Chinese Business Etiquette

Chinese Business Etiquette From setting up a meeting to formal negotiations, knowing the right words to say is integral in conducting business. This is especially true if you are hosting or are guests of international business people. When planning or attending a Chinese business meeting, keep these tips on Chinese business etiquette in mind. Setting Up a Meeting When setting up a Chinese business meeting, it is important to send as much information to your Chinese counterparts in advance. This includes details about the topics to be discussed and background information on your company. Sharing this information ensures that the people you want to meet will actually attend the meeting. However, preparing in advance will not get you confirmation of the actual meeting’s day and time. It is not uncommon to wait anxiously until the last minute for confirmation. Chinese businessmen often prefer waiting until a few days before or even the day of the meeting to confirm the time and place. Arrival Etiquette Be on time. Arriving late is considered rude. If you do arrive late, apologizing for your tardiness is a must. If you are hosting the meeting, it is proper etiquette to send a representative to greet the meeting’s participants outside the building or in the lobby, and then personally escort them to the meeting room. The host should be waiting in the meeting room to greet all meeting attendants. The senior-most guest should enter the meeting room first. While entrance by rank is a must during high-level government meetings, it is becoming less formal for regular business meetings. Seating Arrangements at a Chinese Business Meeting After handshakes and exchanging business cards, guests will take their seats. The seating is typically arranged by rank. The host should escort the senior-most guest to his or her seat as well as any VIP guests. The place of honor is to the host’s right on a sofa or in chairs that are opposite the room’s doors. If the meeting is held around a large conference table, then the guest of honor is seated directly opposite the host. Other high-ranking guests sit in the same general area while the remainder of the guests can choose their seats from among the remaining chairs. If the meeting is held around a large conference table, all the Chinese delegation may opt to sit on one side of the table and foreigners on the other. This is especially true for formal meetings and negotiations. The principal delegates are seated in the meeting with lower ranking attendees placed at either end of the table. Discussing Business Meetings usually begin with small talk to help both sides feel more comfortable. After a few moments of small talk, there is a short welcoming speech from the host followed by a discussion of the meeting’s topic. During any conversation, Chinese counterparts will often nod their heads or make affirmative utterances. These are signals that they are listening to what is being said and understand what is being said. These are not agreements to what is being said. Do not interrupt during the meeting. Chinese meetings are highly structured and interjecting beyond a quick remark is considered rude. Also, don’t put anyone on the spot by asking them to provide information they seem unwilling to give or challenge a person directly. Doing so will lead them to become embarrassed and lose face.

An Overview of Burlesque Literature With Examples

An Overview of Burlesque Literature With Examples Burlesque literature is a form of satire. It is often and perhaps best described as â€Å"an incongruous imitation.†Ã‚   The purpose of burlesque literature is to imitate the manner or the subject matter of a â€Å"serious† literary genre, author, or work through a comic inversion.   Imitations of manner might include the form or the style, whereas imitation of matter is meant to satirize the subject being explored in a particular work or genre.    Elements of Burlesque While a burlesque piece may aim to poke fun at a particular work, genre, or subject, it is most often the case that burlesque will be a satire of all of these elements. What is important to consider about this mode of literature is that the point of the burlesque is to create an incongruity, a ridiculous disparity, between the manner of the work and the matter of it. While â€Å"travesty,† â€Å"parody,† and â€Å"burlesque† are terms that are often used interchangeably, it is perhaps better to consider travesty and parody as types of burlesque, with burlesque being the generic term for the larger mode. That being said, it is also important to note that a burlesque piece may employ a number of techniques which fall into the larger category; it is not necessarily the case that all burlesque literature will share all of the same features. High And Low Burlesque There are two primary types of burlesque, the â€Å"High Burlesque† and the â€Å"Low Burlesque.†Ã‚   Within each of these types, there are further divisions. These sub-divisions are based on whether the burlesque satirizes a genre or literary type, or, instead, a specific work or author. Let’s take a closer look at these types. High Burlesque occurs when the form and style of the piece are dignified and â€Å"high,† or â€Å"serious† while the subject matter is trivial or â€Å"low.†Ã‚   The types of high burlesque include the â€Å"mock epic† or â€Å"mock-heroic† poem, as well as the parody. A mock epic is itself a type of parody.   It imitates the generally complicated and elaborate form of the epic poem, and it also imitates that genre’s rather formalized style. In so doing, however, it applies this â€Å"high† form and style to rather ordinary or insignificant topics. A significant example of a mock epic is Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (1714), which is elegant and elaborate in style, but which, on its surface, has only a lady’s curl as its subject. A parody, similarly, will imitate one or many of a variety of characteristics of a piece of high, or serious, literature.   It might mock the style of a certain author or the features of an entire literary genre. Its focus might also be an individual work.   The point is to employ those same features and characteristics, at a high or serious level, and exaggerate it while simultaneously employing a low, comic, or otherwise inappropriate subject. Parody has been the most popular form of burlesque since the early 1800s.   Some of the best examples include Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey (1818) and A.S. Byatt’s Possession: A Romance (1990).   Parody predates these, however, appearing in such works as Joseph Andrews (1742) by Henry Fielding, and â€Å"The Splendid Shilling† (1705) by John Phillips. Low Burlesque occurs when the style and manner of a work are low or undignified but, in contrast, the subject matter is distinguished or high in status. The types of low burlesque include the Travesty and the Hudibrastic poem. A travesty will mock a â€Å"lofty† or serious work by treating the high subject in a grotesque and undignified manner and (or) style.   One classic example of a modern travesty is the film Young Frankenstein, which mocks   Mary Shelley’s original novel, (1818). The Hudibrastic poem is so-named for Samuel Butler’s Hubidras (1663).   Butler turns the  chivalric romance on its head, inverting the dignified style of that genre in order to present a hero whose travels were mundane and often humiliating. The Hudibrastic poem might also employ colloquialisms and other examples low style, such as the doggerel verse, in place of traditionally high style elements. The Lampoon In addition to High and Low Burlesque, which include parody and travesty, another example of the burlesque is the lampoon.   Some short, satirical works are considered lampoons, but one might also find the lampoon as a passage or insert into a longer work.   Its goal is to make ridiculous, often via caricature, a particular person, usually by describing the nature and appearance of the individual in an absurd way. Other Notable Burlesque Works The Comedies of AristophanesTale of Sir Thopas (1387) by Geoffrey Chaucer Morgante (1483) by Luigi Pulci The Virgile Travesty (1648-53) by Paul Scarron The Rehearsal (1671) by George Villier Beggars Opera (1728) by John Gay Chrononhotonthologos (1734) by Henry Carey