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ecognition of and orientation to the individual as an autonomous entity (6 la
Brown and Levinson), the latter by taking the individual to be intrinsically bound
up to a much greater extent with the wider community. Because of their
conceptualisation of the individual and beliefs and values associated with
facework, various cultures can be placed along the individualism - collectivism
continuum (see fig. 1.5).
Fig. 1.4 Examples of Collectivist and Individualist Cultures
Collectivist,
Japan / China US / Canada
10
Individualist
Similarly affecting communicative style across cultures, the high-context -
low-context dimension has been posited as more appropriate for understanding
cultural variation in situated facework practices. In the former, contextual factors
such as the hierarchical relations between interlocutors heavily impact on the
nature of the interaction. Conversely, in low-context cultures this is much
reduced, with, in effect, more expressive freedom allowed the individual
speaker. Again, scholars drawing on this paradigm frequently place Eastern and
Western cultures towards opposing ends (see fig. 1.5).
Fig. 1.5 Examples of HCC / LCC Cultures
HCC LCC
-4 lo
Korea / Vietnam Germany / Switzerland
A culture's positioning along either of these dimensions, not only informs
the general attitude an individual may have toward his / her own and others'
face concerns, but is manifest in the communicative preferences routinely
played out in face to face communication (see table 1.3).
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