Plea against cultural stereotypes
The paper discusses, critically, the vogue of Hofstede's system in cross-cultural research, and reveals the traps of classifying cultures, generating, thus, neo-stereotypes. Starting from a content analysis of last years' scientific production in the field of cultural encounters, with a special emphasis on the European East - Asian East (People's Republic of China and Japan, in particular) relationships, the paper develops a review by exception, as the authors present "a-typical" case studies of cultural interactions, dismissing the cultural dimensions paradigm. Historical and political circumstances of the relationships between the two aforementioned regions, corroborated with cultural stereotypes, create a certain horizon of expectation, which is contradicted by the way things really happen. Concise and informative explanations are provided for each of the "a-typical" situations, based on the authors' cultural understanding, and especially on one of the authors' valuable expertise in the field of Chinese culture. The multiple embedded case studies analyzed articulate into a discourse against simplification and narrow classification of cultures, whose patterns of overlapping are far more subtle. Lessons learned, and insights from literature are brought together in a discussions and conclusions section, which creates awareness of "a-typical" behaviors, linked to "a-typical" situations, or relational backgrounds. The quasi-dogmatic framework of cultural dimension is, thus, challenged by a more fluid, exception-inclusive manner of approaching and understanding cross-cultural dialogue.