“Face Culture” in China and America

Lu Wenwen School of Languages and Media, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, 233000, China

Abstract: “Face” is an important factor and an increasingly prominent social phenomenon that dominates the psychology and behavior of people in today’s society.To make in-depth analysis on “face culture”, the paper first offers the documentary survey of existing study on “face culture”.Then on the basis of this, the paper summarizes different “face concept” in China and America and discusses its reflections.The “face culture” can be found in many aspects, including invitations, rejections, apologies, advising, compliments,responses, appellations and chronemics.The last part puts forward solutions: doing preparation, recognizing differences and avoiding ethnocentrism.Therefore, the paper concluded that, in order to keep effective communication, people from different cultures, had better learn about the differences of“face culture” and recognize them.

Key Words: intercultural communication; face culture; face concept; face and politeness theory

Introduction

In the recent fi ve years, the building of the Belt and Road has been promoted actively, hence the development of globalization is raised to a new level.In this context of development, the trend of cultural diversif i cation has linked people closely and brings more intercultural communication opportunities.However, there are huge differences in cultures and customs in different countries.Under such circumstances,there are certain problems in intercultural communication, especially the “face culture” in China and America.It’s important to find out how to alleviate the contradictions and problems in intercultural communication.In order to better promote intercultural communication,there should be a more comprehensive understanding of the differences between the “face cultures” in China and America so as to better promote the communication.For this reason, the following analysis is conducted.

1.Defination of “Face” in Different Cultures

“Face” (also called “mianzi”, Chinese: 面子 ) is a complicated social phenomenon and both nations have their own views towards“face”.According to David Yau-fai, “face” is used metaphorically in a sociological context to refer to reputation or standing in society,particularly Chinese society[1].In China, Chinese attach the utmost importance to their “face” which can be said to the crazy levels.In America, people expect their behavior to be given much more attention to and are aggressively antagonistic to the interference by others.

To trace the essence of “face culture”, many theoretical models and research methods about the study of politeness have been put forward by scholars at home and abroad.In the 1930s, Lu Xun, a well-known Chinese author who enjoyed high prestige in the literary world, wrote an article, “On ‘face’”, endeavored to explain what is going on with the ”face”.Unfortunately, he failed to make it and merely pointed out the three features of Chinese “face”,diverse, signif i cant and confusing.Then the master of Chinese culture,Lin Yutang, also analysed this knotty problem and put forward that“face” was abstract and unpredictable.In 1944, the conception of“face” was first proposed by a Chinese anthropologist named Hu Xianjin, then disseminated to the western world.Mr.Hu did his study on “l(fā)ian”(Chinese: 臉 ) and “mian”(Chinese: 面 ) separately by semantic analysis with the definition that “mian” is the social confidence in personal character and morals while “mian” is the prestige of a man from social achievement and the society’s recognition of his or her visible achievements[2].David Yau-Fai held the view that “the concept of face is, of course, Chinese in origin”[3],then in 1975 he further completed Hu’s theory revealed the relations between interpersonal responses and “face”.

Western scholars also showed a lively interest in “face culture”.In 1955, the concept of “face” was introduced into social theory by the sociologist Erving Goffman with his article “On Face-work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements of Social Interaction” and then Goffman moved on to more details of “face” concept in the book “Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face to Face Behavior”.From Goffman's dramaturgical perspective, “face” is a mask that changes depending on the audience and the variety of social interaction so that people tend to strive to maintain the face they have created in social situations[4].On the ground of Goffman’s face notion, “face theory”, which is one of the most influential theories on politeness in academic circles, was put forward by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson in 1978.They def i ned “face” as “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself”.Meanwhile, public self-esteem can be damaged or improved.According to Brown and Levinson, each participant in the communication has two contradictory “faces”, which are called “positive face” and “negative face”.Positive face is “the positive consistent self-image or ‘personality’ (crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants”.Negative face is “the basic claim to territories, personal preserves,rights to non-distraction—i.e., to freedom of action and freedom from imposition”[5].However, the theory can not be applied universally to deal with politeness everywhere for the sake of there being plenty of cultural-specif i c characteristics.In the different regions, people’s views towards “face” are totally different as well.

