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1、【精品文档】如有侵权,请联系网站删除,仅供学习与交流保存脸面.精品文档.What is Behind Face-Saving in Cross-Cultural Communication?* Kun-Ok Kim Chung-Ang University The term face and the face itself play a vital role in Korean culture and in language behavior. Koreans believe that everything concerning ones birth, degree of education,
2、 sophistication, and fate is related to face. Emotions and feelings are undoubtedly universal. However, the expression of emotions is socioculturally influenced. In a society in which there is an elaborate hierarchy based on age, sex, seniority, rank, and prestige, the culture plays a key role in so
3、cial communication. Koreans have been educated and conditioned through their culture to comprehend the essence of the spoken message, and the unspoken message as well, by means of reading faces. Face for Koreans serves as more than a place for the direct revelation of emotions. Face is also a place
4、for concealment of a given emotion. Therefore, in the eyes of outgroups, a Korean may appear to be a fine actor who utilizes the conventional means of emotional expression without actually experiencing the emotion; as a charlatan who does not employ coherent, corresponding facial expressions; or as
5、a ghost who does not experience any emotion or feeling at all. Koreans use uniquely secretive tactics on the face during their communication which outgroups may not appreciate: shame and guilt may be intermingled, sadness and smiles coexisting, attachment and detachment interwoven, and self-control
6、and social control combined. The word face is one of the most frequently used words in idioms and idiomatic expressions. My face is wrinkled means I am ashamed or discredited; You have smeared my face with black ink means you have disgraced my dignity; His face is wide means he has many influential
7、friends; and one has no face to see means he is very sorry for what has happened. His face is even or smooth means he is nice-looking in a derogatory way; and My face itches is used in a context in which a person receives an exaggerated compliment or service. In case a person does not meet anothers
8、expectation, he is often referred to being a person not worth even his face value. To indicate an impudent person, he has thick facial skin or even a weasel has a face is frequently used. An imprudent person naturally has thin facial skin. In the Korean language, face is one of the words which has n
9、umerous synonyms tailored for specific social discourse purposes. Nattsak, sangpandeki, and ssangtong are used for face in the pejorative sense; yong-an and jon-an are used in a sense of expressing deference. It seems quite natural, and at the same time sounds logical, that face reading is one of th
10、e most frequently practiced fortune-telling devices. Face-readers are hired by some of the Koreas leading businesses to help them select from among job-applicants. Face-readers are present during job interviews of college graduates in some of the nations leading companies. This paper will show how f
11、ace-saving is intertwined with language behavior. Korean culture, which inhibits self-disclosure, has produced a breath-taking language behavior which relies not only on the eyes and the ears, but, most of all, on the senses. In other words, the language behavior of Koreans puts great importance on
12、face and its saving. Confucianism and its emphasis on respect for the head have long prevailed in the Korean culture. Any part of the head, such as the face or the beard, is given importance and respect. Consequently, snatching off top hats or headbands would be considered to be far more offensive t
13、han any other form of physical assault. In the past, it was taboo for Korean females to expose their faces in public. They either covered their faces with a long mantle, or they could not leave the house until after sunset. Their faces were not even exposed even after their death. It was easy to tel
14、l the sex of a body drifting down the river: A body with the face down was a females. One of the most authentic and original devices of seeking death at ones own hand used by Koreans was to cover the face with several layers of wet, durable paper. As the paper dried, it would eventually stop breath.
