Face (sociological concept)

About: Face (sociological concept) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5171 publications have been published within this topic receiving 96109 citations. The topic is also known as: Lose face & Face (sociological concept).

Different generations, different face? A discursive approach to naturally occurring compliment responses in Chinesen

Abstract: Adopting a discursive approach to politeness (see, for example, Mills 2011), this paper explores spontaneous naturally occurring compliment responses (CRs) in Chinese from a cross-generational perspective. It aims to extend our understanding of the dynamic nature of face and/or politeness in contemporary Chinese. 16 multiparty conversations among two generations of the Chinese in China’s mainland were audio recorded. Based on evidence provided by the participants in the follow-up interviews, my data analysis yielded two major results: (a) compliments, CRs and CR strategies are not as easily identifiable as previous studies claim; (b) considerable generational variation emerges in the use of CR strategies, viz. the older generation participants were more than twice as likely as the younger to reject a compliment while those in the younger group tended to use Acceptance much more readily. In the discussion, I show how, by using a methodology which emphasizes the interactants’ perceptions obtained through interviews, my study brings to light evidence that intention is not self-evident in performing compliments and CRs. Finding (a) indicates that my emic approach to data analysis provides a useful perspective on the complexity of the notion of intention in studies on speech acts (and perhaps beyond). Finding (b) appears to indicate that the two generations of the Chinese have diverged in their conceptualization of face and/or politeness perhaps due to differences in their early socialization before and after the launch of China’s reform. I also demonstrate how my methodology enables me to seek this generational variation.

The New Face of Soviet Totalitarianism

Abstract: N OTHING pricks one's curiosity more than the inner operations of a power system. And in the case of Russia the incentive to speculate on \"what really goes on\" in the councils of the Kremlin is enhanced by the supersecrecy in which the highest level of Soviet politics is enveloped, by the dramatic shifts of policy and sudden displacements of leading personalities, and by a natural apprehension about the operations of a totalitarian regime which may at any moment threaten or transform our daily lives. In the United States, the mechanics of power in the Soviet Union have become a matter of national interest. A television show not long ago undertook to recreate the events leading to Stalin's death. The public is frequently invited by the press to ponder the significance of the replacement of a security chief in Kazakhstan or a Party secretary in Georgia. Newspaper stereotypes of leading Soviet figures appear almost as often as those of American presidential possibilities. Who has not heard of \"ebullient\" Nikita Khrushchev? And we have been presented with his potential rival: the \"dour ideologue\" Mikhail Suslov. As if in ironic expiation of the national sin of isolationism, the American people are concerning themselves increasingly with the fortunes of the Kirichenkos, Molotovs, and Zhukovs, and the activities and motivations of those distant political figures weigh heavily upon the national consciousness. And yet how tenuous the basis upon which we erect our hypotheses and conjectures about Soviet politics! Unlike the performers in some other television shows, actors in the drama dealing with Stalin's death could have no assurance that their lines adhered to historical truth. That Suslov is a potential rival of Khrushchev or that Malenkov and Molotov were removed because of their attachment to Stalin's policies and methods are conjectures based, respectively, upon an unverifiable assumption and upon a charge which they have been in no position to answer. We have no right to scoff at these conjectures, but we must look for more solid bits of evidence before we try to construct a realistic picture of politics in the Soviet Union.

Telling the world how skilful you are: Self-praise strategies on LinkedIn:

Abstract: Self-praise has traditionally been interpreted as a potentially face threatening act, which infringes the ‘Modesty Maxim’ proposed by Leech. Certain discourse genres, however, like application lett...

Losing Face in Philippine Labor Confrontations: How Shame May Inhibit Worker Activism

Abstract: Shame is an emotion and a behavioral disposition. Developed within social relations of subordination and control, a sensitivity to being shamed is learned and internalized, then becomes an emotion that shapes capabilities to act, as it favors certain forms of behavior and precludes others. “Converting passivity into action,” says Tarrow, requires an emotional energy, an emotional force, which may be fuelled by anger, pride, loyalty, and other “vitalizing” emotions. Shame is, in contrast, decidedly “devitalizing” (Tarrow 1998, pp. 111–112). Shweder offers the following comprehensive definition of shame: