中美面子观差异

IOnCulturalDifferencesBetweenAmericanandChineseFacePerspectivesAbstract:Politenessisasymbolofhumancivilizationandthefeatureofallthecivilizedsociety.Itisnotonlyuniversalbutalsoculturallyspecific.TwocountrieslikeAmericaandChinahavedifferentcultureswhichleadtodifferentrealizationonpoliteness.Asonetheoryofpolitenessprinciple,thefaceperspectiveisalsodifferent.ThepaperintroducesthedifferentfaceperspectivesbetweenAmericaandChinaandanalyzesculturaldifferencesbehindthemandtheircorrespondingreasons.Atfirst,thispapertriestointroducedifferentconceptsoffacebetweenAmericaandChinabyquotingandanalyzingsomescholars’opinionsonface,suchasGoffman,Brown&LevinsonandHuHsienchin’s.Nextstep,thispapertriestodiscusstheculturalconflictsbehinddifferentconceptsofface,forinstance,AmericanindividualismandChinesecollectivism,AmericannegativefaceandChinesepositivefaceandAmericanequalityandChinesehierarchy,andanalyzesthereasonsfromdifferentaspectsincludinghistory,culture,thinkingpatterns,nationalcharactersandtraditionalideology,etc.Finally,inordertoreducebarrierscausedbydifferentconceptsoffaceincross-culturalcommunication,thispaperfurthersuggeststhatitisnecessarytounderstandmutualdifferentconceptsoffacebytryingtobedirectwhenamongtheAmericansandtryingtobeeuphemisticwhenamongtheChinese.AndthepaperalsobelievesthatbasedonbetterunderstandingofmutualfaceperspectivesandmoreeffectivecommunicationbetweenAmericaandChina,thefriendshipbetweenthetwocountrieswillbepromoted.Keywords:Cross-culturalcommunication;culturaldifference;faceperspective;II从面子观看中美文化差异摘要：礼貌是人类文明的标志，也是所有文明的特征。礼貌既是一种普遍现象，又是一种个性化的交际原则。像中美这两个拥有不同文化背景的国家，其文化的不同必然导致人们对礼貌有着不同的认识。面子观，作为礼貌原则之一，在这两个国家自然有着不同的理解。本文介绍了中美不同的面子观并分析了不同面子观背后反映出来的不同的文化和相应的原因。作者通过引用像高夫曼，布朗和列文森，以及胡先晋等学者的观点介绍了中美不同的面子观。接下来，文章探讨了不同面子观背后反映出的不同文化，比如：美国的个人主义和中国的集体主义的差异，美国的消极面子和中国的积极面子的差异，美国的平等性和中国的等级性的差异，并分析了造成这些差异成因，例如历史，文化，思维模式，民族性格以及传统意识等方面的原因。最后，本文建议，为了减少国际交流中的一些障碍，应当了解彼此的面子观，与美国人打交道时尽量直接点，与中国人打交道尽量委婉点。相信读者在此基础上能够更好地理解中美的面子观，能够进行更有效的国际交流，以促进中美关系的发展。关键词：跨文化交际；文化差异；面子观IIIContentsIntroduction…………………………………………………………………………..11.Anapproachtodifferentfaceperspectives…………………………….………11.1TheAmericanfaceperspective…………………………………………………21.1.1ErvingGoffman’sopiniononfaceperspective…………………………....21.1.2Brown&Levinson’sopiniononfaceperspective…………………………31.2TheChinesefaceperspective………………………………………...…………42.Culturalconflicts&reasonsbehinddifferentconceptsofface……...…………52.1.Individualismvs.Collectivism…………………………………………...…....52.1.1TheAmericanvalue---individualism&reasons………………………......52.1.2TheChinesevalue---collectivism&reasons…………………..…………62.2.NegativeFacevs.PositiveFace………………………………………………82.2.1TheAmericanNegativeFace&reasons…………………………….……82.2.2TheChinesePositiveFace&reasons…………………………….………92.3Equalityvs.Hierarchy…………………………………………………..……102.3.1TheAmericanequality&reasons……………………………………..…102.3.2TheChinesehierarchy&reasons……………………………………..…113.Suggestions……………………………………………………………………..123.1.Knowingdifferentconceptsofface……………………………………….…123.2.TryingtobedirectwhenamongtheAmericans………………………..……123.3.TryingtobeeuphemisticwhenamongtheChinese…………………………13Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….…………13References…………………………………………………………………………………….15Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………161OnCulturalDifferencesBetweenAmericanandChineseFacePerspectivesIntroductionPolitenessisasymbolofhumancivilizationandthefeatureofallthecivilizedsociety.Politenesswhichisthoughttobeoneofthemoralaspectsisreferredtothepracticalapplicationofgoodmannersoretiquette.Itisaculturally-definedphenomenon,andthereforewhatisconsideredpoliteinoneculturecansometimesbequiterudeorsimplyeccentricinanotherculturalcontext.Similarly,faceperspective,asoneofthebasicfactorsofpoliteness,isunexceptionallydifferentunderthedifferentculturalcontextsinChinaandAmerica.Ifpeopleknownothingaboutthesedifferences,theywon’tbeabletohaveeffectivecommunicationininterculturalcontext.Inthisthesis,culturaldifferencesbetweenAmericanandChinesefaceperspectivesarediscussedinthreeaspects:theintroductionofdifferentconceptsoffaceunderdifferentculturalbackgroundsbetweenAmericaandChina,theanalysisofculturaldifferencesreflectedbydifferentconceptsoffaceandtheircauses,andsomesuggestionstoreducebarrierscausedbydifferentconceptsoffaceincross-culturalcommunicationsoastopromotemutualunderstandingbetweenthetwonations.1.Anapproachtodifferentfaceperspectives“Face”isaubiquitousconceptthatexistsinallcultures.However,indifferentculturalcontext,theconceptof“face”hasbeendefinedinmanydifferentways.Goffman(1955)conceptualizeditas“somethingthatisdiffusedlylocatedintheflowofevents.”Peopleexperiencefaceconcernsindifferentsocialsituations.BrownandLevinson(1978)intheirclassicworkof“Universalsinlanguageusage:Politenessphenomenon”,presentfaceas“thepublicself-imagethateverymemberofasocietywantstoclaimforhimself/herself.”Faceisasocialimagethatindividualswouldlike2topreserveforthemselves.Atothertimes,individualshavetofighttopreservetheirface.AndtheChinesescholar,LinYutang(1968)definesitas“apsychologicallyimagethatcanbegrantedandlostandfoughtforandprese