Tag: (E) rĕn 忍

(2015) Ethnopragmatics

Goddard, Cliff, with Zhengdao Ye (2015). Ethnopragmatics. In Farzad Sharifian (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and culture (pp. 66-83). London: Routledge.

Abstract:

Ethnopragmatics pursues emic (or culture-internal) perspectives on speech practices across languages and cultures. As such, it studies the links between language in use, on the one hand, and culture, on the other. The approach is based on the premise that there is an explanatory link between the cultural values/norms and the speech practices specific to a speech community. Ethnopragmatics relies on NSM to decompose cultural norms and notions in terms of simple meanings that are thought to be shared by all languages. Since it relies on linguistic evidence and ethnographic data from insiders to the culture, one of its central objectives is to explore ‘cultural key words’, or words that capture culturally constructed concepts that are pivotal to the ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, and speaking of a speech community.

To illustrate the approach, the chapter includes two ethnographic sketches from Anglo English and Chinese culture, respectively.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Chinese (Mandarin) – Emotionality and facial expression

Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Why the “inscrutable” Chinese face? Emotionality and facial expression in Chinese. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 127-169). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911114.127

Abstract:

This study challenges the long-held, unquestioned stereotype of the ‘inscrutable’ Chinese face (and the Oriental face in general), and probes the various factors – perceptual and cultural – that give rise to such stereotypes, which have almost become a kind of truism in the eyes and minds of others. Simultaneously, a Chinese cultural model of facial expressions is revealed through a detailed description and analysis of idiomatic Chinese phrases that refer to the face, along with an in-depth discussion of the cultural norms and values that influence the facial behaviour of the Chinese people.

Explications are provided for the following phrases: 吐/伸舌头 tŭ/shēn shétou (‘put out/stretch one’s tongue’), 撇嘴 piě zuĭ (‘corner of the mouth falls to one side’), 死眉瞪眼 sĭ méi dèng yăn (‘dead eyebrows and staring eyes’), 目瞪口呆 mù dèng kǒu dāi (‘eyes wide open with strength, mouth dumbstruck’), 咬牙切齿 yăo yá qiè chĭ (‘bite the molars, gnash the teeth’), 瞪着眼 dèng zhe yăn (‘having glaring eyes’), 揚眉吐氣 yáng méi tŭ qì (‘raising eyebrows, utter breath’), 眉飞色舞 méi fēi sè wŭ (‘eyebrows fly, facial expression dances’).

The overarching concerns of the study are theoretical and methodological. The chapter exemplifies the methodological issues confronting the study of the Other and demonstrates the usefulness of the NSM approach in demystifying certain persistent and mistaken beliefs about the Other, ultimately striving towards a better understanding between members from different cultural groups, with implications for studies in intercultural communication.

More information:

A more recent chapter that builds on this one is:

Chapter 3 (pp. 67-116) of Ye, Zhengdao (2006), Ways of meaning, ways of life: A semantic approach to Chinese ethnopsychology. PhD thesis, Australian National University.

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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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