Mianzi
Abstract: This paper is about Mianzi, an important obstacle, which obstructs the communication between China and the West. It tries to reveal to the westerners the extensive meanings of Manzi in China and the reasons for their emergence, with comparison of the differences between China and western countries.
Key words: Mianzi China culture western countries
gMianzi, any competent adult member of the society wanting to pursue, is a public self-image and an individual self-esteem, which need politeness to maintain.h1---- This is a brief definition of Mianzi, given by two western scholars Brown and Levinson, in 1978.
Looking into different cultures around the world, we may find out that the concept of Mianzi, a Chinese counterpart of the English word gfaceh, which is related to the definition given by the two scholars, does exist in other cultures too, although it is satisfied through different methods.
Generally speaking, there are two basic ways to satisfy peoplefs demands of Mianzi. One is to make them feel desirable to others. The other is to enable them feel unimpeded by others. The two methods may be epitomized into two linguistic terms of communication: involvement strategy and independence strategy2.
On account of different background, people in China and in western countries lay different emphasis on the two methods. Generally speaking, the great majority of occidentals put stress on independence strategy during communication, while the vast majority of Chinese attach importance to involvement strategy. For both Chinese and occidentals, they often take it for granted that it is polite to treat others as they themselves would like to be treated. An example can illustrate it easily. When a man visits a Chinese family, the host would offer the guest tea or coffee several times even if he expresses his refusal definitely, while the same situation would not happen in a western family at...
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