Rucksack model of culture

The knapsack model is one of several models of culture that „[…] explains culturally embedded values and thought patterns, as well as their artifacts, in a general – i.e., initially nonculturally specific – way“ (Agha-Alikhani 2012, 102) in a schematically simplified way.

Individual and situational

It presents culture as a ͵backpackʹ. The individual carries his or her cultural knowledge in his or her personal luggage, in which, symbolically, one’s own cultural, individual, and social backgrounds are expressed. It is not the culture but the individual himself who decides on the flexible, situational handling of the contents of the „cultural backpack“ (Roth 2011, 20). The contents of the backpack can be expanded over the course of life and with growing experiences, in that the individual can adopt values and attitudes beyond the standardized elements of a culture that are more akin to a foreign culture (cf. ibid.). The model metaphorically attempts to explain the „cultural complexity in society in a way that is true to life and as authentic as possible“ (ibid. 21) and to broaden one’s own cultural horizons by raising awareness about the assumptions of the model.

Differentiation from the iceberg model

The backpack metaphor represents a further development of Hemingway’s iceberg model (see iceberg model of culture). It further relies on the division into visible and invisible cultural elements (see Roth 2011, 20). These visible artifacts (external appearance, actions, language, behavior) are called percepta, whereas the invisible elements of culture (values, norms, and attitudes) are called concepta (Agha-Alikhani 2012, 102). The cultural backpack and its contents are opaque, making the cultural equipment, the concepta, visible only during intense intercultural communication.

Changeable size

The major difference with the iceberg model is that culture is seen as a „changeable quantity“ (Roth 2011, 20) and every new experience, every new encounter, and every new situation influences our actions and thus enriches our cultural possessions. While culture in the backpack model is seen as an open (appropriation and action) process (cf. ibid.), culture in the iceberg model is presented as timeless and one-dimensional, giving the impression that individuals are „determined by their cultural environment in the manner of a one-way street“ (ibid.) and conforming to a static portrait of culture. However, the two models do not contradict each other. Rather, they can be linked in certain multicultural contexts (cf. ibid.). In such confrontations, it is appropriate to relate the static concept of culture of the iceberg model, „which evokes predictable actions perceived as ͵Germanʹ, ͵Russianʹ, or ͵Japaneseʹ“ (ibid. 21), with the open concept of culture of the rucksack model, „which [without a fixed cultural portrait] responds flexibly to the demands of the situation at hand“ (ibid.).

Literature

Agha-Alikhani, Barbara (2012): Cultural models. In: Barmeyer, Christoph (ed.): pocket encyclopedia interculturality. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 102-104.

Roth, Juliane (2011): Eigene Kultur. In: Roth, Juliane/ Köck, Christoph (eds.): Intercultural Competence. Handbook for Adult Education. 2nd revised ed. Stuttgart: EduMedia, 19-21.