Politeness and face in Chinese talk shows:a critical discourse analysis approach
作者： 苏衡著
出版社：吉林大学出版社,2010
简介： The purpose of this thesis is to examine the linguistic
representations of facework strategies in contemporary Chinese
interaction. What is of particular interest in this research is to
study the extent to which lacework and hierarchy are inextricably
linked in interactions between high-ranking government officials
and ordinary people.
The research will be conducted by identifying and analysing
the linguistic realizations of facework and hierarchy as they
occur in selected television interviews. By siting the analysis
within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, and in
particular the three-dimensional framework proposed by Norman
Fairclough, the research aims to discover the hierarchical power
relations in these interactions and their potential underlying
social and cultural causes.
Through studying the linguistic realisations of facework
strategies as reflected in interactions between power unequals,
the research will firstly address the question of whether these
provide evidence whether, or the extent to which, hierarchy
remains a key feature of Chinese society. The study will also
investigate the role social and cultural norms and contexts have
played in the development of politeness strategies, especially
those that appear uniquely Chinese. Finally, the study will answer
the question of whether the identified politeness strategies are
indicative of new social phenomena and rules of conduct in
transitional China.
It is concluded in the research that despite the great
economic and social reforms which have taken place in China in the
past decades, Chinese social culture remains hierarchical, and
that this hierarchy is reflected in the facework strategies
employed by high-ranking government officials and ordinary people.
It is also shown in this study that Chinese social and cultural
norms and contexts have great impact upon people' s employment of
facework strategies. And the identified strategies also show that
change is developing and that this change is characterized by an
increasing promotion of self and an increasing respect for
individuals and the protection of individual interests and
privacy.
