to read
About the author
Edward T. Hall
29 books168 followersBorn in Webster Groves, Missouri, Hall taught at the University of Denver, Colorado, Bennington College in Vermont, Harvard Business School, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University in Illinois and others. The foundation for his lifelong research on cultural perceptions of space was laid during World War II when he served in the U.S. Army in Europe and the Philippines.
From 1933 through 1937, Hall lived and worked with the Navajo and the Hopi on native American reservations in northwestern Arizona, the subject of his autobiographical West of the Thirties. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942 and continued with field work and direct experience throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During the 1950s he worked for the United States State Department, at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), teaching inter-cultural communications skills to foreign service personnel, developed the concept of "High context culture" and "low context culture", and wrote several popular practical books on dealing with cross-cultural issues. He is considered a founding father of intercultural communication as an academic area of study.
Hall first created the concepts of proxemics, polychronic and monochronic time, high and low context culture. In his book, The Hidden Dimension, he describes the culturally specific temporal and spatial dimensions that surround each of us, such as the physical distances people keep each other in different contexts.
In The Silent Language (1959), Hall coined the term polychronic to describe the ability to attend to multiple events simultaneously, as opposed to "monochronic" individuals and cultures who tend to handle events sequentially.
In 1976, he released his third book, Beyond Culture, which is notable for having developed the idea of extension transference; that is, that humanity's rate of evolution has and does increase as a consequence of its creations, that we evolve as much through our "extensions" as through our biology. However, with extensions such as the wheel, cultural values, and warfare being technology based, they are capable of much faster adaptation than genetics.
Robert Shuter, a well-known intercultural and cross-cultural communication researcher, commented: "Edward Hall's research reflects the regimen and passion of an anthropologist: a deep regard for culture explored principally by descriptive, qualitative methods.... The challenge for intercultural communication... is to develop a research direction and teaching agenda that returns culture to preeminence and reflects the roots of the field as represented in Edward Hall's early research."
He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 20, 2009.
From 1933 through 1937, Hall lived and worked with the Navajo and the Hopi on native American reservations in northwestern Arizona, the subject of his autobiographical West of the Thirties. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942 and continued with field work and direct experience throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During the 1950s he worked for the United States State Department, at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), teaching inter-cultural communications skills to foreign service personnel, developed the concept of "High context culture" and "low context culture", and wrote several popular practical books on dealing with cross-cultural issues. He is considered a founding father of intercultural communication as an academic area of study.
Hall first created the concepts of proxemics, polychronic and monochronic time, high and low context culture. In his book, The Hidden Dimension, he describes the culturally specific temporal and spatial dimensions that surround each of us, such as the physical distances people keep each other in different contexts.
In The Silent Language (1959), Hall coined the term polychronic to describe the ability to attend to multiple events simultaneously, as opposed to "monochronic" individuals and cultures who tend to handle events sequentially.
In 1976, he released his third book, Beyond Culture, which is notable for having developed the idea of extension transference; that is, that humanity's rate of evolution has and does increase as a consequence of its creations, that we evolve as much through our "extensions" as through our biology. However, with extensions such as the wheel, cultural values, and warfare being technology based, they are capable of much faster adaptation than genetics.
Robert Shuter, a well-known intercultural and cross-cultural communication researcher, commented: "Edward Hall's research reflects the regimen and passion of an anthropologist: a deep regard for culture explored principally by descriptive, qualitative methods.... The challenge for intercultural communication... is to develop a research direction and teaching agenda that returns culture to preeminence and reflects the roots of the field as represented in Edward Hall's early research."
He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 20, 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 20, 2013
“The study of time has led the human species out into the universe, down into the heart of the atom, and is the basis of much of the theory concerning the nature of the physical world.”- Edward T. Hall, The Dance of Life
A few years ago I read an interesting essay entitled "The Tyranny of the Clock" by George Woodstock (see: http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/...). Edward T. Hall expands upon this essay in many ways. This book is about the fascinating topic of time. The kinds of time in existence are presented, as well as how different cultures perceive time. It's very eye-opening.
For a book with an academic focus, this was a very easy read. An interesting one too, and one that can help in our understanding of other cultures. There's even a reference to time in literature:
“Clearly, the novelist must comes to grips with time, and how he or she handles it is a good index to mastery of his craft.”
