Tag: (E) shēn shétou 伸舌头

(2004) Chinese (Mandarin) – Facial expressions


Ye, Zhengdao (2004). The Chinese folk model of facial expressions: A linguistic perspective. Culture & Psychology, 10(2), 195-222. DOI: 10.1177/1354067X04040928

This study provides much-anticipated information on how facial expressions are perceived and interpreted by people from a non-Western culture by undertaking a detailed, culture-specific case study of their linguistic representations in the Chinese language. It shows that linguistic representations of facial expressions, which represent a local facial encoding system, provide valuable resources with which researchers can obtain a culture-internal view of the perceptions and conceptions of the face.

A folk model of facial expressions characteristic of the Chinese people is revealed through systematic documentation and linguistic analyses of set phrases for describing facial expressions drawn from Hongloumeng, the most popular and important literary work in the Chinese language. This folk model, which shows a way of seeing and thinking about facial expressions that is not commonly reflected in the English language, and is yet most natural to the Chinese people, questions the methodological assumptions underpinning the current dominant paradigm in research of the ‘universals’ of the human face, and highlights the force of culture and folk theories in scientific research programs. It also demonstrates the usefulness and viability of a linguistic perspective and methodology, in particular the cross-cultural semantic theory of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), for a theory of linguistic representations of facial expressions and emotions across cultures.

Explications are provided for the following phrases: mu deng kou dai (‘eyes wide open with strength, mouth dumbstruck’), tu/shen shetou (‘put out/stretch one’s tongue’), mei fei se wu (‘eyebrows fly, facial expression dances’).


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

(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.

Rating:


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