中西人際交際空間距離的對(duì)比研究

1、摘要空間關(guān)系學(xué)是人類學(xué)的一個(gè)分支，硏究空間利用及支配空間利用的規(guī)則。爰德華霍爾 是這一領(lǐng)域硏究與理論的先驅(qū)?？臻g關(guān)系學(xué)是人們?nèi)绾芜\(yùn)用空間逬行交流,霍爾在他 的著作無聲的語言中指出我們的周圍空間有4個(gè)區(qū)域，并且在交流中都有不同的 意義。對(duì)個(gè)人空間的解釋隨看文化的不同而不同，這四種距離分別是親密距離,個(gè)人 距離，社交距離和公眾距離?；魻柾ㄟ^實(shí)驗(yàn)觀察的方法得出了西方世界人際交際的空 間距離,也有諸多學(xué)者與專家對(duì)霍爾的空間關(guān)系進(jìn)行了相關(guān)的文化背景和歷史原因的 分析與研究。而中國作為世界第一人口大國，仍缺乏在人際空間距離方面的數(shù)據(jù)研究 及分析，本篇文章將在利用觀察法得出相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)的基礎(chǔ)上，致力于對(duì)比中西方

2、的人際 交際的空間距離的異同點(diǎn)，并利用霍夫斯泰德的文化維度理論對(duì)差異點(diǎn)的文化背景及 原因逬行分析，隨看經(jīng)濟(jì)全球化的進(jìn)一步深化和擴(kuò)展，中西交流越來越密切，明確中 西方的人際交際的空間距離差異并分析其文化原因,對(duì)中西交流有一定的參考價(jià)值和 意義。關(guān)鍵詞：空間關(guān)系學(xué)中西比較文化背景AbstractProxemics is a branch of anthropology that studies the rules for the use of space and how to make use of the space Edward Hall is a pioneer inesearching t

3、he proxemics. Proxemics is how people use space to communicate Hall pointed out that our surrounding space has four areas and has different meanings in communication in his book The Si. The interpretation of personal space varies from culture to culture Thefour distances are intimate distance, indiv

4、idual distanee, social dlstanee and publicdls tance. Halls method of experimental observation has drawn the spatial distanee of in terpersonal communication in the western world There are also many scholars and experts who have con ducted releva nt cultural background and historical reasons of Halls

5、 spatial relations. China, as the world s most populous country, still lacks data research and analysis on the distance between people This article will use the observation method to draw relevant data and strive to compare the spatial distanee between Chinese and Western peoples The similarities an

6、d differences, and the use of Hofstedes cultural dimensiontheory to analyze the cultural background of the differences and the causes, with the further deepening and expansion of economic globalization, China and the West have become more and more close, clear the Chinese and Western in ter persona

7、I communication The differenee in spatial distanee and analysis of its cultural reasons have certain referenee value and significance for the exchange between China and the West.Keywords: Proxemics Chinese and Western comparisons Cultural background Chapterl IntroductionChapter 1 makes a brief intro

8、duction to the background, objectives, significance and structure of this study.Background of the studyThere has been some research results relating to the space or distance and some studies about the cultural theory relating the space or spacial differences. Some of the them are about the spacial c

9、omm unication theory of Hall, which mainly reflects America n spacial comm unication culture, because the theory is based on the American action. Moreover, some of studies focus on studying Chinese spacial communicati on culture. And some thesis compare the d iff ere nee betwee n the Chinese communi

10、cation culture and American communication culture However, obviously, the theory of Hall do not apply to study the Chinese situation totally. Hall studied the spacial distance in the 1970s And he classified it into four kin ds, social distanee, public distanee, personal distance and intimate distane

11、e. The theory reflects the American attitude to the communication. While Chinese attitude to distanee in communication maybe not applies to the theory. Though comparing Chinese distanee and American distance, based on space communication distanee theory of hall, we can understand the Chinese spacial

12、 communication culture Hall s theory can be applied to an a lyze Chinese spacial communication culture, because there are some same and different points between Chinese spacial communication culture and American spacial communication culture. Based on the spacial distance theory of Hall, which aims

13、at researchi ng America n spacial dista nee commun ication, the paper studies Chinese spacial communication culture Through the comparison, we can know that what is the Chinese spacial communication culture, why the Chinese spacial communication culture shows these characters The research result of

14、this paper can provide some reference for studying Chinese culture1.2 Objectives of the studyThis paper mainly focuses on the study of the spatial communication distance of Chinese people from a cultural perspective In the study of the spatial communication distanee of the western world, Halls space

15、 distance theory is used, but this theory is not entirely applicable to the situation under the Chinese cultural background. This thesis mainly compares the four aspects of Halls spatial distanee. They are the public distance, social distanee, personal distance, and intimate distanee. This paper wil

16、l also study the spatial communication distanee of Chinese people from these four aspects (Public distance gen erally refers to the dista nee between the speaker and the listener; social distance reflects the more formal relationship between social and etiquette, which is the distanee between the ge