1.1 Definition of “Face” in American Culture

In daily life, it seems that Americans rarely speak of “face problem” so that some people held the view that Americans will not take great care about their “face”.However, it is not.Americans attach great importance to their personal privacy, freedom, human rights and reputation, and so on.In American culture, people lay more emphasis on freedom and individualism rather than collectivism, and for them, it is not as important as what Chinese think to engender and maintain a harmonious social atmosphere.In other words, it emphasizes the rights of individuals and the right of independent action.People hate to be interfered when doing their own business.This can be summarized as American “negative face”, a desire of struggling for their own territories and freedom of action.In other words, respect for privacy, tolerance for personal hobbies and characteristics are attached great importance to in American culture.Americans usually say “help yourself” or “enjoy yourself” when having a banquet.They don’t like to force their own views to others, and they respect each other’s choice, say, eating or not eating, eating more or eating less.Waiter or waitress would say “what can I do for you” or “may I help you”directly when you came into a store.They wouldn’t say “what do you need”.Obviously, American culture towards “face” belongs to“Negative face”.In the similar occasion, straightforwardness, might be an optimal word to define the way American communicate.So they enjoy expressing their thoughts without too much consideration.But are they aware of that real and direct answers would result in something unhappy? Of course, Americans know it very clearly.Instead, they still tell the truth for the sake of which “face” can be better saved only explain the present situation in the most direct and clearest way and lower the possible impact on individuals.That is to say, Americans tend to meet the needs of “negative face” of the others.

1.2 Definition of “Face” in Chinese Culture

Chinese culture has been profoundly affected by Confucian culture which has a history of more than 2000 years.Actually Chinese “face culture” derived from Confucian Tradition as well.One mainstream view of Confucianism is that there is a difference between what is superior and what is inferior and everyone has his or her own social status and roles to play, on the ground of the rite thought, contributing to different “face” needs.In the Confucian tradition, it is a salient feature of lacking equal awareness and individual consciousness that determined the main characteristics of Chinese “face culture” until now.In China,a collectivism country , in such culture, people should try their best to obey their own community or society to sustain a harmonious social atmosphere.At the same time, individuals are supposed to be linked with other people.Under such circumstances, people prefer be appreciated when finished their works well.As “positive face” refers, those people have the desire to be liked, appreciated, approved of and respected.In this way, it is generally recognized that Chinese culture is characterized by “positive face”.In people’s daily life, say, at the dinner table,a host may tell the guests to behave casually and eat more.The reason people do this is to make the guests feel liked and valued, which is regarded as a important measure of politeness as well.

However, China as a country with more than 5,000 years of history,its culture is hard to be described just in some simple words.“Positive face” is also very easy to be damaged by refusal behavior, which was not taken into consideration by Brown and Levinson.Therefore, in China, under possible conditions, the speakers often don’t refuse the request of the other person easily, but are willing to help them them find out the solution together.Moreover, the real threats to “positive face”caused by verbal behavior are relatively less than the estimation done by Brown and Levinson because of interpersonal intimacy and tolerance of taboos in Chinese culture.

2.Reflection in Different Aspects

The differences of “face” between Chinese and American culture are mainly reflected in the following two aspects.For one, there is different acceptance of negative face in Chinese and American cultures.In China, it is hard to fi nd a same or similar concept which can be used to describe “negative face” because Chinese “face culture” does not contain the part of “negative face”.They want to be accepted,recognized and respected by the group, and people in China will not expect too much about the freedom of individual behavior.For second, in Chinese and Western cultures, the word “face” (in China people prefer to call it “mianzi”) has different meanings.The “face” in Chinese culture emphasizes the public image which doesn’t lay more emphasis on individual wishes but to create a harmonious atmosphere between individual behavior and group concept.In America, an individualistic country, people tend to be focusing on the personal image, that is, “a personal image of the public that every social member wants to claim for himself”.Both differences of “face culture” directly contribute to the diversity of customs, habits, rituals and etiquette.

2.1 Invitations and Rejections

Invitations and refusal are the very common situations in our daily life, and there are different culture standards in different social backgrounds.In China, people usually maintain and enhance the relationship with their friends or relatives by visiting or inviting them to a party.However, this is what the American people can’t understand well.Chinese visit generally does not need a reservation, and the visitor just go without being invited.It is a commonplace in China.While in the western world, it is not acceptable, for example, people in America will never make a visiting without an appointment in advance because they regard it as a invasion of the privacy of others.Meanwhile, it hurts the“negative face” too.

