-
Cultural Differences in Body Language
Huang Jianfei
Ⅰ
. Introduction:
When a Chinese converse with an
American friend of the opposite sex,
would it be indecent to looking at the
other person?
An American says, “yes”,
while lowering the eyes. Dose he really mean
“yes”?
If
two young Chinese friends of the same sex walk
with their arms around
each
other’s
shoulder
or
hold
hands,
would
English
-speaking
people
regard
this as proper?
These are not questions about language, but about
body language, about
nonverbal
communication.
What’s the bo
dy language? It
has the definitions in both narrow and broad
senses. In the narrow sense, body
language includes body movement and facial
expression,
which
can
send
messages.
As
to
the
broad
one,
it
includes
gestu
re
、
posture
、
facial
expression
、
timbre
of
the
speaker
、
distance
between speaker and
listener, and clothes of the
speaker(
胡文仲
1988. 10.). In
my
point
of
view,
body
language
should
includes
facial
expressions,
body
movements, and body contact.
In the social interaction, when we
converse with others, we communicate
by
much
more
than
words.
By
our
expressions,
gestures
and
other
body
movements, we convey messages to the
other people. Body language exists in
every
culture,
but
not
all
body
languages
mean
the
same
thing
in
different
cultures.
Different
peoples
have
different
ways
of
making
nonverbal
communication. The
answers to the questions of this paper at the
beginning are
all
important
for
people
to
communicate
across
culture
and
language
barriers,
particularly to those who have verbal
language barriers. In fact, body language
is
more
important
to
people
from
other
culture
than
it
is
to
the
native.
To
native-born
people,
the
spoken
word
is
by
far
the
most
important
communicational
tool.
In
other
culture,
however,
the
way
words
are
spoken
along
with
the
gestures,
postures
and
the
facial
expressions
that
accompany
those words is of
greater significance.
Ⅱ
.
Content
—
cultural
differences
between
China
and
American in body language conveying
emotional feelings
Body
language
has
three
major
functions:
assisting,
substituting
and
expressing
or
hiding
emotional
feelings.
(
胡文仲
,1998.10 )
Emotion
is
the
most complicated thing of human being. To express
one
’
s inner feelings is
even
more
difficult.
As
the
convey
made
by
experts,
human
beings
seldom
express their complex feeling in words,
and in some situation, it is more than
words can convey exactly. And even
though they express it by spoken words,
1
Cultural Differences in
Body Language
Huang Jianfei
they usually perform gestures along
with it. This is because the body language
is
more
articulate
than
words
in
communicating
emotion.
For
example,
the
Chinese that says,
“
Yes
”
,
while lowering the eyes
may mean,
“
No
”
,
because
sometimes
they
feel
reluctant
to
disrupt
the
harmony
of
the
relationship
by
directly saying so
(for example, when father ask
you to
do something which
you
don
’
t
like,
you
may
also
say
“
Yes
”
in
order
to
keep
the
harmonious
relation
with
Dad).
In
the
mainstream
American
culture,
the
folded
arms
of
resolve,
the
grimace
of
pain
or
anger,
the
hand
wringing
of
anxiety,
are
powerful
communicators
of
emotions.
When
people
are
sad,
crying
may
be
more suitable than words to express it.
Think about how much more convinced
you
are, for example, that a group of children are
excited when they jump up
and down than
if they simply state, “
We are very
excited.
”
According
to
the
above
description,
we
can
see
that
body
language
diverse in
different cultures, so does it used in expressing
emotional feelings.
Therefore,
in
this
paper,
I
attempt
to
make
a
comparison
the
differences
of
body language used in
expressing the emotional feelings betweens China
and
America.
2.1 To show
friendliness
You may see two men
walk hand in hand or with an arm around another's
shoulder.
It
is
a
sign
of
friendship
in
China.
However,
Americans
strongly
disapprove it. The situation is
regarded as homosexual in American culture.
In China, if two old
friends meet somewhere after several years. They
may pull or push each other, or they
may pat other' s shoulder to show their
close friendship. Americans seldom do
this.
