A Comparative Study on Polite Expressions between Chinese and Western Cultures开题报告

 2023-01-17 07:01

1. 研究目的与意义

Politeness is a common phenomenon in human society. It is not only an important yardstick for human in social activities, but also an important symbol of human civilization. In general, good manners are the art of making those people easy with whom we can converse. Whether the communication is successful or failing depends largely on proper manners. In both Chinese and Western cultures, polite expressions have the same social function, but they are different in actual use. In other words, it may be polite in this kind of culture but not polite in another culture. Chinese and Western people have been deeply influenced by different social cultures, historical cultures and various social backgrounds. Following the current integration process of the world, it is greatly meaningful to make further understanding of Chinese and Western politeness. In doing so, it can help us promote the communication with western cultures and guarantee the smooth intercultural communication.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

This thesis tries to make a contrastive analysis concerning the similarities and differences in politeness between two cultures. By finding out the similarities between English and Chinese cultures, the thesis tries to prove that both cultures have similarities in politeness and these two cultures also have influenced each other. And through the contrastive analysis of politeness in English and Chinese cultures, we will figure out where these two cultures are different. Whether in the cross-cultural communication or in English learning and teaching, it is necessary for us to understand cultural differences and develop and improve our pragmatic competence.

3. 国内外研究现状

American philosopher Grice (1975) thinks that in all the human communicative activities, speakers and hearers must comply with some principle. Then he presents Cooperative Principle (CP). However, CP can only explain the conversational implicature that people use indirect speech to convey, it can#8217;t explain why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean and why they often act against the CP in real life. In 1978, Brown and Levinson first formulated Politeness theory which has since expanded academia#8217;s perception of politeness. In their theory, politeness is defined as redressive action taken to counter-balance the disruptive effect of face-threatening acts, so it is a social phenomenon which can be seen everywhere and also an instrument. Based on Grice's CP, Leech (1983) also claims to aim at a theory that can be applied universally to deal with politeness, which is called Politeness Principle (PP). However, whether it is universal or not has caused much discussion. Due to different social backgrounds, history and cultural values, the principle applied to one culture is not necessarily applied to another. All scholars did their research based on specific culture. However, as a phenomenon, politeness is universal and exits in all cultures and therefore there are some similarities between Chinese politeness and English politeness. All the scholars admit some universal natures of politeness. Lakoff (1973)defines it as #8220;a device used in order to reduce friction in personal interaction#8221;. Fraser and Nolen (1981) view politeness as social appropriateness which means for them that politeness is a standard of social activities. Gu Yueguo(1990) thinks that politeness in the Chinese context #8220;exercises its normative function in containing individual speech acts as well as the sequence of talk exchanges#8221;.On the basis of these scholars#8217; explanations, He Zhaoxiong (1995) gives a comprehensive understanding of politeness. He defines it like this: #8220;To sum up, politeness can at once be understood as a social phenomenon, a means to achieve good interpersonal relationships, and a norm imposed by social conventions. So it is phenomenal, instrumental, and normative by nature.#8221; All the definitions show that the nature of politeness is universal. No matter how it is defined, its universal nature is mentioned by this or that means. Leech and Gu Yueguo put forward their own principles in respective cultures. Leech#8217;s six maxims and Gu#8217;s five maxims are similar to some extent. It is necessary to make a contrastive study between them and find out the similarities of their politeness principles.

4. 计划与进度安排

Introduction 1.1 The scope of the thesis 1.2 Definitions of polite expressions 1.3 Classifications of polite expressions 2. Literature review on politeness 2.1 Studies of politeness in English culture 2.1.1 Leech#8217;s Politeness Principle 2.1.2 Brown and Levinson#8217;s Face Theory 2.2 Studies of politeness in China 2.2.1 Gu Yueguo#8217;s Politeness Model 2.2.2 He Zhaoxiong#8217;s Study of Politeness in Chinese and English Cultures 3. Politeness on different occasions 3.1 In daily life 3.2 In business negotiation 3.3 In political negotiation 4. The similarities of politeness in English and Chinese cultures 4.1 Universal nature of politeness 4.2 The functions of politeness 4.3 The purpose of politeness 5. A contrastive analysis of politeness in English and Chinese cultures 5.1 The origins of politeness in two cultures 5.1.1 The origin of English politeness 5.1.2 The origin of Chinese politeness 5.2 The causes of politeness differences in English and Chinese cultures 5.2.1 Cultural value connotation and politeness 5.2.2 Privacy and politeness 5.2.3 Ways of thinking and politeness 6. Conclusion References

5. 参考文献

[1] Brown, P. amp;Levison, S. C. Politeness: Some universals in language usage [M]. London: Cambridge University Press, 1987. [2] Curry, J. E. International Negotiation [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Press, 2000. [3] Fraser, Bruce. #8220;Perspectives on politeness [J]. Journal of Pragmatics, 1990, 14: 219-236. [4] Fraser, B., amp; Nolen, W.. The association of deference with linguistic form [J]. International Journal of Sociology of Language, 1981, 27: 93-109. [5] Grice, H. P.. Logic and Conversation [M]. New York, 1975. [6] Gu Yueguo. Politeness phenomena in modern Chinese [J]. Journal of Pragmatics, 1990, 14: 237-257. [7] Lakoff, Robin. The logic of politeness : or minding your P#8217;s and Q#8217;s [J]. Papers from the Ninth Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguisitc Society, 1973. [8] Leech, Geoffrey N. Principles of Pragmatics [M]. London and New York. Longman, 1983. [9] Levinson, StephenC. Pragmatics [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. [10] Watts, R. J.. Politeness [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. [11] 曹悦. Cultural differences in international business negotiation [J]. 科技信息. 2009. [12] 陈艳. 谈中西礼貌原则[J]. 合肥学院学报(社会科学版). 2007, (05). [13] 何兆熊 . He Zhaoxiong Study of Politeness in Chinese and English Cultures [J]. 外国语. 1995, (5). [14] 王国平. 从礼貌准则看中英文化的异同[J]. 安徽工业大学学报. 2006, (01). [15] 余朝国. 英汉礼貌原则及礼貌策略对比研究[D]. 贵州师范大学. 2004.

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