And the “face” culture differences between China and the US are particularly prominent in people’s attitude towards rejection behavior, which is regarded as a threat to their dignity and prestige in some regions.Therefore, different cultures will adopt different remedy strategies in order to reduce the threat of “face” and avoid the embarrassment of both parties.In China, if someone asks you for help, considering the “face” of the applicant, you might refuse him indirectly with the reply like “can you let me take a consideration?” or“can I reply to you later?” even if it is beyond your reach or what you are not willing to do at all.But in America, people tend to reject others directly to show their sincerity and honesty.

2.2 Apologies and Advising

The “face” culture difference between China and the US is also reflected in the apology.There are obvious differences in the frequency of apology.In the western world, the right consciousness is strong enough because the rights of individuals are emphasized in the culture of individualism, according to Edward Twitchell Hall, a wellknown anthropologist.Therefore, when they feel that their actions may offend the rights of others, they will express their feelings directly with apologies.And this is the reason why the apology happened more often in America.Even in some daily incidents like a sneeze, people in America will immediately apologize for their inappropriate manners.However,things are different in China.“Face consciousness” is very strong because China has been deeply influenced by the concept of hierarchy since ancient times.In general, Chinese people won’t apologize to others easily, especially for a tiny thing like a sneeze.However, with the development of the social civilization, the phenomenon of the apology between the two parties of the communication has occurred to a certain extent.

Also, offering advice, a part of expression, is deeply inf l uenced by different “face” conception.Chinese people dislike offering advice directly due to the worries of hurting others “face” while American people tend to give their advice directly without those worries.Following is an example of offering advice that will demonstrate the problem:

When Zhang Tao traveled in America, he lived in the home of his American friend, Bill.Once after he had traveled back,he found Bill was in a bad mood.When he asked what the problem was, Bill told Zhang Tao that his son Adam got furious about the noise Zhang made when walking upstair sand also because he was using too much water in the solar powered shower and Adam had to have his shower in cold water.Bill told Zhang Tao that he should walk more softly in future, and have a fast shower to save water.Zhang Tao felt uneasy[6].

This is not hard for us to understand why Zhang felt so uneasy.Both parties were not familiar with the culture or “face” concept of the other side.In China, the host would do his utmost to make guests feel at home and put them in the place of honor in order to show his hospitality.Whereas the guests are welcomed in both countries, there are wide variations between the treatments to guests of American and that of Chinese.In America, a guest would be given enough freedom with quite a casual and natural way.In this case, Zhang Tao takes it for granted that he should be well treated in a typical Chinese way and Bill is also too straightforward to offer his advice in an American way,without taking the guest’s feelings into consideration.The elicitation deriving from this story is obvious: Neither Zhang nor Bill are not supposed to behave for granted from their own perspective.

2.3 Compliments and Responses

Compliments are the unavoidable situations we meet in social situations.And it is a very special science to learn how to compliment or accept compliments without hurting people’s “face”.There are great differences between different cultures.The way Chinese accept praise is not understood by the westerners.When a Chinese hear others’compliments, he will be used to say, “well, well, it is still not good enough” because Chinese lay more emphasis on “modesty”.People prefer to respond to compliments by humbling themselves as a sign of respect rather than accept it directly.In American opinion, it is the ref l ection of insincerity dishonesty.American will generously accept the compliments from others with a simple “thank you”.In their culture,it is only in this way that “face” of others can be saved.The following dialogue between an Asian employee and an American employer is a case in point:

American: Mr.Zhang, I have noticed that you are doing an excellent job on the assembly line.I hope that the other workers notice how it should be done.

Asian: (He is uneasy).Praise is not necessary.I am only doing my job.(He hopes other Asian workers do not hear.)

American: You are the finesse, most excellent, dedicated worker we have ever had at the Jones Corporation.

Asian: (He blushed and nods his head several times, and keeps working.)

American: Well, are you going to say “thank you,” Mr.Zhang, or just remain silent? Asian: Excuse me, Mr.Jones...May I take leave for fi ve minutes?

American: Sure.(He is annoyed and watched Zhang exit).I can’t believe how rude some Asian workers are.They seem to be disturbed by praise and don’t answer you …just silent[7].

Many Asian countries such as China and Japan are collectivistic.Compared with individualistic countries like America, people come from collectivistic countries are more modest about compliments and not willing to be made stand out in a crowd although they prefer be appreciated when finished their works well.This paradox is outstanding in the above dialogue: The Asian wanted his work to be noticed by the boss but he did not like to be put in the prominent place in front of his colleagues.So at first, Mr.Zhang tried to be modest towards his boss’s appreciation and hoped other Asian workers did not hear what the boss talked about.But the boss could not understand what Mr.Zhang thought about and still wanted to get responses from the employee.That’s why the Asian felt so uneasy and pretended not to be impressed by the appreciation then rapidly ended the conversation to evade this embarrassing question.The dialogue ended up with failure that both parties were unhappy about the consequence.

