英文论文中西面子观体现的文化差异(7)
On the contrary, westerners are quite different from Chinese. They pay less attention to face and more attention to the core of business. They believe their task is the only goal, and it has nothing to do with the face problem. Therefore, they are not willing to spend too much time on chatting and entertaining like Chinese. When they are invited to take part in some entertaining activities, western negotiators will refuse and suggest going down to the business, and this makes Chinese lose face and feel awkward.
Since harmony is one of the most important values in Chinese people’s mind, all Chinese negotiators should do something to create harmonious atmosphere so as to protect all people’s face. But westerners do not like it although they know Chinese people’s friendly intention because they just want to complete the negotiation as quickly as possible. To some extent, they also do not want to have small talk since it will involve their personal privacy threatening their negative face.
It can be concluded that different face views result in different acts between Chinese and western cultures. Chinese people are more sensitive to positive face than westerners, while, since westerners have strong desire to pursue freedom, negative face theory always has a great significance on their daily life.
4 Causes of Different Face View
The face conflicts are expected because of the different perceptions toward face during the cross-cultural communication. Sometimes the verbal meanings are misinterpreted, and sometimes the “strange” actions lead to the mutual hatred. The film named Gua Sha Treatment reflects the differences of value and culture views between western and Chinese cultures.
Gua Sha Treatment tells a story taking place in St Louis City, United States. Xu Datong, a successful Chinese lived in America. He told everyone he has achieved his American dream, but a surprise waked him up from his dream suddenly. In his daily life, he tried to integrate his Chinese cultural behaviors into his American reality but failed. His failures show his confusion about the differences between his original Chinese culture and the new America home, while the following plot conveys the misinterpretation because of the different face vies.
Dennis, Xu Datong’s son quarreled and fought with Paul, the son of his American boss because of the computer games. Xu Datong ordered Dennis to apologize, but he did not obey. Xu Datong gave a scud on his son’s face before Paul, and then the event caused a lawsuit. At the hearing, his boss confirmed that Xu Datong hit Dennis, complaining, “I just tell the truth, you could not beat your child.” Xu Datong flew in a rage, “Truth? Why did I hit my son? Not just for the sake of your face!” Xu Datong’s words confused his boss, “What a mess of Chinese logic? You hit your child for my face? ”
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