From Brazil to Peru via Japan

From Brazil to Peru to Japan, Pierre Fayard shares his sharp vision of interculturality, far from the "ball of hard-edged clichés".

Born in Dakar, Pierre FAYARD is Professor at the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises at the University of Poitiers. He specializes in the study of the influence of culture on the conception and implementation of strategy, with a constant concern for popularization. He was behind the creation of Poitiers' first university business intelligence center. After conducting research on Knowledge Management in Japan, he moved to South America for eight years as General Manager of the Centre Franco-Brésilien de Documentation Scientifique et Technique in Sao Paulo, and then Conseiller de Coopération et d'Action Culturelle at the French Embassy in Peru. Aïkidoka 4th dan, he is the author of strategy books, novels and short stories.

Pierre Fayard agreed to answer our questions and give us his view of the cultures he has had the opportunity to experience: from Brazil to Peru and Japan.

You've lived in Senegal, Brazil, Peru, Japan... What has made the biggest impression on you in each of these countries?

It's hard to sum it all up in a few words. If you'll allow me, I'll address your question in a nutshell. What I can say today might be different tomorrow. One thing's for sure: exposing ourselves to other cultures from the island of our rationality brings with it the certainty of missing out on other experiences and other visions of reality. In this exercise, we must fear neither paradox nor what seems contradictory to us.

In Japan

The only certainty you have when you first set foot in this Far Eastern archipelago is that you won't understand anything, or at best you'll only understand part of it, or you'll understand it all wrong. For this reason, it's advisable to relativize, or even disconnect, reason and a priori, and put yourself at the school of the senses and intuition. Attentive to the moment, we act, or more precisely, we react without really knowing, because analysis is for later. The most important thing is to sail along, avoiding false notes, but without refraining from contributing to the orchestra in your own way. There's nothing like flair, without the hassle of explaining, because reasoning is too slow. It's quite subtle and, in the end, rather pleasant, these silent ballets, at once demanding and cottony, cut with sudden, conclusive hai, whose semantics vary according to the context: yes, I understand, it's as if it were done, I'd like that, hello, please, of course... hai expresses connection, a statement of existing flow, continuity, adhesion. It is hardly possible to translate it into a single expression, even though it is a key passport in everyday life for a foreigner in Japan: hai!

In Brazil

When it comes to this southern giant, the cliché ball is in full swing. It's easy to think you understand everything, but you'll never be told you're wrong. It's anyone's guess, because conflict is abhorred here. A Brazilian poet-diplomat once maintained that this country is not for beginners. For example, the Brazilian version of what is known as the permanent miracle in Cuba, where when nothing is possible, the possible is realized, is called jeitinho brasileiro. It consists of taking justice into one's own hands, against the absurdity of laws and standards understood as made by others and for others than oneself. The result is a highly cobbled-together tropical Système D, based on emotion, with a touch of corruption thrown in for good measure. It's not intended to transform the world to make it fairer or more functional, but only for its followers to be more equal than others, in the words of Carioca anthropologist Livia Barbosa. Go figure. Go figure Charles!

Another characteristic of this society is its optimism. It's so radical that it can get us out of the worst situations, where a sad, rational, Western mind would sink into hopeless, hopeless pessimism. In this country, there's a stubborn belief that, despite all factors to the contrary, objective or otherwise, in the end there's always a solution (no final da certo), whether borderline or beyond. And if you don't? It's because you haven't reached the end - it's that simple!

In Peru

It's exactly the opposite. Everything seems simple, but gets more complicated as you go along, even if you're told that the conclusion is within reach.

It's a bit like climbing a mountain: there's always a new steep slope to climb to open up the horizon, but it's a never-ending process, right up to the point of abandonment!

The country's geography and history are reflected in the aridity of its society, where colonial structures and mentality are still very much with us. Where Brazil is horizontal, Peru is vertical, rugged and abrupt, like its mountains with their mineral austerity, or in the authoritarianism of its social, not to say ethnic, hierarchies. The Peruvian horizontal is in sandy deserts where water is scarce and peons toil like slaves. And yet, in this Andean, Amazonian and desert society, with its African, Japanese and Chinese influences, a unifying miracle can be seen in its cuisine, one of the most inventive and creative in the Americas. It rightly embodies the pride of this country.

Getting rid of certainties!

Cultural differences are revealed in the seemingly insignificant facts of everyday life. Put together, they demonstrate the boundless pretension of our Western-centric imperialist modernity, convinced of the universality of its rationality. To understand, you have to be willing to lose yourself without knowing what the global view will be made of, if at all. You have to accept that you'll only be able to explain things after the fact, and try not to make any mistakes beforehand. The best thing to do is to put yourself in crisis and get rid of falsely reassuring certainties, which are often certainly distorting. Interculturalism, now fashionable, often rhymes with condescending cultural neo-imperialism, where technological facilities reinforce illusions of communication. All I know is that I know nothing, provoked Socrates. It's a good passport for constantly revising our modern, exclusive views, and putting our egocentricity in salutary crisis!