Orientations of Conflict Resolution in Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women

Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women (Lambert-Hurley et al., 2022) is a collection of memoirs written by women authors who reflect on their experiences abroad. Memoirs on intercultural interactions can be seen as a resource for investigating topics related to intercultural communication. This study focuses on the orientations of conflict resolution as one of the subjects of intercultural communication. The aim of the paper is to find out the conflict resolution orientations of the women authors in the memoir collection according to the theoretical framework of Thomas’s (1976) Conflict Resolution Orientations. Eight memoirs have been chosen among the collection of memoirs based on purposive sampling method and content analysis has been carried out. It has been found that the five different orientation types of conflict resolution, as suggested by Thomas (1976), which are Integration, Domination, Compromise, Neglect and Appeasement are displayed by the women authors in different situations. The emerging sub-themes have been found to be ‘expressing admiration’ and ‘showing willingness to adapt’ for Integration orientation; ‘attempting to persuade’ and ‘expressing strong opinions about good and bad behaviour’ for Domination orientation; ‘compromising with officials’ and ‘compromising on negative attitudes towards home country’ for Compromise orientation; ‘making criticisms’ for Neglect orientation; and ‘accommodating to conversation style’ and ‘accommodating to dressing style’ for Appeasement orientation. The most frequently addressed conflict resolution orientation in the memoirs is Integration and the least frequently addressed ones are Neglect and Appeasement. The women writers’ conflict resolution orientations are discussed in light of the relevant research on intercultural communication. It has been concluded that more research should be carried out for investigating conflict resolution orientations in memoirs of intercultural encounters.