摘要空间关系学是人类学的一个分支,研究空间利用及支配空间利用的规则。爱德华·霍尔是这一领域研究与理论的先驱。空间关系学是人们如何运用空间进行交流,霍尔在他的著作《无声的语言》中指出我们的周围空间有4个区域,并且在交流中都有不同的意义。对个人空间的解释随着文化的不同而不同,这四种距离分别是亲密距离,个人距离,社交距离和公众距离。霍尔通过实验观察的方法得出了西方世界人际交际的空间距离,也有诸多学者与专家对霍尔的空间关系进行了相关的文化背景和历史原因的分析与研究。而中国作为世界第一人口大国,仍缺乏在人际空间距离方面的数据研究及分析,本篇文章将在利用观察法得出相关数据的基础上,致力于对比中西方的人际交际的空间距离的异同点,并利用霍夫斯泰德的文化维度理论对差异点的文化背景及原因进行分析,随着经济全球化的进一步深化和扩展,中西交流越来越密切,明确中西方的人际交际的空间距离差异并分析其文化原因,对中西交流有一定的参考价值和意义。关键词:空间关系学中西比较文化背景AbstractProxemicsisabranchofanthropologythatstudiestherulesfortheuseofspaceandhowtomakeuseofthespace.EdwardHallisapioneerinresearchingtheproxemics.Proxemicsishowpeopleusespacetocommunicate.HallpointedoutthatoursurroundingspacehasfourareasandhasdifferentmeaningsincommunicationinhisbookTheSi.Theinterpretationofpersonalspacevariesfromculturetoculture.Thefourdistancesareintimatedistance,individualdistance,socialdistanceandpublicdistance.Hall'smethodofexperimentalobservationhasdrawnthespatialdistanceofinterpersonalcommunicationinthewesternworld.TherearealsomanyscholarsandexpertswhohaveconductedrelevantculturalbackgroundandhistoricalreasonsofHall'sspatialrelations.China,astheworld’smostpopulouscountry,stilllacksdataresearchandanalysisonthedistancebetweenpeople.ThisarticlewillusetheobservationmethodtodrawrelevantdataandstrivetocomparethespatialdistancebetweenChineseandWesternpeoples.Thesimilaritiesanddifferences,andtheuseofHofstede'sculturaldimensiontheorytoanalyzetheculturalbackgroundofthedifferencesandthecauses,withthefurtherdeepeningandexpansionofeconomicglobalization,ChinaandtheWesthavebecomemoreandmoreclose,cleartheChineseandWesterninterpersonalcommunicationThedifferenceinspatialdistanceandanalysisofitsculturalreasonshavecertainreferencevalueandsignificancefortheexchangebetweenChinaandtheWest.Keywords:ProxemicsChineseandWesterncomparisonsCulturalbackgroundChapter1IntroductionChapter1makesabriefintroductiontothebackground,objectives,significanceandstructureofthisstudy.BackgroundofthestudyTherehasbeensomeresearchresultsrelatingtothespaceordistanceandsomestudiesabouttheculturaltheoryrelatingthespaceorspacialdifferences.SomeofthethemareaboutthespacialcommunicationtheoryofHall,whichmainlyreflectsAmericanspacialcommunicationculture,becausethetheoryisbasedontheAmericanaction.Moreover,someofstudiesfocusonstudyingChinesespacialcommunicationculture.AndsomethesiscomparethedifferencebetweentheChinesecommunicationcultureandAmericancommunicationculture.However,obviously,thetheoryofHalldonotapplytostudytheChinesesituationtotally.Hallstudiedthespacialdistanceinthe1970s.Andheclassifieditintofourkinds,socialdistance,publicdistance,personaldistanceandintimatedistance.ThetheoryreflectstheAmericanattitudetothecommunication.WhileChineseattitudetodistanceincommunicationmaybenotappliestothetheory.ThoughcomparingChinesedistanceandAmericandistance,basedonspacecommunicationdistancetheoryofhall,wecanunderstandtheChinesespacialcommunicationculture.Hall’sth...