A memetic cultural practice: The use of generalized kinship terms in a research seminar attended by Chinese graduate students

Abstract

Chinese people, and also members of other cultures, occasionally choose to use a kinship term when addressing a non-kin person during their daily social encounters. While previous studies primarily focus on the formal features, social variables, and general functions of the addressing phenomenon, this paper reports on an ethnographical study of the addressing practice in a research seminar attended by Chinese graduate students, an academic setting which has not yet been adequately considered in the literature. Based on the analysis of naturally occurring data collected from 12 two-hour sessions of a linguistics research seminar at a leading Chinese university, it discusses the Chinese graduate students’ generalized use of kinship terms in the unique context of a Chinese academic setting, by pinpointing the memetic nature of using generalized kinship terms (GKTs) as forms of address that embody Chinese family culture. It is hoped that this study will provide research into the generalized use of kinship terms with a new perspective, and will reveal how Chinese family culture influences Chinese addressing practices in some unique contexts.