Prepararsi all’ascolto. Uno sguardo antropologico sull’ascolto come negoziazione culturale

For the success of field work and professional interventions of anthropologists, sociologists, educationalists, psychologists and generally of cultural mediators, it is essential to make a reflection on the communication modalities that we employ in the cultural negotiation with the social actors during our activities. In this paper the attention is focused on the relational aspects of listening, often disregarded in the most common communication models. In different and very common contexts, as the television talk shows, the condominium meetings or the relationship with our children, we are used to talk to others and not with others. Too often, our purpose is not to transmit a thought, so that it can be heard, but to overpower, to erase the thought of others, so that our will prevail. Our ability to listen and produce listening is limited by the lack of awareness with which we handle our communicative relationships. By relating the thought of some anthropologists, as Geertz, Hannerz, Kilani, Bourdieu, and others, I have tried to propose a theoretical and pragmatic path towards reflexivity, an indispensable element in our professions, for an effective communicative relationship.