Sino-Russian Intercultural Communication Research: Literature Review

Abstract

International relations between China and Russia have a long-lasting history. At the same time interpersonal contacts between these two ethnic groups face difficulties associated with language, cultural distance, prejudices and other factors. This article presents a review of studies on the problem of Russian-Chinese intercultural interaction. Due to its interdisciplinary nature the studies are scattered both methodologically and with respect to its theoretical foundations. In this regard, we conditionally divide the considered works into four main areas: studying the perception of the image of Russia and China among Russians and Chinese, classification of Sino-Russian communication barriers, cross-cultural analysis of communication components, and indigenous concepts of Chinese psychology related to the process of intercultural interaction. A brief review of the modern research results gained by Russian and Chinese authors on effective communication and building trustful relationships is given. The results of studies revealing important differences at the level of verbal and non-verbal communication are presented. Particular attention is paid to cross-cultural research aimed at identifying etic and emic attributes of the situation of intercultural interaction. The most common approaches to understanding the concept of trust and its operationalization in Chinese studies are described. The importance of further studying mechanisms of building trustful relationships between representatives of the two countries is noted. In conclusion, unresolved problems and current trends in the study of intercultural communication are identified.