17、neral working environment and social gathering; Personal distance: this is The space for acquaintances to communicate, and if strangers enter this distanee, they will invade each other.Intimate distanee: If two people can achieve this distance, the opposite sex is the lover, the lover, and the same

18、sex is the best friend. ) The research of the data mainly focuses on the cultural factors of the data, explores the data of the Chinese peoples spatial communication distanee, and analyzes the Chinese space culture is the main content of this paper.The main problems to be solved in this study:(1) Wh

19、at is the specific data of the spatial communication distance in Chinese? (3) What are the cultural differences reflected in the similarities and differences of spatialcommunication between Chinese and the West?1.3 Significanee of the researchThe reason for the cultural study of the Chinese communic

20、ative distance is the lack of releva nt data support and the lack of systematic research on this issue The characteristics of the Chinese communicative distance can reflect the corresponding national characteristics The study of this issue from the perspective of culture is conducive to a better und

21、erstanding of our own culture, and the study of distanee in space is also con ducive to guiding us to better deal with in terpersonal relationships Theory can both reflect practice and guide practice. The theory of studying the spatial communication distance of Chinese people from a cultural perspec

22、tive in this research can both give us a clearer understanding of China s space culture and also that of us and others In the process of getting along to play a guiding role1.4 Structure of the PaperThis paper is composed of five chaptersChapter 1 makes a brief introduction to the background, object

23、ives, significanee, and structure of this study. Chapter 2 provides a brief review of the previous studies on the studies on proxemics and the communication distanee. Chapter 3 will introduce the research design of this study Chapter 4 will discuss and introduce the research process and analyze the

24、relating background and cultural reason and compare the Chinese and the West. Chapter 5 is a conclusion of the study and discussion on major findings, limitations of this paper and suggestions for further study.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewThere has been some research results relating to the space or

25、distance and some studies about the cultural theory relating the space or spacial differences. Some of the them are about the spacial communication theory of Hall, which mainly reflects America n spacial comm unication culture, because the theory is based on the American action. Moreover, some of st

26、udies focus on studying Chinese spacial communication culture And some thesis compare the difference between the Chinese communication culture and American communication culture However, obviously, the theory of Hall do not apply to study the Chinese situation totally.2.1 Some previous studies about

27、 communicative distaneeEdward Hall ( 1956 ) is an American cultural anthropologist. He put forward to four kinds of spacial communication distance in his Silent Language: First, Public distanee can reach 360cm fa Second, social distance is from about 120cm to 360cm Third, personal distanee is from 4

28、5cm to 120cm You caneach out to each other, although there is no special relationship Fourth, intimate distance is from 45cm to zero distance. (Usually a loved one, a good friend, a couple or a couple).Wang Jun ( 1998 ) studies the international communication through the body distance theory His pap

29、er studies and finds that America ns have a strong sense of personal secrets, so that Americans have a strong sense of space,while due to historical and cultural reas ons, Chinese people gen erally have strong ability to share geographical space, So rarely realize that space is also an inviolable pr

30、operty to America ns. Though the paper of Wang is not related to the theory of Hall, it pays more attention to the study of the difference between the Chinese spacial culture and American spacial culture It lacks of strong theory to prove the view in the paper. Wei Ting (2009) also studies the body

31、distance, she refers that the spacial distance can speak The paper of her comes to ntalking/ most people quickly associate verbal communication. However, researchers found that 93% of the face-to-face conversations were conducted norvverbally and only 7% were verbal, Body distance bnguage belongs to

32、 a nonvebal communication. Body distance language1 is the message that communicators use the space distanee to transmit, so-called interpersonal space or in terpersonal dista nee behavior Tang Zhuo and Na Yanwu (2013) research the adaptability of communicative distance theory in Chinese cultural con

33、text. They use the communication distance theory of Luke ns to research the Chin ese culture This paper refers that Luke ns put forward the theory and Gudykunst, an American scholar reanalysed and defined this theory Tang and Na (2013) make use of the theory to study American scholar Lukens, propose

34、d in 1978 In 1984, American scholar Gudyk unst re-a nalyzed Luke nss theory and made a new explanation of it, and proposed five levels of communication distanee. The purpose of Tang and Na s study is to: (1) test the validity and applicability of communicative distanee theory in Chinese cultural con

35、text; (2) reveal the ethnocentrism and cultural relativistic psychology of current foreign Ianguage learning and users in China The results show that Gudykunsts five communicative classes do have a certain theoretical significance in theory and are quite effective in Chinese cultural context Most of

36、 the subjects have negative ethno centrisms n egative thoughts and effects opposition, more recognition of cultural relativism. Eligibility scores for foreign language lear ning are higher than for those with short lear ning time, and the Ion ger the score, the higher the score. Wang Lu (2004) studi

37、ed that this article mainly elaborates the cultural differences between East and West spatial languages and the various problems that arise in cross-cultural communication from the aspects of office and family room arrangements, personal space, attitude towards overcrowding and the different reactio

38、ns to cultural expectation in communication. The deep reason for the differenee is to make the reader aware of the importance of understanding spatial language in intecultual communication. That paper mainly studied three parts of differences between Chinese spacial communication culture and America

