Abstract
Research has shown that there are variations in what is being claimed as one’s face, that is, ‘positive social value’ (Goffman 1967), and how the claims are made, between cultures (Brown and Levinson 1987; Ide 1989; O’Driscoll 1996). When participants from different cultural backgrounds communicate with each other, their different interacional rules must be negotiated so that potential threats to face can be avoided. Because the judgement of face threat and/or im/politeness usually lies with the receiver of such actions (Spencer-Oatey 2005), failure to observe what is ‘appropriate’ in the receiver’s culture can threaten face (e.g. Spencer-Oatey and Xing 2003). Thus, a new set of interactional norms, which combines the different norms that participants bring to the interaction, may emerge within a group of people from different cultural backgrounds who are involved in a continuous relationship (Sunaoshi 2005).
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© 2011 Yasuhisa Watanabe
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Watanabe, Y. (2011). Conflict, Culture and Face. In: Bargiela-Chiappini, F., Kádár, D.Z. (eds) Politeness Across Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230305939_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230305939_11
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