15、 By doing this, the Korean was able to preserve his precious inheritance, the body, for ancestors. The following anecdotes illustrate how Koreans have treated the head with honour and respect. Shin Che-ho (1880-1936), a historian and journalist, always wet his apparel whenever he washed his face usi
16、ng a water basin because he refused to bow his head before such a mean, trivial thing as a basin. He only bowed his head before his parents, seniors, and ancestors. Kim Kweng-pil (1454-1504), father of Korean Ethical Codes, died with his precious combed beard in his mouth. Woo Nam-Yang, a scholar du
17、ring the Lee Dynasty, neither combed his hair, nor bowed his head during his entire life, except during the ritual ceremony for the deceased (Lee Kyu-Tae, 1987). Wearing a foreign object, such as glasses, was forbidden before anyone of a higher rank. The author of this paper experienced the same tha
18、t she was not allowed to put on glasses before her parents-in-law during the first three years of her marriage, regardless of her near-sighted vision. Even today, taxi drivers are reluctant to take in a spectacled man as their first rider. Some refuse to let a spectacled woman ride in their taxi ear
19、ly in the morning. It is a common practice for Korean restaurants to refuse to receive a female or a spectacled person as their first customer. Wearing a foreign object on the face even includes a heavy mustache and beard. Thickly bearded Koreans are not likely to be spotted on the streets. The face
20、 is the most important and suitable place to show a Koreans good educational and family background, and, at the same time, is the best place to conceal emotions. In a culture where self-disclosure is not appreciated, the direct and candid revelation of emotional expressions is discouraged and taboo
21、in certain social contexts. It is second nature for Koreans to cover the mouth when they smile or laugh. This is most frequently done by Korean females. The first thing Koreans do in a situation of shock, embarrassment, grief, or fear is to cover the face with the hands. Koreans believe that turning
22、 heads will ultimately save anothers face. Koreans frequently turn their heads if they happen to see something embarrassing. Koreans turn their heads to pretend that they have not witnessed an embarrassing scene; for instance, foreigners kissing in public. By turning away, Koreans believe they save
23、the foreigners face from embarrassment. Shimchong, the main character in Shimchongjun novel from Lee Dynasty, covered her face with her long skirt before she jumped into the Imdanngsoo to earn money worth three hundred bags of rice; and the seamen who were at the scene with Shimchong turned their fa
24、ces, as if they had not witnessed her action, It is still a practice that a Korean woman does not lift her face during match-making. A Korean bride at her wedding walks toward the altar with her eyes cast downwards. Some Koreans still hold the superstition that a bride who smiles on her wedding day
25、will have hardship for the rest of her life. The majority of Korean males regard it as a breach of etiquette if a female shows her face in public without wearing make-up. Naturally, one of the immediate goals and great interests of female high school graduates is to learn how to apply make-up. In ps
26、ychology, defense mechanisms protect self-esteem, especially when a person guards himself against supposed threats, excessive anxiety, or negative consequences. The purpose of such defense mechanisms is maintaining and enhancing self-esteem and at the same time avoiding self-degrading or social reje
27、ction. Many defense mechanisms take the form of disguise. In a Western culture, where self-esteem concerns an individuals own self-esteem, this defense mechanism is for the benefit of the speaker or user who actually employs the tactic. Therefore, the defense mechanism works as a strategy to restore
28、 the loss-of-face. In other words, face-saving involves the interactants own self-esteem. However, a Korean adaptation of this psychologically universal behavior in a situation, such as frustration, anxiety, and conflict, is manifested in a reversed interpretation and application. In Korean culture,
29、 where I is buried within we (O-Young Lee, 1967, cited in Park), the defense mechanism for the purpose of face-saving or self-defending is regarded as a device employed by a lesser man. The self-effacing characteristic of the Korean culture is counterbalanced with a distinct disclosure of deference,
30、 priority, and consideration for a person in a higher hierarchy. In other words, the highest person in a vertical structure is given primary attention and fidelity. Koreans employ face-saving tactics in a completely reversed order; the face-saving mechanism for the sake of others, but not for the in
31、dividual, A Korean applies the defense tactics in order to maintain and enhance the others self-esteem and to give others credit for merits, A Western concept of face-saving may be based on, humorously speaking, good me, bad me, but not me. In a Korean culture in which self-effacing is given primary
32、 importance, the concept of face-saving is humble me, honourable You, and never You. As seen above, face in Korean culture plays a very elusive, however, very important role. Consequently, saving a face 18 one of the most valued codes of conduct. Behind the ostensible intent of face-saving tactics l
