The Concept of Face in the Face of Consumerism

Those earlier posts are extremely difficult to follow up on, I must say...! There's nothing like wearing your heart out on your sleeve (online) ...

It's worth noting that yesterday I was able to share some of my ideas with one of my students. She is not only a Professor of Western Culture/Civilization but an all-round remarkable, independent, thoughful and creative woman whose insights just totally astound me! In framing this whole cultural encounter in historical terms, and across the table from someone so knowledgeable and forthright in this field of study... what can I say? It was just great. We have a one-hour class together each week and its something that I really look forward to.

One thing this week that was particularly interesting was how I've realised that the concept of 'face' that I was taught in university has been completely turned up on its head. This idea that 'Westerners' tend to be overly direct and forthright and thereby create cultural miscommunications with their 'Asian' counterparts is mostly contradictory to my experience here in Taiwan!

I'm conscious of my over-simplified understanding of what 'face' is. However, I'll try to tease this out a little more.

I'd like to follow up with a number of examples as to how to this has been such a contradiction in terms. More interestingly though is how the concept of 'face' shifts as soon as there is a recognition of a student as a consumer and client of education. Indeed, from a teacher's perspective, the balance is tough to master. On the one hand, as the provider and facilitator of knowledge, there's a certain level of authority that comes along with that role. However, in a moment, that can be turned on its head, as one becomes a customer service provider and thereby subject to the grand gesture of "making people happy" above learning. When that happens, I feel almost at the mercy of their demands of getting their monies worth. Rather than whether or not I've actually contributed to their broader knowledge. It's such an unnatural feeling, a strange dynamic, and one that I hope in the future I won't have to undetake.

I'd love to explore more just how traditional concepts of 'face' shift when so conscious of rights and demands as consumers, before all else. A pertinent question for China, no?

I've always felt that, in the genuine liberal tradition, that education should be separate from business principles; as per religion and state. That if jeopardizing this divide, you run the serious risk of losing appreciation for the sheer joy of learning. That we are lesser beings if we cannot separate from what is pertinent to human happiness and what is simply smoke-and-mirrors.

As more time passes, I know exactly which side of the scales this opportunity sits on. I can only hope that in writing and thinking about this more, that we can develop some kind of framework to more effectively balance the two - at least in our own lives.