Hofstede and Hobbitses: Generational Evolution of Power Distance and Masculinity in UK in Popular Literature

A knowledge of cultural values of users is implicit to developing personas for HCI research. Hofstede's dimensions have been a prominent model in tracing cross-cultural influences in HCI but there has been significant criticism for treating culture as monolithic and reducible to a few statistics. In this paper we investigate two of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, namely Power Distance and Masculinity. Is popular literature an accurate reflection of the cultural values of its intended audience? Through the viewpoint of the modern, English-educated Indian, we conducted a qualitative inquiry, with a focus on elements like characters, events and reflections that bring out the Power Distance and Masculinity in popular fiction from the UK, by authors Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling. We conducted workshops with expert readers familiar with the work of these authors and analyzed the data to formulate an evolution of power disparities and social predilections in the UK society over the past century. We gathered insights into the evolution of societal values and how authors contrast the mainstream with the exceptional to create a diegetic universe that is cogent with the life and times of the audience they are written for. As the first probe in a larger study, we reflect on the methodological learnings from this inquiry, reflecting on the mechanisms of conducting post factum inter-cultural studies and biases. Our conclusions discuss the feasibility of using popular literature as a barometer of cultural values of society, and its potential role in developing user personas.