2.4 Appellations

Generally speaking, the form s of appellation often re fl ect the social status of the speaker so it is a difficult task to establish the business relationship without knowing the methods people employed to address others.Chinese appellations, with different attitudes and feelings they express, vary in their origin and formation.Various and complicated appellations in Chinese culture may confuse numerous foreign learners who study Chinese.The children were brought up to the ethos of“respecting the old and cherishing the young” and they were taught to use the appropriate appellations for a particular person, even if there is no blood relationship between them.For example, a young clerk might address an old woman, who is more than twenty years his senior, as eld sister in order to express his appreciation of her beauty (although this may not be the real fact) and make her feel that her “face” is saved.Therefore, it is a commonplace of addressing a totally strange people as yeye (grandfather), nainai (grandmother), gege (eld brother), meimei(little sister) or other appellations.Another feature is that people often use the surname plus address, such as “Uncle Wang” and “Aunt Liu”.At this point, what has to mention is that most occupational titles and ranks can be used to address in Chinese culture, say, Chairman Mao and Secretary Liu.In China, the misuse or neglect of titles and ranks would be regarded as disrespecting which was a behavior of hurting other’s “face”.Also, when it comes to addressing something that is related to oneself, it should be humbled.This is what we mentioned above: humbling themselves as a sign of respect others.Chinese people hold the belief that they can show their respect to others by using different appellations and save their own “face” as well.

But it is quite diff i cult for other people to understand such culture in America.An American proper name is arranged in the order of given name plus surname.Except on specific formal occasions, in America,people prefer to call someone’s first name (given name) directly,neglecting the difference of age, profession and seniority.People in America will not use so many kinship terms to address people who are not within one’s family and they are not accustomed to addressing one person in his or her occupational titles or ranks.Even in the formal introduction, Americans are likely to get rid of the constraints of the socalled etiquette and standards after a phrase like “you can call me Tom if you like”.In turn, it is inconceivable to Chinese people that American people use the appellations informally.The implication of this is that it can be a predicament to cope with the sophistication and subtlety of Chinese different methods of address to express their friendship and respect for a native American who has no understanding of Chinese “face culture”.

2.5 Chronemics

Chronemics, as temporal language, refers to the way people use time and is the conception of time in a culture[8].Temporal language, which is also a complicated cultural phenomenon, has a sort of connection with “face culture”.China, is considered highly polychronic, which means that Chinese prefer to do many things at once and are committed to people and human relationships.However,American is monochronic time oriented that they lay more emphasis on schedules and prefer do one thing at a time, that is to say American tends to move on to another issue only after finishing the work in hand.What they concerned about is not being disturbed and everyone is supposed to take time with awe.Cultural differences between China and the United States were discovered thereby: Chinese conception of time is more flexible and unconstant than that of American[9].In order to save other people’s face and make them feel valued and respected, Chinese have a tendency to come early before the onset when meeting a guest especially with those who are older or enjoy high status.On the contrary, the latter get used to arriving late to show his or her “face”, which is totally unacceptable for American.Following is an example to show how much American attach importance on punctuality:

Paul, a 60-year-old American, is strict with punctuality.His Chinese employees do not think he knows what is priority and what is inferiority.One day, an advertising agent had an appointment with him to talk about an advertising design problem.However, the agent was late because the driver was unfamiliar with the route and there is a traffic jam.When the agency fi nally hurried to arrive at the company, Paul did not talk with him at all.Instead, he stood up and left the off i ce.Paul’s Chinese assistant knew that his boss usually treats people like that who are late for appointment.But today, the design of this advertisement is so important that might affect the next series of work.Although he was very angry, he could not do anything with the boss[10].

Chinese have a weak sense on time while American conception of time is so strong that they tend to make accurate and exact timetable and adhere strictly to it.With the development of social process,Chinese are changing their traditional conception of time dominated by“face culture”, attempting to be punctual to enhance social operation effectiveness.But Rome was not built in one day, neither is the process.There is still some problems now so that American can be more inclusive about the different culture.

