摘 要

人类的交际过程包括言语交际和非言语交际。在跨文化交际的过程中，除了要克服言语交际的障碍外，还必须对跨文化的非言语交际行为的含义有所理解。本文从跨文化交际学及非言语交际学的角度出发，对李安两部经典的跨文化电影《推手》和《喜宴》进行了体态语分析。本文首先介绍了跨文化交际及非言语交际的研究背景，再选取两部电影中的实例从个人主义和集体主义、权力距离、亲近性与表达性、高语境和低语境文化四个文化角度具体而详细地分析体态语与文化之间的关系。研究结果强调了文化与非言语交际密不可分，很多非言语行为都是文化习得的结果。由非言语交际行为的差异产生的诸多文化冲突在跨文化交际行为中更为常见和突出，因此了解非言语交际和文化之间的关系至关重要。结论也指出，从跨文化交际的角度分析研究李安的电影，不难发现李安的跨文化意识以及他对文化差异、文化冲突的重视。李安对中国文化的高度认同促使他一直为传播中国文化做出贡献，也一直在探索中西文化沟通、对话、和解的可能性。

关键词：跨文化交际；非言语交际；体态语；文化差异

Abstract

Human communication process consists of verbal communication and nonverbal communication. Apart from overcoming the obstacles of verbal communication, we should also understand the meaning of nonverbal communication behaviors in the process of intercultural communication, This paper analyzes the body language in Ang Lee's two classic intercultural movies Pushing Hands and Wedding Banquet from the perspective of nonverbal intercultural communication. It first introduces the research background of intercultural communication and nonverbal communication, then it uses concrete examples from the two movies to analyze the relationship between body language and culture in detail from four cultural perspectives: individualism and collectivism, power distance, immediacy and expressiveness, high context and low context culture. The conclusion emphasizes that culture and nonverbal communication are inseparable, and many nonverbal acts are the result of cultural acquisition. Because many cultural conflicts arising from the differences in nonverbal communication behavior are more common and prominent in intercultural communication behavior, it is essential to understand the relationship between nonverbal communication and culture. Moreover, it is not difficult to find Ang Lee's strong intercultural awareness and that he pays attention on cultural differences and cultural conflicts by analyzing his films from the perspective of intercultural communication. Ang Lee's high recognition of Chinese culture has prompted him to make contributions to the dissemination of Chinese culture and to explore the possibility of communication, dialogue and reconciliation between Chinese and Western cultures.

Key Words: Intercultural communication; nonverbal communication; body language; cultural difference

目录

1 Introduction 1

1.1 An Introduction of Intercultural Communication and Ang Lee 1

1.2 The Significance of The Research 2

1.3 Research Questions, Methodology and Organization of the Paper 3

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Current Research on Intercultural Communication 4

2.2 Current Research on Nonverbal Communication 5

3 Comparative Study of Body Language in Ang Lee’s Movies 6

3.1 An Introduction of Pushing Hands and Wedding Banquet 6

3.2 Analysis of Body Language in Ang Lee’s Movies 7

3.2.1 Individualism and collectivism 7

3.2.2 Power distance 8

3.2.3 Immediacy and Expressiveness 9

3.2.4 High Context and Low Context 11

4 Conclusion 12

References 14

Acknowledgements 15

A Study of Body Language in Ang Lee’s Movies from Perspective of Intercultural Communication

1 Introduction

1.1 An Introduction of Intercultural Communication and Ang Lee

Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication between different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication problems and processes that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, ethnic, social, and educational backgrounds. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on thought patterns, social attributes, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different languages, customs and cultures of people from other countries. Nonverbal communication is the complement of verbal language, which sometimes can reflect more information. Under the social and cultural background of western countries and China, to explore the culture differences of nonverbal communication will enable us to better understand the western culture and also to better carry out intercultural exchanges.

This paper mainly focus on body language. It refers to the movement changes of the communicators’ body parts when communicating information and expressing feelings. It can replace speech to convey information and express emotions, and perform functions of repetition, emphasis and disguise on speech. Body language includes posture, gesture, facial expression, eye contact, etc.

This paper deals with problems concerning nonverbal intercultural communication in the movies of Ang Lee. The director Ang Lee, who was born in Taiwan in 1952, can not abandon the deep-rooted traditional Chinese cultural thoughts, but also be influenced by the open culture of the West. As a Chinese director who has made great contributions to the Chinese film industry, Ang Lee's achievements in film art are undoubtedly tremendous. His first film, Pushing Hands, won the Taiwan Golden Horse Award Jury Special Award and the Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Picture Award. In 1993, The Wedding Banquet not only won the Golden Bear Award for Best Film at Berlin Film Festival, but also made Ang Lee the first Taiwanese director to win the Golden Bear Award. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscar. In 2006, he was awarded "World's 100 Most Influential People "by Time magazine. In 2013, he won the Best Director Award at the 85th Academy Award.

As a film director who carries the essence of cultural leapfrogging, presenting the unique characteristics of the collision and coexistence of eastern and Western cultures naturally becomes a significant narrative theme in Ang Lee's films. With a delicate and sensitive insight, he has made philosophical and deep-seated reflections on culture and human feelings from the aspects of the intersection, conflict and integration of various cultures, and has expressed and expounded the oriental culture and the ethical and emotional pursuit of Chinese people. Standing on a higher cultural level, he pointed out that under the background of modern globalization, the two cultures——Oriental and western, or traditional and modern, are not antagonistic relations, but mingled with each other.

1.2 The Significance of The Research

In the process of intercultural communication, body language plays an auxiliary and supportive role in language communication. Obstacles are inevitable in the process of communication. If intercultural communication wants to go smoothly and successfully, it is necessary to overcome these obstacles in time. Therefore, it is of great significance to understand the deep meaning of body language in intercultural settings. However, the field of domestic intercultural research is relatively narrow, mainly focusing only on language contrastive study and foreign language teaching. Due to the inadequate attention and investment in this field, the research of nonverbal language still has a long way to go. Movies and television programs are important carriers of intercultural practices, which enable learners to study culture in different contexts more intuitively. As a famous Chinese director in the world, Ang Lee's movies have great influence on the world's movies. His movies typically depict the exchange and collision of Chinese and Western cultures.

Hopefully, it will contribute to the researches about Ang Lee, and will offer some implications for the domain of Intercultural Communication. It contributes to harmonious development of different cultures, meanwhile, helps readers achieve success in intercultural communication.

1.3 Research Questions, Methodology and Organization of the Paper

Based on the theory of the relationship between nonverbal communication and culture, this paper makes a comparative study of Ang Lee's movies Push Hands and Wedding Banquet from the perspective of intercultural communication. This paper will answer these two questions about the differences of body language of the characters in Ang Lee's movies.

1. What are the culture differences between China and America?