A Study of the Historical Period Drama 'Downton Abbey' from the Perspective of Face Theory

摘要

This paper chooses Brown and Levinson's face theory to make an analysis into the historical period drama series Downton Abbey, which reflects the British culture after the Second Industrial Revolution, and probes into the face conflicts dialogues among characters. By dividing relationships between characters into three major types, the author gives an analysis of face conflicts, compares the process and degree of the speakers' face threatening acts between western and Chinese culture, and finally sums up the different attitudes toward "face" between western people and Chinese. By discussing the different attitudes of Chinese and western people towards "face", this paper hopes to provide references for political, economic and cultural communication between China and the Western countries, as well as guidance on how to avoid face threatening acts and protect mutual faces in cross-cultural communication.