First I will define these terms, then explain the significance of these two categories, and finally apply them to The Joy Luck Club . Culture is the way of living which a group of people has developed and transmits from one generation to the next. It includes concepts, skills, habits of thinking and acting, arts, institutions, ways of relating to the world, and agreement on what is significant and necessary to know. Context is the whole situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual. A high-context culture is a culture in which the individual has internalized meaning and information, so that little is explicitly stated in written or spoken messages.
China is a high-context culture.
A low-context culture is one in which information and meaning are explicitly stated in the message or communication. Individuals in a low-context culture expect explanations when statements or situations are unclear, as they often are. Information and meaning are not internalized by the individual but are derived from context, e.g., from the situation or an event. The United States is a low-context culture. In a high-context culture, the individual acquires cultural information and meaning from obedience to authority, through observation and by imitation.