33、ies the essence of a self-effacing culture: the intrinsic intent of face-saving strategies is to protect others from the consequences of loss-of-face, Face-saving has been regarded as far more valuable to many Koreans than any other asset, including life itself, There are numerous stories in which K
34、oreans prefer loss of life to disgrace. During the the war against Japan in 1592, a Korean woman watched from her hiding place as the soldiers brutally killed her two sons who were held as hostages. The mother chose the sons deaths because she knew that becoming a rape victim would disgrace her husb
35、ands family, ancestors, and offspring for many generations (Kyu-Tae Lee, 1987), In an extreme case, a Korean female was killed by her own family or killed herself simply because there was a rumor that she might have been unfaithful to her long-deceased husband. Old-time Koreans believed that becomin
36、g an object of rumors was a crime punishable by death. By choosing death, the family was able to prove that the rumor was false and at the same time to restore the familys good standing. Thus, death has been a primary means of communication for Koreans to prove themselves innocent when they are fals
37、ely judged and accused. Even today Korean youth choose death before dishonour, for example. when they are falsely accused of stealing a classmates money or when they cannot maintain excellent school work. They prefer death to dishonour for fear that they may disgrace the familys good name. In most c
38、ases, they leave a note of their reason for suicide stating that they feel guilt for their inability to meet their parents expectations or to fulfill their dreams, and they are mortified by the humiliation their family may receive after their death. Thus, failure to conform to social requirements or
39、 ethical codes and failure to meet the family s expectations are considered a loss-of-face which in turn results in suicide. Fus (1980) reports that selflessness and strict conformity are regarded as supreme virtues among the Japanese, and the weak individual ego-formation in personality structure i
40、s considered a major contributing factor to suicide. The following elucidates some delicacies involved in the non-verbal and verbal art of face-saving. Some polite Koreans smile when they announce a beloved family members death. They smile out of pity for others and out of guilt for causing distress
41、 as if their announcement will cause others great sadness and misery. In order to lessen the burden, they render a small smile. Koreans sometimes smile when they attempt to make amends for the errors or wrongdoings. Even if a daughter-in-law had not got along well with her mother-in-law in Korea, sh
42、e will wail loudly at the mother-in-laws funeral in order to save her mother-in-laws face as well as her own. A wife who has been badly beaten by her husband will answer the door with a big smile in order to save her husbands face. Koreans often demonstrate silence and blankness over situations whic
43、h are out of their hands. A daughter-in-laws tacit protest against heavy housework or against a hateful mother-in-law is often manifest in her babys or dogs outcry of pain. There are two classic sayings referring to a Koreans face-saving: A scholar who has starved for three days shows himself pickin
44、g his teeth and a noble man who has an apparel of hemp shows himself on a freezing day pretending that he perspires from warmth. It is one of the most frequently practiced tactics for Korean mothers not to show happiness or pleasure over their childrens exceptional school reports lest their visible
45、emotional expression may spoil the childs good behavior. The mother usually makes a stern face and tells him that he should keep up his good work. The mother believes that not to show happiness on her face is a way to let him know that his mother knows how to control emotions and feelings. For the s
46、ole purpose of her husbands face saving, a highly qualified and talented wife will not seek a job to support her starving family, especially during the period in which her husband is out of work. She saves her husbands face by telling others that they cannot accept an invitation to dinner on the gro
47、unds that her husband is very busy working even at night. She urges her husband to take his time finding a job by telling him that they have enough money to last a long time, despite the fact that they can survive only a few days with what they have. A very faithful and good wife never tells her own
48、 mother that her son-in-law is out of work; however, she also manages to borrow money, The following episode (D. Kosofsky, 1990) excerpted from Korea Journal expresses the essence of a Koreans verbal behavior of face-saving . While at the office, Mr, Cho had received a telephone call from his mother
49、-in-law that his wife had entered the hospital for what appeared to be a premature delivery. When a second phone call informed him of apparent complications, he promised to come to the hospital immediately after work. Needless to say, he was preoccupied and worried, looking forward to quitting time. However, a few minutes before six o clock, his boss stopped by his desk and asked if he would be willing to stay late, perhaps very late, in ord
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