It
is
rude
to
touch
others
wildly
even though he is the intimate
friend in American culture.
If a Chinese, attempting to show his friendliness,
stands to close to an
American. The
American
will
step
back,
wanting
to
keep
a
certain
distance.
This
is
because
America
belongs
non-touching
cultures.
They
like
to
keep
about
30
inches
apart
from
one
another,
which
is
considered
their
personal
comfort
zone
In
China,
a
common
complaint
of
American
mothers
is
that
Chinese
often
fondle
their
babies
and
very
small
children.
Such
behaviors
like
touching,
patting,
hugging
or
kissing
may
be
considered
rude,
intrusive
and
offensive in American culture, even
though those behaviors are merely signs of
friendliness or affection in Chinese
culture.
When
meeting others, to show respect or friendliness,
Chinese usually
shake hands or nod. In
America, you can see people often hug or kiss to
show
friendliness, which is quite
embarrassing and awkward for Chinese, especially
between
the
opposite
sex.
In
China,
kissing
is
only
for
lovers
or
parents
to
children.
If
you
invite
an
American
friend
to
dinner
in
your
house,
to
show
hospitality,
you
may
serve
food
constantly
in
his
plate.
But
he
may
feel
2
Cultural
Differences in Body Language
Huang Jianfei
uncomfortable or embarrassed, because
in American custom, one must eat up
food in his plate, if not, he might be
regarded as a grandiose man, let alone to
mention they do not like some certain
dishes (for example viscera of animals)
2.2 To show curiosity
When
people(both
Americans
and
Chinese)
find
something
is
curious,
they
may
glare
blankly .
But
when
Chinese
glares
at
an
American,
it
may
makes
the
latter
angry,
because
in
American
Culture,
staring
at
people
or
holding a glance too long
is considered improper.
There
is
also
a
dominant
curiosity
in
the
class,
where
an
American
teacher teaches in a Chinese school.
Chinese students will feel unaccustomed
when they see their foreign teacher
sitting on the desk to teach. They consider
it
as
a
rude
manner,
and
the
gesture
may
break
the
teaching
rule.
But
to
American,
the action is only to minimize the tense
atmosphere of the class and
shorten
the
distance
from
students.
So
the
most
common
complaint
of
American teacher is that they feel too
conservative, too formal, and too dull at
Chinese class. In this aspect, it can
show a big cultural gap between Chinese
and Americans.
2.3 To show Bitterness
Grey
face,
shout
ing
and
gnashing
etc.
usually
present
one’s
anger.
In
China,
stamping
one's
foot
also
show
one's
anger,
but
in
America,
it
shows
one' s
feeling of impatience.
In China, people
will cry sadly at the funeral rites. According to
Chinese
culture, people who
don
’
t cry when attending the
funeral are not filial persons.
But in
America, people rarely cry loudly at that moment,
because according to
American
custom,
crying
in
front
of
the
public
is
a
kind
of
lacking
accomplishment.
2.4 To show
indifference.
To show one's
indifference, people usually ignore the existence
of others.
But
in
some
situation,
it
may
cause
some
problems.
In
America,
when
two
persons are talking, they must look at
each other. If not, one who doesn’t look
may be considered that he is
indifferent and may be regarded as a rude manner.
In China, looking at people too long
when talking may make the others very
uncomfortable, especially talking to
ladies.
2.5 To show anger
Arms
akimbo
is
a
common
gesture
to
show
one
’
s
rage
in
both
culture.
Besides, American
usually used a gesture--extending the forefinger
and makes
a circular motion near the
temple or ear to show that someone is crazy,
because
to
the
psychology,
crazy
man
is
something
wrong
with
his
brain.
But
when
Americans do this, it may be
embarrassed to Chinese people, because it is just
a gesture of thinking in China.
American always avoid making sound
which spur out from body, such as,
sneezing, cough, snuffle, spitting,
fart, blowing nose, clearing throat, making
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