3.How to Make Effective Intercultural Communication

Although different countries vary in cultures, they share some common characteristics as well.At present, the “face culture”has become one of the most important elements in the process of intercultural communication.To make intercultural communication successfully, fi rstly, both parties in the communication should be aware of the importance of “face” in mutual cultures.There are some following dos and don’ts we need to pay attention to.

Do the preparation before.Therefore, enough homework is supposed to be done before the communication.People in the intercultural communication have to know the different culture backgrounds in different countries, such as their understanding and attitude towards “face”.And a good way to know one country’s culture is to learn its history.To a certain extent, culture is nourished by the history.In the development of a country, what happened to a country decide how its people behave, then you can undertand why its people like this and hate that.

Recognize the differences.Also, to make effective intercultural communication, what we need to do is not to eliminate all the differences but to recognize them for there to be diverse cultures with their own characteristics.On the basis of knowing different culture,we are supposed to tolerate and respect cultural diversity.Not all the civilizations have a same or similar value system towards “face”.Some countries focus on their “negative face” and of course there would be some counties laying emphasis on “positive face”.Therefore, one party must acknowledges the culture of another party and they are supposed to recognize and respect each other so as to strengthen their mutual trust, finally eliminate prejudices without any blinkers.An equal opportunity for dialogue between different cultures would take place only by the building of a rational and equal basis.In terms of cultural relations between China and the United States, both people advocate the diversity and inclusiveness of culture.That is to say that different cultures have their own special values and rationality of existence.In a multicultural environment, those cultures from different countries should interact and complement each other rather than conf l ict or struggle for a winner.

Don’t concentrate on ethnocentrism.It would be a predicament that a person attempt to understand and judge an American view of freedom in “positive face” culture.In the intercultural communication, some preconceived notions and prejudices have to be corrected, for instance, ethnocentrism.This is another obstacle to cultural understanding which is one of the most prevailing problems in most cultures.Ethno-centrists incline to make explanation or judgement of all other groups according to their own culture values with believing that their values are the only criteria to judge everything and their culture is the central one and other cultures are incorrect, defective or strange[11].Ethnocentrism tends to lead to a subjective evaluation of how another culture conducts its daily business[12].In order to promote communication and maintain friendship, constant vigilance is necessary to avoid the tendency of ethnocentrism.If people can’t understand and evaluate other culture values correctly, it will easily impede the communication and bring about some serious consequences.However, some scholars believe that no one can completely avoid the ethnocentrism even if we pay much attention to the avoidance of our national centralism.This is because we are all brought up in a certain cultural background and nurtured in traditional cultures which exert a subtle inf l uence on us.Culture, as part of spirit power, guided us to take actions, decided all the judgement we make.It is impossible for us to get rid of all the inf l uences we have gained in the process of socialization.But we have to try to lower the impact of ethnocentrism on us, as soon as possible.This is not as difficult as we think, perhaps perspectivetaking isn’t a bad choice.It is signif i cant to try to put oneself in his counterpart’s shoes and understand the behavior in the local way.In daily business activities, we are supposed to do our utmost to bring each other sense of trust and security, because it is hard to imagine a successful communication between the two sides with suspicion and hostility.

In a word, it is necessary to make enough preparation, embrace the differences of “face culture” and eliminate the communication ethnocentrism between different cultural backgrounds.

Conclusion

Intercultural communication is the communication between people under different cultural backgrounds.And in contemporary world, it is an important feature to make plenty of intercultural communication closely.However, cultural differences are the main reasons for the failure of intercultural communication.

As a part of culture, the differences between Chinese and American culture determines the differences of “face culture” as well.It is widely perceived that the American culture belongs to the “negative face” while Chinese culture belongs to the “positive face”.In other words, the Chinese view of “face” reflects the values characterized by collectivism, while in western culture Americans tend to pursue individualism-centered values.

Face concept, a type of phenomenon of politeness, is an integral part of verbal activities and an important aspect of cultivating capability of intercultural communication which we can’t overlook it.These differences in the “face culture” between China and the US have seriously affected the cross-cultural communication.Even a great number of communication strategies have been used to reduce the culture shock or obstacles, how to communicate effectively between different cultures and languages has still been becoming an enormous challenge.The discussion, research and comparison of the differences and causes of the “face” in different cultural backgrounds will help to fi nd out the factors that may cause misunderstanding and conflicts in intercultural communication, which can deepen mutual understanding of culture and seek common ground while reserving differences between the two parties, and fi nally lay a good foundation for the future cooperation.Only do we realize the “face culture” differences under different backgrounds and recognize them in a objective perspective,will the challenge be countered.