Writers such as Proust, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Kafka were who he mentioned.
Edward T. Hall focused much of his research on the Hopi Indians, comparing their concept of time to American and European cultures. I got a lot out of his definitions of monochronic (M-Time) and Polychronic (P-Time) time. Although I come from a P-Time culture, I had never really thought about what that actually meant until I read this book.
A few years ago I read an interesting essay entitled "The Tyranny of the Clock" by George Woodstock (see: http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/...). Edward T. Hall expands upon this essay in many ways. This book is about the fascinating topic of time. The kinds of time in existence are presented, as well as how different cultures perceive time. It's very eye-opening.
For a book with an academic focus, this was a very easy read. An interesting one too, and one that can help in our understanding of other cultures. There's even a reference to time in literature:
“Clearly, the novelist must comes to grips with time, and how he or she handles it is a good index to mastery of his craft.”
Writers such as Proust, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Kafka were who he mentioned.
Edward T. Hall focused much of his research on the Hopi Indians, comparing their concept of time to American and European cultures. I got a lot out of his definitions of monochronic (M-Time) and Polychronic (P-Time) time. Although I come from a P-Time culture, I had never really thought about what that actually meant until I read this book.
January 26, 2023
مالمقصود بالزمن الثقافي؟ وماهي علاقة الزمن بالثقافة؟ كيف يمكن للزمن أن يسمح لنا بفهم ثقافة شعب ما، أو أمه ما؟ وهل فهم هذه الثقافة يعيننا على فهمهم وفهم أنفسنا بشكل أفضل؟ كيف يؤثر فهم الزمن الثقافي والتمايز بينه وبين الزمن المعيش على سلوكنا / وعينا ولا وعينا؟ وهل هناك زمن يتصف بالكمون، والخفاء، والتكون، وماذا نقصد بوصف الزمن بذلك؟ وما هو دور الزمن كلغة في التواصل بين البشر ؟ وما هي علاقة إدراك الزمن بتطورنا المعرفي والثقافي؟
كتاب على قدر طرحه للعديد من الأجوبة التي يطرح عنها الأسئلة بصورة غير مباشرة إلا أنه مثير للكثير من التساؤلات حول العديد منها وحول أنفسنا ونظرتنا للأنا والآخر، وإحساسنا الفعلي/ اللحظي للزمن، ومدى إدراكنا لذلك.
رائع!
كتاب على قدر طرحه للعديد من الأجوبة التي يطرح عنها الأسئلة بصورة غير مباشرة إلا أنه مثير للكثير من التساؤلات حول العديد منها وحول أنفسنا ونظرتنا للأنا والآخر، وإحساسنا الفعلي/ اللحظي للزمن، ومدى إدراكنا لذلك.
رائع!
October 12, 2008
I just reread The Dance of Life, by E.T. Hall, and discovered how much it has influenced my thinking. I have no idea why or where I bought it at some point in the 1990s, other than it must have looked interesting.
At times I describe myself as a "rhythm junkie." If I'm at an exercise class with music, I move to the beat, and it drives me nuts on the rare occasions when teachers don't. If there's music in a store, I have a hard time not moving to it. I was in a drum and bugle corps in high school -- we're talking decades ago -- and still drum out the cadences. I love to watch my son play the trombone. He starts with foot tapping and is soon moving his entire body. He's always had good rhythm and is what a lot of people describe as a natural athlete.
ANYWAY -- Hall suggests that there's a fundamental pulse that unites all living creatures on the earth. Individuals and cultures and places also have their own beat(s). I work, for instance, on a campus that is agriculturally oriented, and the pace there is remarkably slower -- not in a bad way, less frenetic -- than the main campus one mile to the west. I've told people facetiously that you can feel the earth's pulse while you walk across East Campus. Maybe I meant it.
The Dance of Life uses cultural differences to get at what may be metaphysical observations.
Hall draws from his own and others' experiences working with indigenous cultures. A key point is that American/Europeans (AKA we white folk) view music (and time) as originating externally, delivered via inspired composers or lucky bands that had a big break. In contrast, certain African and American Indian cultures view music as originating internally. He also mentions that Africans tend to be aware of a much broader spectrum of communication than American/Europeans, who overemphasize words.
