The research will be conducted by identifying and analysing the linguistic realizations of facework and hierarchy as they occur in selected television interviews.It is concluded in the research that despite the great economic and social reforms which have taken place in China in the past decades, Chinese social culture remains hierarchical, and that this hierarchy is reflected in the facework strategies employed by high-ranking government officials and ordinary people.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the linguistic representations of facework strategies in contemporary Chinese interaction. What is of particular interest in this research is to study the extent to which lacework and hierarchy are inextricably linked in interactions between high-ranking government officials and ordinary people.

The research will be conducted by identifying and analysing the linguistic realizations of facework and hierarchy as they occur in selected television interviews. By siting the analysis within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, and in particular the three-dimensional framework proposed by Norman Fairclough, the research aims to discover the hierarchical power relations in these interactions and their potential underlying social and cultural causes.

Through studying the linguistic realisations of facework strategies as reflected in interactions between power unequals, the research will firstly address the question of whether these provide evidence whether, or the extent to which, hierarchy remains a key feature of Chinese society. The study will also investigate the role social and cultural norms and contexts have played in the development of politeness strategies, especially those that appear uniquely Chinese. Finally, the study will answer the question of whether the identified politeness strategies are indicative of new social phenomena and rules of conduct in transitional China.

It is concluded in the research that despite the great economic and social reforms which have taken place in China in the past decades, Chinese social culture remains hierarchical, and that this hierarchy is reflected in the facework strategies employed by high-ranking government officials and ordinary people. It is also shown in this study that Chinese social and cultural norms and contexts have great impact upon people' s employment of facework strategies. And the identified strategies also show that change is developing and that this change is characterized by an increasing promotion of self and an increasing respect for individuals and the protection of individual interests and privacy.

Abstract

Acknowledgement

Table of Contents

List of Notations

List of Tables

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Rationale of the research

1.2 Significance of the research

1.3 Framework of the thesis

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 The background for the study of politeness and face

2.2 Different approaches to politeness study

2.2.1 The social-norm approach

2.2.2 The conversational-maxim approach

2.2.3 The discursive approach

2.2.4 The face-negotiation theory

2.2.5 The face-saving approach

2.3 Studies on Chinese face and politeness

2.3.1 Studies focusing on concepts and theories

2.3.2 Studies aiming at developing new models

2.3.3 Studies dealing with particular speech acts

2.3.4 Studies exploring comprehensive Chinese facework strategies

Chapter Three Methodology

3.1 Data collection

3.2 Theoretical framework

3.2.1 A brief overview of Critical Discourse Analysis and the relevant literature

3.2.2 Debates on Critical Discourse Analysis

3.3 Analytic Procedure

Chapter Four Description of Data

4.1 Maintaining harmony

4.1.1 Using ice-breaking rapport-builders (11 cases)

4.1.2 Exaggerating approval and interest (13 cases)

4.1.3 Honouring other-face (46 cases)

4.1.4 Claiming solidarity (42 cases)

4.1.5 Avoiding or mitigating disagreement (15 cases)

4.1.6 Immediate redress of a face-loss or face-threat (6 cases)

4.1.7 Asserting common ground (8 cases)

4.1.8 Being light-hearted/showing humor (13 cases)

4.1.9 Raising easy questions and engaging in safe topics (7 cases)

4.1.10 Conveying cooperation (58 cases)

4.2 Being modest/showing humility (21 cases)

4.2.1 Enhancing others

4.2.2 Being self-abasing/self-humbling

4.3 Showing deference to power and status

4.3.1 Showing respect to superiors (59 cases)

4.3.2 Only the powerful can visualize the future (14 cases)

4.3.3 Referring to power or authority (25 cases)

4.3.4 Signaling hierarchical relations (33 cases)

4.3.5 Using address terms to signal hierarchy

4.4 Honoring communal/social face (19 cases)

4.5 Honoring moral face (12 cases)

4.6 Using mitigation

4.6.1 Softening the tone of speech (53 cases)

4.6.2 Being conventionally indirect (8 cases)

4.6.3 Minimizing imposition (5 cases)

4.6.4 Apologizing (13 cases)

4.6.5 Using fixed additional questions (5 cases)

4.6.6 Being vague (29 cases)

4.6.7 Using ellipses (5 cases)

4.6.8 Using repetitions (3 cases)

4.6.9 Using overstatements

4.6.10 Using contradictions

4.7 Summary

Chapter Five Interpretation of Data

5.1 Context of the television program

5.2 The role of politeness

5.3 A brief introduction to the Chinese political system

5.4 Strategies of the interlocutors

5.4.1 Strategies of the hosts

5.4.2 Strategies of the GWPs

5.4.3 Strategies of the GNPs

Chapter Six Explanation of Data

6.1 Maintaining harmony

6.2 Showing modesty/humility

6.2.1 Modesty/humility and the law of heaven

6.2.2 Modesty and The Yi ,ling

6.2.3 Modesty and learning

6.2.4 Modesty and the Mean (Middle Way)

6.2.5 Modesty and face

6.3 Moral face and communal/social face

6.4 Showing deference to power and status

Chapter Seven New Trends in a Transitional Society

7.1 New trends in Chinese facework strategies

7.1.1 Accepting compliments (9 cases)

7.1.2 Efforts to maintain one' s and other' s privacy (16 cases)

7.1.3 Changes in gift-giving behaviors (7 cases)

7.1.4 Breach of modesty rule (11 cases)

7.1.5 New collectivism

7.2 Social contexts of new trends

7.2.1 New values reflected in the strategies

7.2.2 The waning influence of Chinese traditional culture

7.2.3 Economic reform and the opening-up policy

7.2.4 Family planning and education system

7.2.5 Reform of the housing system

Chapter Eight Conclusion

References