Abstract: The rapid development of globalization promotes intercultural communication a necessity. It has made people from different places become near-door neighbors. In the current social environment, people are placing more emphasis on privacy, and going to greater lengths to have their privacy protected and respected. Due to the different backgrounds of Western and Chinese cultures, Westerners and Chinese hold varied values resulting in different understandings of the meaning and scope of privacy. This paper makes a comparison of the concepts on privacy between Chinese and Western cultures and then explores the hidden causes. This paper is composed of six parts. The first part is the introduction. The second part summarizes the related researches at home and abroad. The third part analyses key elements of privacy. The fourth part discusses the cultural differences of privacy concepts between Chinese and Western cultures from aspects of age, wages, space and hospital. The fifth part explores the causes of these differences and the last part is the conclusion. It’s hoped that through the comparison between Chinese and Western privacy concepts, this paper can make some contributions to intercultural communication. |