(My experience working with recent African immigrants included the sense that my grasp of body language was very limited -- that I really did not know how to greet people properly, by their standards, even after I learned more -- and that there were some fundamentally very different rhythms and harmonies within the African community that felt like big missing pieces in my experience so far in this lifetime of being human. I'm not idealizing other cultures for their own sake, but really appreciated the vitality that sprung up at the borders where the cultures met.)
Hall also describes the phenomenon of synchronicity, and links it to Jung's collective unconscious. I think of it as dropping down into a layer that's closer to The Source, where patterns are a little clearer and entropy has had less effect. Apparently non-random timing is one of the first signs of being in sync with Something, but thought content is part of it, too. A lot of people who know me also know about my "shared field" theory, this idea that we essentially log into common psychic space (cyberspace is good metaphoric training), where people seemingly independently have the same idea at the same time. I often really can't tell whether someone is picking up my thoughts or vice versa, but it's clear that we're tuned into the same wavelength. I can't explain it but rhythm seems to be the underlying medium for transmitting thought, emotion and intent.
If anyone knows of anyone who is following up on Hall's work, I would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, I'll be trying to find the common pulse that connects us all.
At times I describe myself as a "rhythm junkie." If I'm at an exercise class with music, I move to the beat, and it drives me nuts on the rare occasions when teachers don't. If there's music in a store, I have a hard time not moving to it. I was in a drum and bugle corps in high school -- we're talking decades ago -- and still drum out the cadences. I love to watch my son play the trombone. He starts with foot tapping and is soon moving his entire body. He's always had good rhythm and is what a lot of people describe as a natural athlete.
ANYWAY -- Hall suggests that there's a fundamental pulse that unites all living creatures on the earth. Individuals and cultures and places also have their own beat(s). I work, for instance, on a campus that is agriculturally oriented, and the pace there is remarkably slower -- not in a bad way, less frenetic -- than the main campus one mile to the west. I've told people facetiously that you can feel the earth's pulse while you walk across East Campus. Maybe I meant it.
The Dance of Life uses cultural differences to get at what may be metaphysical observations.
Hall draws from his own and others' experiences working with indigenous cultures. A key point is that American/Europeans (AKA we white folk) view music (and time) as originating externally, delivered via inspired composers or lucky bands that had a big break. In contrast, certain African and American Indian cultures view music as originating internally. He also mentions that Africans tend to be aware of a much broader spectrum of communication than American/Europeans, who overemphasize words.
(My experience working with recent African immigrants included the sense that my grasp of body language was very limited -- that I really did not know how to greet people properly, by their standards, even after I learned more -- and that there were some fundamentally very different rhythms and harmonies within the African community that felt like big missing pieces in my experience so far in this lifetime of being human. I'm not idealizing other cultures for their own sake, but really appreciated the vitality that sprung up at the borders where the cultures met.)
Hall also describes the phenomenon of synchronicity, and links it to Jung's collective unconscious. I think of it as dropping down into a layer that's closer to The Source, where patterns are a little clearer and entropy has had less effect. Apparently non-random timing is one of the first signs of being in sync with Something, but thought content is part of it, too. A lot of people who know me also know about my "shared field" theory, this idea that we essentially log into common psychic space (cyberspace is good metaphoric training), where people seemingly independently have the same idea at the same time. I often really can't tell whether someone is picking up my thoughts or vice versa, but it's clear that we're tuned into the same wavelength. I can't explain it but rhythm seems to be the underlying medium for transmitting thought, emotion and intent.
If anyone knows of anyone who is following up on Hall's work, I would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, I'll be trying to find the common pulse that connects us all.
November 11, 2012
I've got mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it really shows it's age - published in 1983, it has a very dated, simplistic anthropological approach to culture and how "other" cultures differ from the "American European" culture. On the other hand, there is some really sensitive, in-depth exploration of the differences in the way different cultures view, access, talk about, and experience time. I was particularly fascinated by the author's work with Hopi and Navajo people in the 1930's. For that time in history, Edward Hall has a remarkably progressive and open-minded approach to the differences in cultural constructs of time. Also, the author's "Map of Time" was really eye-opening, and helped me understand that there are many different ways to conceive of time and all are equal in their validity (quite a revolutionary thought, even in this day and age!). But in the end, the author makes far to many leaps in his theories that seem to have no evidence to back them up except his own perceived connections. He's also really all over the place - in one short paragraph, he compares jazz, German naming ceremonies and Zen Buddhism with barely any explanation as to why the three are so inter-connected to him. But, all his personal stories are wonderful to read and this is an interesting peek into a very brilliant, if a bit confusing, mind.
