高语境文化和低语境文化对中国人时间观念进步的影响.docx

高语境文化和低语境文化对中国人时间观念进步的影响.docx

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高语境文化和低语境文化对中国人时间观念进步的影响

TheEffectofBothHigh-ContextCultureandLow-ContextCultureontheProgressofTimeConceptionofChinese

高语境文化和低语境文化对中国人时间观念进步的影响

Abstract:

Humaneventsoccurringindailylifearecloselyrelatedtotime.Timeisfundamentalbasesonculturesandhumanactivities.Inacademicfields,differentculturesshapedifferenttimeconception,andtimeconceptionisanimportantmirrortoreflectculture.EdwardHallregardedtimeorientationisevidentlydistinctbetweenhigh-contextculturesandlow-contextcultures.Timeconceptionconsistsoftimeorientationandtheviewoftime.TimeorientationandtheviewoftimeofChinesehavechangedalotundertheinfluenceofhighandlowcontextculture,especiallylow-contextculturefromsomewesterncountries.Thepaperaimstofindtheprogresswhichwehaveachievedabouttheconceptionoftimeinourcountry.

KeyWordshigh-contextculture;low-contextculture;conceptionoftime;Chinese

摘要

时间和人们的生活息息相关。

任何文化和人类的活动都可以体现在人们对时间的理解和观念上。

不同的文化塑造了不同的时间观念，而且时间观念是反应文化的一面重要镜子。

爱德华.霍尔认为高语境文化和低语境文化中的时间观念明显不同。

在传统儒家文化影响下的中国逐渐形成了高语境文化，由此衍生出了延续五千多年的根深蒂固的传统时间观念。

近年来中国和在低语境文化影响下的国家的接触逐渐增多，时间观念的不同引发了很多矛盾。

但是受低语境文化的影响中国人的时间取向和时间观也有了很大的改变，更有利于跨文化交际的顺利进行。

本文重点探索高语境文化和低语境文化对中国人时间观念的积极影响和改观。

[关键词]高语境；低语境；时间观念；中国人

1.Introduction

Twothousandyearsago,theGreekphilosopherSophoclesstated:

‘TimeisakinglyGod’InChina‘Timeismoney’（一寸光阴一寸金）isanevergreenguidelinefromonegenerationtoanother.Therefore,timeisthemostprecioustreasureforeverynation.However,ifwetakeadeepobservationintotheconceptionoftimeindifferentcountries,wecanfindthatculturesvarywidelyinthisaspect.Wheretheydifferisintheviewoftime,usageoftimeandtimeorientation.Halldescribedthattimeisoneofthefundamentalbasesonwhichallculturerestandroundallactivitiesrevolvesandhealsoregardedtimeorientationisevidentlydistinctfromhigh-contextcultures（HC）andlow-contextcultures（LC）.Inhigh-contextculture,timeisviewedasmoreopen,lessstructured,moreresponsivetotheimmediateneedsofpeople,andlesssubjecttoexternalgoalsandconstrains.Inlow-contextcultures,timeishighlyorganized,inpartbecauseoftheadditionalenergyrequiredtounderstandthemessageofothers（MyronW.Lustig,JoleneKoesterInterculturalCompetence114）.Low-contextculturesareforcedtopaymoreattentiontotimeinordertomaketheirworkandlivesorderly.

AccordingtoHall’sculturalcontinuumthatrangesfromhightolow,theculturalpatternofChineseistypicallyhigh-contextculture.Chinesehasastrongbeliefthatthepastshouldbeguideformakingdecisionsanddeterminingtruth.Theyhavenostrictlyorganizedandorderedtimearrangement.TimescheduleischangeableandflexibleforChinese.Theconceptoftimeisvagueandapproximation.However,bycontrast,timeinlow-contextcultureishighlystructuredandtimetableisfirmlyandinflexible.Sincethebeginningofreformandopening-up,exchangesbetweenChinaandsomelow-contextculturalcountriesareincreasingandtheconflictswhichareraisedbythedifferenceofconceptoftimebetweentwoculturalpatternsattractmoreattentions.Soundertheirinfluenceandinordertosolvetheproblems,Chinesestartedtochangetheirconceptoftimegraduallyandachievedprogress.ThedevelopmentofChinesetimeconceptionismovingtothelow-contextculture.

2.DefinitionsandFeaturesofHC,LCandTheirRelationswithTime

AccordingtoHall,differentculturescanformacontinuumthatrangesfromhigh-contextculturetolow-contextculture,inwhichsomecountries,suchasJapan,China,KoreaandVietnam,belongtothehigh-contextculture,andothercountries,suchasGermany,Switzerland,andUnitedStates,belongtolow-contextculture.Halldefinedthesetwotermsinthefollowingmanner:

Ahigh-contextcommunicationormessageisoneinwhichmostoftheinformationisalreadyintheperson,whileverylittleisinthecoded,explicitlytransmittedpartofthemessage.Alowcontextcommunicationisjusttheopposite;i.e.,themassoftheinformationisvestedintheexplicitcode.（LarryA.Samovar,RichardE.PorterandLisaA.Stefani,CommunicationBetweenCulture79）

ThefeatureofHCandLCisdistinctlydifferent.Ahigh-contextculturepreferstousecovertandimplicitmessagethatrelyheavilyonnonverbalcodesystems.ThegroupisveryimportantinHC,andmembersoftheingroupareeasilyrecognized.Timeisnotstrictlyarrangedandmoreresponsivetopeople’sneed.Forexample,onedayaChinesewantstoinvitehisfriendtohavedinner.Theymayhaveaconversationlikethis:

A:

Hi,oldWang.Howiseverythinggoing?

B:

Verygood.

A:

Howaboutyourson?

B:

Heiswell,buthisstudyisalwaysaworryforme.

A:

Doyouhaveanyappointmenttonight?

Iwanttoinviteyoutohaveadinnertonight.

B:

Iwanttovisitafriendtonight,butIcanchangeittoanotherday.

A:

Ok,bye.

B:

Bye.

Inthisconversationwecangetfourpointsabouttime.

（1）Thefirstfoursentencesaremeaninglesstothepoint,anditseemsawasteoftime,butinsomehigh-contextculturalcountries,suchasJapanandChina,itisnecessarytowarmuptherelationship.

（2）AwillinviteBtohavedinner“tonight”;therefore,itmeansBonlyhave4to5hourstoprepare.Chinesehavebeenusedtoit,butitstimeofpreparationissurprisinglyshorttolow-contextculturalpeople.（3）Beforetheconversation,Bhadaplantovisithisfriend,yetinordertohavedinnerwithAhechangedhisplanatlast.SotimeisopenandflexibleinChina.（4）Fromthebeginningtotheendofthetalk,thereisnoanaccuratetimeofthedinner.“Tonight”isavaguetime,thusvaguetimeiscommoninhigh-contextcountry.

Low-contextculturesarecharacterizedbytheoppositeattributes:

messagesareexplicitanddependentonverbalcodes,groupmembershipschangerapidly,innovationisvalued,andtimeishighlystructured.（MyronW.Lustig,JoleneKoesterInterculturalCompetence114）Inlow-contextcultures,timeishighlyorganized,inpart,andeverythingisinschedulesorindetails,becauseoftheadditionalenergyrequiredtounderstandthemessageofothers（Guo-MingChen,WilliamJ.Starosta,FoundationsofInterculturalCommunication51）.Takethesameexampleforexplanation:

ifapersonwhocomefromalow-contextculturalcountry,suchasUnitedStated,wantstoinviteafriendhasadinner,hewillbearrangeitfourdaysbeforethedateofinvitation.Thefriendwillarrangethisappointmentintoscheduleandhasenoughtimetoprepare.Thestartingtimeofdinnerwillbedetailedintominutes.

3.DefinitionsandFeaturesofConceptionofTime

Primitivesocietiesmayarrangetheirlivesbysimplenotions,suchasmorning,afternoon,season,sunrise,sunsetandsoon.TheancientChinesetakesalifeof“Riseandresttogetherwiththesun”（日出而作,日入而息）.Forcivilizedsocietiestheconceptoftimeisincreasinglycomplexandtimeismoreprecious.Manyproverbsabouttimearetakenasguidelinestoalertmodernsociety,forexample:

“Timeandtidefornoman”（岁月不等人）,“Timefletchawaywithoutdelay”（光阴似箭,日月如梭）,“Losttimeisneverfoundagain”（光阴一去不复返）.

Runningthroughallourideasoftimearetwocontrastingnotions:

timeasalineofdiscreteevents,minutes,hours,days,months,years,eachpassinginaneverendingsuccession;andtimeasacircle,revolvingsothattheminutesofthehourrepeat,asdothehoursoftheday,thedayoftheweekandsoon（FonsTrompenaars,CharlesHampden-turnerRidingtheWavesofCulture123）.

Anthropologistsstatedthathowacultureviewsoftimeandmanagesitisacluetothemeaningsitsmembersfindinlifeandthesupposednatureofhumanexistence.Theconceptionoftimeisstronglyaffectedbyculturebecausetimeisanidearatherthananobject.Howwethinkoftimeisinterwovenwithhowweplan,strategizeandcoordinateouractivitieswithothers.KluckholmandStrodtbeckidentifiedthreetypesofculture:

（1）present-oriented,whichisrelativelytimeless,traditionless,andignorethefuture.Theypaylittleattentiontowhathashappenedinthepastandwhatthefuturewillbring,becausepastisconsideredasunimportantwhilefutureisunpredictable.

（2）past-oriented,mainlyconcernedtomaintainedtraditionsinthepast.Theyhaveahighsenseontraditionsliketotheirancestors,family,ancientproverbs.Thepresentistiredtobemaintained.（3）future-oriented,alwaystakesastrongdesiretofutureandsettingouttorealizeit.Theyareeagertochangeandhaveamoredesirabledevelopmentineconomicandsocialscales（Guo-MingChen,WilliamJ.Starosta,FoundationsofInterculturalCommunication51）.

Somelow-contextcultures,suchasUnitedStates,GermanyandSwiss,seeverysmalloverlapbetweenpresentandpastbutanincreasingimportancefrompasttohighestthefuture.AsimilarbehaviorisreflectedinGermanculture.Everythingelsethanbeingrightintimeisaninsultfrowaitingpersonandshameforthepersonwhokeepswaiting.Timeisconsideredasveryrareandexpensive.Thatiswhytimehastobewellorganized.

Therelationbetweenthecontinuumthatrangesfromhigh-contextculturetolow-contextcultureandtimeorientationthatfrompasttofuture:

table1.

（Table1:

DatafromCommunicationBetweenCulture,LarryA.Samovar,RichardE.PorterandLisaA.Stefani77-80）

4.TheConceptionofTimeofChineseandItsOrigin

TheconceptionoftimeisavagueideainancientChinese.Thewholedaywastraditionallydividedinto12two-hourperiods,eachbeinggiventhenameofEarthlyBranch,whichis“ShiChen”（时辰）inChinese,butnoaccuratedividebetweenanytwoShiChen.Intheirmindstimeisconsistedby