Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Ways of meaning, ways of life: A semantic approach to Chinese ethnopsychology. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
Abstract:
This thesis attempts to identify some key aspects of Chinese indigenous psychologies reflected in the Chinese language, and to investigate and articulate their meanings from a culture-internal perspective. An in-depth examination and analysis of key Chinese words and expressions reveal the conceptual basis of Chinese social organization and social interaction,
distinctive ways of emotion expression (both verbal and non-verbal) in relation to underlying cultural values and attitudes towards emotion, the relationship between sensory experience and the conceptual structure (especially with regard to the role of ‘taste’ in Chinese conceptual formation), as well as the folk model of learning in relation to ‘memorization’ and knowledge formation.
NSM is employed as a culture-independent conceptual tool for meaning analysis so that the ways of thinking, knowing, feeling and behaving that are fundamental to the Chinese way of life can be made easily accessible and intelligible to cultural outsiders. The cultural scripts theory, a spin-off of the NSM approach, is employed as a conceptual framework for cultural notations, aiming at a closer integration between language, culture and psychology. The study makes an empirical
and conceptual contribution not only to the growing field of the study of Chinese indigenous psychologies, but also to the study of the commonality and diversity of human experience and cognition in general. It has practical implications and applications for intercultural communication.
More information:
Chapter 2 builds on: Chinese categorization of interpersonal relationships and the cultural logic of Chinese social interaction: An indigenous perspective (2004)
Chapter 3 builds on: Why the “inscrutable” Chinese face? Emotionality and facial expression in Chinese (2006)
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