39、n spacial communication culture, including cultural differences between office and family room arrangements, cultural differences in personal space and cultural differences in the attitude of overcrowding. And these differences reflect the Chin ese cultural character. The paper of Wang do not give a

40、 final con elusion, but the research result is available2.2 Some previous studies about communicative cultureHall (1976) also studied the intercultural difference in his Beyond Culture. Bai Su and Yuan Jinyue (2013) studied and found that under the current situation of global in teg rati on, cross-c

41、ultural comm un ication shows great vitality and plays an active role in the integration and development of oriental culture and western culture Spatial language is an important part of non-verbal communication in the process of intercultural communication. Different interpretations of the extension

42、 and intension of spatial language in different cultures show the great tension of spatial language From the cross-cultural perspective, this article analyzes the pragmatic tension of spatial Ian guage in differe nt cultural con texts and reflects the diversity of world cultures And the paper of Bai

43、 and Yuan (2013) comes to a conclusion that Spatial language is an important part of interpersonal communication in nonverbal communication. How we should approach others and how far we should be with others have a direct bearing on the emotional state of both communicators Edward Hall, the American

44、 anthropologist, first systematically discussed the theory of spatial language in the 1959 sensational novel Silent Language, which is considered as the foun datio n of in tercultural communicati on. The book in troduces the propositi on that culture is exchange. It advocates time Ianguage11 and ”sp

45、ace language first, demonstrating the significance of spatial language and the spatial relationship of human beings He divides the space into three types: fixed space, which is a space made up of fixed wall columns and objects, such as a room; semi-fixed space, a space made up of larger objects, suc

46、h as desks and chairs; and in formal space where people interact with others Therefore, the non-verbal meaning of spatial language is mainly reflected from the field-wide social relations, the intimacy of body distanee and the difference in the position of space orientation. Starting from the perspe

47、ctive of interculturalism, this paper analyzes the pragmatic tension of these three parts of space Ianguage in different cultural backgrounds Shi Zhenshu1 s (2005) paper contrast the concept of time and space between different cultures in China and the United States, and find that it is possible to

48、improve cultural awareness and reduce the impact of negative cultural transfer in communication so as to achieve the goal of successfulcommunication. It refers that there are many factors that affect the differences between China and the United States in space-time However, the two most important fa

49、ctors are d iff ere nt value systems and cultural backgrounds They are rooted in our thin king and behavior, affecting our communication. Zhang Lei (2008) studied that In addition to being reflected in the arrangement of offices and meeting seats, differences in spatial orientation may also have dif

50、ferent spatial orientations in society due to different cultural values and customs In Western countries where women preferentially address ceremonies, it is often the case that ladies are the places where people arrange their space Such as group photo, the ladies stand the front row, men behind the

51、m, officials in the back of the sides .In China, people pay atte ntion to the respect of leaders and elders Therefore, on the same occasion, the arrangement of locations is quite different from that of the West: leaders or elders are in the middle of the front row, and others are sorted by status, r

52、egardless of gender. The differenee between Chinese and British cultural orientations actually reflects the difference betwee n the values of the two cultures, that is, the in teg rati on and separation between man and nature, and the difference between group dependence and in dividual in depe ndenc

53、e Differe nces in the orientation of space precisely reflect the cultural differences A culture advocating group as a whole, one that emphasizes in dividual in depe ndence. The same office location in the Chinese and Westerners seems to convey the meaning will be different. Zhou Xiaodong and Fang fa

54、ng (2006) refer that the openness of the Greek peninsula and its coastal areas, the maritime geographical en vironme nt and the development of the in dustrial, commercial and maritime industries, the birthplace of Western culture, have caused Greek philosophers to have a keen interest in astronomy,

55、meteorology, geometry, physics and mathematics, gradually formed a western science to explore the natural sciences. The theme of western philosophy is natural philosophyand philosophy of science, focusing on the exploration and understanding of the universe and nature Humanism advocates human nature

56、, demands human rights, advocates the liberation of personality, pays attention to the personality of individuals and groups from the perspective of individuals Unit and foundation advocate individualism Chinas semi-closed continental geography and the small-scale peasant economy nurtured Confuciani

57、sm The ancestors, represented by Confucianism, recognized the world not mainly out of curiosity about natures mysteries but out of concern for the reality of social politics and ethics. Therefore, China pays more attention to humanism.Xie Lin ( 1998 ) refers and find that Asians generally have a str

58、onger ability to share space and we are more Chinese-oriented partners. In buses, elevators and other public places crowded, people rub shoulders, shoulder to shoulder over the scene can be seen everywhere, people are accustomed to this, peace of mind This situation is intolerable for some western c

59、ountries When they are compelled to get too close to other peoples bodies, they often immediately say sorry to each other to show that they are not invaded by others in the area of space. This shows that even in crowded situations, they are aware of their personal areas Directly linked with the distanee of invasion is the distance between people. In generalz Westerners are more strictly divided and abide by the contact distance People i