February 8, 2024
كتاب فكري يبحث في الزمن كعنصر أساسي في تشكيل الثقافة سواء بوعي أفرادها أو من دون وعي
...............................................
تتمة مراجعة الكتاب على مدونتي:
((( همى الغيث )))
https://www.hma-algaith.com/%d8%b1%d9...
...............................................
تتمة مراجعة الكتاب على مدونتي:
((( همى الغيث )))
https://www.hma-algaith.com/%d8%b1%d9...
April 1, 2019
This is one of the best books on culture that I've read, 5/5
August 3, 2016
This book is a must read. I read it about 20 years ago when I was actively working to defuse ethnic tension -- of which there was a lot -- at a major university. Normally, talking about different cultures' senses of time is a way to get people really mad, but Hall's non-judgmental approach was a great way to get people on both sides of the ethnic divide to better understand what was going on. Unfortunately, intellectual understanding is not the same as being able to move between M-time and P-time (the two basic approaches Hall found). I had minority students who understood the need to adapt to the university's M-time, but who ran into major internal and community barriers. And, when I (from the majority culture) tried to move into P-time, I couldn't do it, even though it clearly was more efficient in those instances. Even though understanding doesn't solve the problem, it is an important first step.
May 14, 2018
Oh wow! There's so much information of value here that to parse them will not do justice to EH. I value the ways we handle time, responses, culture, relationships, business, leisure that has been covered and what we inadvertently missed. The glorious variety of nuances we exhibit towards each other in our own culture and in others in all spectrum of our lives. How our rhythms of music, kinesics, biological imperatives are driven in the most obvious and unique ways that requires deeper insight. Yes, EH is right, how we interact with the world through proxemics, context and value based behaviors should be given more coverage as a social science.
August 22, 2007
Actually anthropology. Makes an arguments for 9 different kinds of time: Biological time, personal time, physical time, metaphysical time, micro time, sync time, sacred time, profane time, and meta time. Read it to find out what the hell he's talking about.
December 3, 2016
Insightful on the concept of 'time', with a lot of illustrative examples from Native American peoples, yet somewhat repetitive following his previous 'Beyond Culture'.
March 2, 2017
Outstanding book that has you question any assumptions you may hold about time
April 20, 2023
"The Dance of Life - The Other Dimension of Time" by Edward T. Hall was an enjoyable read. A basic and fundamental look at who we are and how we think as an individual is a result of the culture we exist in - specifically focusing on understanding our perceptions of time - and the far reaching effect these entail. Hall provided numerous intriguing and thought provoking observations, many of paralleled my own experiences. Considering the 40 years since its publication, some of the content is a bit dated, with the biggest impact being, how technology and the Internet-age have altered some of Hall's observations. I also pondered how much some of the observations regarding gender/work roles have likely evolved. [4/5]
January 8, 2020
Where we live is not how a person lives, but a frivolous society that uses that person as a basic measure of what he or she has. We use a standard full of prejudice and stereotypes to cut or neglect others, and to ignore and despise others. Crime rates have increased and people's lives are now low enough to be converted into money. What made this society so miserable and depressing? Is it related to the recovery of man's dignity and the attributes of culture that determine its resilience? If so, it is the ignorance of culture that we must break down.
https://singingdalong.blogspot.com/20...
https://singingdalong.blogspot.com/20...
January 29, 2020
HAll made interesting observations of the Hopi culture with respect to time and rituals. It seems that ritual was much more important than any finished product--sort of like playing music but never writing or recording it. Apparently, they had a hard time finishing projects because they weren't driven to bring closure to all their activities, as do Westerners.
May 22, 2017
LOVE THIS BOOK! I read it again and again and again.
September 13, 2019
Fascinating, with many unique insights about how different cultures experience time.
Want to read
October 21, 2022[interesting sounding further reads from Pink’s When]
April 2, 2023
Another book of Hall's that I devoured once I stumbled upon his writings.
