This book addresses the knowledge-gap in the field by focusing on the importance of emic conceptualizations (face1) in theorizing face. Existing research on face has tended to rely on the etic perspective (face2) in theorizing and conceptualizing face.

This volume looks at politeness phenomena in a culture and country that is becoming the most influential in the world. It is the first book to survey politeness variations across different genres in Chinese and will fill a gap in both politeness research in general and in Chinese politeness research in particular. Unlike existing studies which treat Chinese politeness phenomena as non-varying this study provides systemic evidence for how linguistic polite behaviour varies across genres in China. These intracultural variations which are investigated in the volume include addressing,...