This paper looks at two areas in which language and culture interact: speech acts and narrative. Speech acts, or 'performatives', refer to the use of language in order to perform actions – to request, reject, apologise, warn, assure, agree, deny etc...  Because language does not encode meaning fully, the intention of speakers often has to be inferred, and this process of inference is guided by cultural conventions. Where these conventions differ, misunderstandings may arise. Thus the English boss who says to his German employee “Perhaps we might consider looking into the possibility that...” believes that he has made a clear request for further investigation, whereas to his employee, nothing in the many hedges used remotely signals a request for action. Although performatives are likely to lead to cross-cultural misunderstanding, transgressions are readily forgiven once cultural differences are explained.
Narrative is used broadly here to include connotations (terrorist versus freedom fighter), metaphors (war on poverty) and stories concerning religion, history and myth. All of these have the power to frame the way in which we see the world, and to determine the way we act upon it. This framing function along with its emotional appeal of narrative, tends to create cohesion and promote allegiance. Yet nothing is more divisive than conflicting narratives. Performatives and narratives can thus be seen as complementary with regard to their potential for divisiveness. In both cases, a heightened awareness of how language and culture interact is likely to facilitate conciliation and secure mutual understanding.