The Chinese Concept Of Face: From The Farmers' Perspective

Face, a concept originating from Chinese culture, has plenty of connotations. Up to now, there has been no generally accepted definition of face in this area of study. Among many studies on this topic, Brown & Levinson's (1987) conception of face as "a public self-image" now enjoys a popularity. According to mem, face includes both "positive face" and "negative face", and the latter means the "freedom of action and freedom from imposition". Thus defined, the "negative face" seems to lose its explanatory power in Chinese culture. The interpretation of this notion, however, differs greatly.In consideration of the fact that many Chinese traditions are well preserved in the countryside, the present study is intended to explore the Chinese concept of face from the farmers' perspective, and to investigate whether Brown & Levinson's notion of negative face exists in Chinese culture, based on the examination of some data collected from a modern Chinese TV drama with a theme of love story in the Chinese countryside.The results of the data analysis show that farmers are potentially Miànzi-sensitive in mainly three aspects through which an individual presents him/herself to others. The first aspect concerns some individual factors, such as ability, moral traits, position, education background, marital status and behaviors; the second aspect is associated with those individual factors found in the persons to whom one is intimately close, such as the family members, relatives and good friends; and the third aspect is closely related to the traits/ characteristics of the group to which one belongs. Miànzi is the want of respect based on the self-perceived respectable identity and/or status, or image built up by possessing those three levels of factors positively valued by the community, and Liǎn is the self-perceived respectable identity and/or status, or image. According to the three different categories of Miànzi-sensitive factors, Miànzi can be classified into three levels—individual, relational and collective; and the last two might be more prominent in Chinese culture than any other cultures.Based on discussions of the results of the data analysis, the thesis draws two conclusions. First, the Chinese concept of face is the want of respect everyone has in daily life, instead of the "freedom of action and freedom from imposition" in Brown & Levinson's sense. Second, in Chinese culture, Brown & Levinson's notion of negative face does not have its existence and consequently, it is unable to account for Chinese concept of face.