December 18, 2020
Once you open the Dance of Life, you wont stop until you finished it. Edward T. Hall dives deep into the sea of time and unravels how every culture understands it. From the low context, polychronic east to the high context, monochronic west.
Very good read indeed and lots of lessons on how to understand people and culture
Very good read indeed and lots of lessons on how to understand people and culture
April 29, 2022
A great book. A lot of different ways of looking at time. Very in-depth. As I read this again, I can't understand why it wasn't given five stars by everyone. So interesting. I especially appreciated the studies that Edward Hall did in recognition of the distance in comfort of space when talking to others. It varies between cultures and the relationship between the two. All the info and assumed reasoning for so is included. Everything he covered was done so in depth. I love rereading this book. I picked up on even more than in the first read.
Want to read
February 2, 2009first edition
with dustjacket
adequate condition for book, dust jacket is ragged
books by this author:
The Silent Language (1959)
The Hidden Dimension (1969)
Beyond Culture (1976)
The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time (1983)
Handbook for Proxemic Research
Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese
An Anthropology of Everyday Life: An Autobiography (1992, Doubleday, New York)
Understanding Cultural Differences - Germans, French and Americans (1993, Yarmouth, Maine)
West of the Thirties. Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hopi (1994, Doubleday, New York etc.)
http://edwardthall.com/
with dustjacket
adequate condition for book, dust jacket is ragged
books by this author:
The Silent Language (1959)
The Hidden Dimension (1969)
Beyond Culture (1976)
The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time (1983)
Handbook for Proxemic Research
Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese
An Anthropology of Everyday Life: An Autobiography (1992, Doubleday, New York)
Understanding Cultural Differences - Germans, French and Americans (1993, Yarmouth, Maine)
West of the Thirties. Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hopi (1994, Doubleday, New York etc.)
http://edwardthall.com/
February 7, 2009
The first 2/3rds of the book compare cultures through a lens of time. Hall's anecdotal narrative comparing Hopi and Navajo concepts of time to American concepts of time is the most interesting of this first part, due to his extensive time spent working among Native Americans. The best part of book starts with the chapter "The Dance of Life," where Hall discusses interpersonal synchrony and William Condon's concept of entrainment and the organizing function of kinesic rhythm as observed in language and physical gesture.
May 3, 2013
In this book Hall explores how different cultures approach and integrate the concept of time into their lives. He explores in depth how the cultural differences can impact peoples interactions with each other, as well as how we can be more aware of the cultural differences as it pertains to temporal awareness. I felt that this book wasn't as dynamic as his previous works. I still got a lot out of it, but it did seem like he was rehashing a lot of his earlier work. I'd still recommend it, because he a lot of interesting perspectives to raise.
January 21, 2008
I'm re-reading this now--ususual for me--there's so much in it about cultural differences and concepts--takes you "out of the box" of our own way of thinking, and gives insights into Spanish, American Indian, Japanese, etc.--concepts and mentality.
Living in Israel, one is constantly running into conflicts and misunderstandings because of cultural differences.
This book goes deeply into different ways of living and what it means.....
elinore
Living in Israel, one is constantly running into conflicts and misunderstandings because of cultural differences.
This book goes deeply into different ways of living and what it means.....
elinore
November 20, 2019
Excellent book that greatly expanded my view of the culture and individual people ... understanding the reasons why they act a certain way.
Maybe one minus for me is that - sometimes had to go through a paragraph a couple of times because of the difficult language ... but it could just mean I need to learn more ( ohh... ir definitely means I need to learn more ).
Suggest for everybody
Maybe one minus for me is that - sometimes had to go through a paragraph a couple of times because of the difficult language ... but it could just mean I need to learn more ( ohh... ir definitely means I need to learn more ).
Suggest for everybody
July 29, 2011
Although a bit simplistic in its analysis of how different cultures utilize time for organization and communication, Hall's book does offer food for thought especially in a global world where the interaction between different cultures is frequent and needs to be understood.
March 2, 2008
This book is phenomenal, but consider that you'll be reading a textbook.
February 25, 2014
Good read
March 31, 2019
Excellent like all of Dr. Hall’s very readable books. At times outdated but still full of practical insight about culture and human behavior.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews