体态语的中西文化内涵.docx

1、体态语的中西文化内涵 体态语的中西文化内涵体态语的中西文化内涵摘 要: 体态语是人类交际中最常见的一种非语言交际手段,在特定情况下比有声语言和文字语言更富具有表现力。对它的研究，可以追溯至亚里士多德，但从达尔文开始才有这方面正式的研究。体态语的定义和分类，历来也有争议。一般来说，体态语主要指面部表情，身体动作和其他任何出自身体部位的姿势。 体态语在交际中起重要作用，它主要有五种功能，其中包括象征、补充、指示、调节和否定功能等。此外，体态语在跨文化交际也起重要作用。随着跨文化交际的日益频繁，中西“两方”交际也呈渐多之势，两方体态语的文化差异已是交际的主要障碍之一。正文概述了国内外体态语及体态语文

2、化差异研究现状，同时从精神或观念性差异，制度性差异，物质性差异三个方面对中西体态语的文化差异进行了分类。创新之处在于将“中西体态语的文化差异”的研究归类于各自“主导文化”差异的 “精神或观念性差异”；“制度性差异”和“物质性差异”三个层面中之中。在形成差异的三个方面因素中，精神或观念性因素是形成中西体态语文化差异的“内在因素”，制度性因素是形成中西体态语的文化差异的“外在驱力”，而物质性差异则是中西体态语文化差异的重要表现及其形成的重要条件。提出研究体态语文化差异的原则，对理解体态语所属语言国主流文化的价值观念、道德风尚、风俗习惯、历史背景、思维方式等多种文化内涵具有一定帮助。同时帮助人们减少

3、或避免在跨文化交际中因体态语的文化差异而引起的误解。关键词： 体态语；功能；文化差异The Chinese and Western Cultural Connotations of Body LanguageAbstract: Body language is one of the common non-verbal communicative devices and in certain circumstances, it is more effective in expressing ones emotions than spoken and written language. It ha

4、s been studied as early as Aristotle times, but only from Darwin did people begin the formal studies on this subject. As for the definition and classification of body language, there are considerable opinions. Generally speaking, body language refers to those of facial expressions, body actions, and

5、 other gestures made by any part of mans body. Body language functions significantly in communications. The functions of body language include symbolic function、complementing function、indicating function、regulating function and negative function. It also gives significance of body languages in inter

6、cultural communication.With the development of intercultural communication, the contacts between the Chinese and the Western are on the increase, and the differences between body language have been among the major barriers to efficient communication. The present paper makes a contrastive study on cu

7、ltural differences of body languages between Chinese and Western countries are made. It also classifies the differences of the body language between the two languages into spiritual, institutional and material differences. The originality place lies in the classification of the cultural differences

8、of body languages of China and Western countries in three levels: spiritual, institutional and material. Spiritual factors are the main internal causes of the cultural differences of the body languages, the institutional factors are the external drive to the formation of the cultural differences of

9、the body languages and the body material factors are the important conditions of forming their differences. The study of the principles of the cultural differences of body language is conductive to the understanding of the value system, moral standard, customs, historical background and mode of thin

10、king of a nation. Thinking of a nation, which might help people reduce or avoid misunderstanding due to cultural differences of body language in intercultural communication.Key words: body language, function, cultural differencesIntroductionBody languages, as important parts of nonverbal communicati

11、on, includes gestures, facial expressions, posture, eye contact, touch, body movements, etc. There are similarities between body languages in different cultures, but most of the body languages vary culturally. With the development of intercultural communication, the contacts between the Chinese and

12、the Western people are on the increase, and the differences between body languages have been among the major barriers to efficient communication.The study on body language has started mainly after Word War II. However before the 20th century, Darwin, in his famous book The Expression of the Emotion

13、in Man and Animals, already mentioned this. It has made great influence and significances on the study of modern nonverbal communication. In the first half of the 20th century, the study in this field hasnt been formed systematically, and studies at that time only focused on some individual aspects,

14、 such as sound, appearance, clothing and facial expressions. In that period, the most influential works include Kretschmers Physique and Character, the Variation of Human Physique, and the last one is Gesture and Environment by Efron in 1941. In the 1950snonverbal communication made a breakthrough d

15、evelopment. Birdwhistells Introduction to Kinesics and Halls The Silent Language can be seen as the foundation stone. In the 1960s, the study was taken with further step, and began the studies on mans different gestures. During this period Ekman and Friesen contributed the most. They wrote articles

16、about the cause, use and decoding of nonverbal communications. There were a lot of research papers and works published in the 1970s. One distinguishing book that cant be ignored is Body Language by Fast. Since the 1980s, the study on body language has further developed, and some contrastive analysis

17、 in this field has been carried out, such as the effort made by Bi Jiwan. He translated the book Contrastive Analysis of Body Language Communication between China and English-speaking Countries, which comprehensively introduces the different uses of body language in different countries. 7Scholars at

18、 home have also contributed a lot. In China the scientific study of body language only began at the end of 1982s. The representative works are Introduction to Body Language by Geng Erling (1988), Language and Culture by Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing (1989), Practical Body Language edited by Fan Yunh

19、ua and Li Jiequn (1991), International communication by Jia Yuxin (1997), Intercultural Nonverbal Communication Bi Jiwan (1999), and the series of books on intercultural communication edited and translated by Hu Wenzhong such as Introduction to intercultural communication (1999), etc. Generally spea

20、king, the Chinese scholars studies on body languages consist of two parts: communicative functions and cultural differences. On the basic of foreign scholars researches Chinese scholars have added more specific and convincing examples from Chinese culture.Judging from what is mentioned above, we can

21、 see that cultural differences of body language, as barriers to intercultural communication, have already been drawn an increasing attention by scholars.But the previous studies on body language are either found in the studies of intercultural communication and nonverbal communication, which only co

22、nsist of several paragraphs or pages and are far from detailed studies, or they just make brief comparisons of body behaviors in many different cultures with discrete examples, which are not systematic. Until now, there has been no research done on the Chinese and Western cultural connotations of bo

23、dy language.On the basic of the previous studies and achievements, this paper first focuses a comparative study of cultural differences of body language between Chinese and Western countries. With the rapid development of the world economy, political, economic and cultural interchange between china

24、and western countries is becoming increasingly frequent. Such being the case, the contacts between Chinese people and foreigners, especially people from English-speaking countries, are increasing. In communication people are encountering more barriers caused by cultural differences, including the cu

25、ltural differences of body languages。The paper then classifies cultural differences of body languages of each main cultural into three strata: spiritual stratum, institutional stratum and material. Its author thinks that the study of cultural differences can be conducted at two levels: at the first

26、level the study is focused on phenomenon (differences themselves); at the second level, on the causes of differences which are deeply rooted in culture. The former tells us what is different, while the latter tell us why there are such differences. This paper is just an attempt to make a study of cu

27、ltural differences of body language at the second level through a new classification, which, its author thinks, can help its readers better understand the culture of a studied language.1. The Definition of Body LanguageAbout the definition of body language, many western scholars have proposed a lot.

28、 First I will list out some of them to help make a clear understanding about what language is. “Body language is not conveyed through words. It is a kind of mans social attributes and behavior. Which are issued by the deliverer, and received by the received purposely.” (Burgoon and saine,1978) The C

29、hinese famous scholar, Chen Wangdao once gave body language the following definition, “the action of striking a pose is body language, which is a tool for communication.” 2Body language, strictly speaking, can be divided into two kinds. One kind includes gestures, body movements, signs and postures,

30、 etc. The other is called kinesics. Kinesics is a word made up by Birdwhistell, which refers to the subject studying body language. Sometimes body language is equated with body language. In Websters New Dictionary, kinesics is defined as “to systematically study nonverbal body actions (such as blush

31、, eye movements, etc.) and communications.” Samovar once says kinesics is the systematic study of body movements and actions, and through the study, makes these actions and behaviors formalizing and encoding. Fast in his book Body Language says that space and orientation, and seating arrangement are

32、 also parts of body language. 1 The third edition of Websters New World Dictionary defines body language as “gestures, unconscious bodily movements, facial expression, etc, which serve as nonverbal communication or as accompaniments to speech.” Collins COBUILD English language Dictionary gives the f

33、ollowing definition, “also spelled with a hyphen. Body language is the way in which you show your feelings or thoughts to other people by means of the position or movement of your body rather than words.”Generally, body language refers to those appearances and actions transmitting communication informat