II. Theories Related to Face

Face is not physical but psychological, which is the most exquisite standard of Chinese regulating social communication. It touched the most delicate singular points of Chinese social psychology. However, what has happened to this easily-understood word. In fact, it is easily confused when one think it over. In the past more than half a century, countless scholars, including social anthropologist, social linguists and sociologists and psychologists at home and abroad have done the research of face. At present, face has been interpreted as a variety of social phenomenon. But they are still unable to agree on a definition of face. Therefore, the author tries to review the existing research and the present situation with the purpose of exploring the existence of differences and putting forward the guild-line and direction in the future.

2.1 Western Perspective of Face

Brown &Levinson, American Anthropologist, observed Goffman's definition of face. In order to discuss and explain the politeness phenomena, they put forward the theory of face. Brown &Levinson's politeness theory is embodied by the theory of face. Brown&Levinson believe that face is a kind of public self-image earned by each social member, which is awarded from emotional things. In other words, face can be given, lost, maintained and enhanced. In their opinions, face is a common thing that can be saved by cooperation.

One of the most important contributions is that they distinguish the positive face and negative face. Brown&Levinson believe that face includes two aspects: positive face and negative face. Positive face refers to the positive image that every social member claims for himself, that's to say, he wants to get other's appreciation and praise. Negative face refers to every social member hopes that his actions will not be impeded by others. (Brown&Levinson, 1987) Everyone has his own territories, privacy and rights which is free from distraction. Face, put forward by Brown&Levinson, presents the typical theory of western face. They emphasize the humanity and inpiduality of face.

Negative face, recognized by most people in academic filed. There existed a significant difference between the Western negative face and Chinese negative face. Western negative face refers to people who are longing for freedom and their actions are free from intervention and interference. The obvious speech act is to damage the hearer's face, but the core content of the negative face is personal freedom. Westerners adore the idea of independence, freedom and distinct inpidualism. To some extent, it is associated with the western traditional culture. Western modern culture is the development of the traditional culture. The negative face culture reflects the value of Western modern culture and traditional culture, which is a typical product of western culture and history.

Brown &Levinson believe that the face of both sides will be affected during the interaction. For instance, the threat of positive and negative face will occur in front of the speaker and hearer. Therefore, the vast majority of speech acts belong to face threatening acts. The function of polite conversation is to protect one's face and reduce the degree of the face threatening acts.