摘 要

手机短信作为目前中国最主要的通信交流方式之一，已经逐渐由纯粹的通讯媒体向信息媒体、多功能媒体过渡。从最初集中流行于青少年之间到现在全面覆盖各个年龄层，手机短信已渐渐渗透到社会、经济、文化，以及大众生活的方方面面。日常生活中可以看到人们普遍使用手机短信来进行节日问候、天气预报查询、新闻手机报阅读、网上购物，以及订票订位等活动。除此之外，手机短信还一并承载了情感和文化的传播，俨然已经发展成为一种具有鲜明时代特征的新型文化。那么，催生短信文化如此深入和广泛普及的原因有哪些，而短信文化的产生和发展又进而对社会生活带来哪些方面的影响？这无疑是一个多层次、多角度的课题。本文首先从经济发展、科技进步，儒家思想和高语境文化，短信自身新颖、契合时代的特点以及中文寓意特点和久远书写历史四个方面着手讨论短信文化产生的原因。随后论述其在反哺经济、推动科技方面的作用以及对人们日常生活和语言系统及文学的影响。
 
关键词：短信文化；原因；影响
 
Abstract

Text message or SMS（short message service）, as one of the main means of communication in China, is shifting its role from mere communication media to multifunctional information media. It not only facilitates daily communication, but also assists the spread of emotion and culture. Though a technology popularized first among teenagers, text message developed very quickly to cover almost any age group within years. And in daily lives, we can see people use text for various activities like holiday greeting, weather report, news, on-line shopping, booking and so on. With SMS entering every aspect of our social and economic life, we are now embracing a new type of culture, i.e. text culture which embodies distinct epochal spirits. Then, what are the causes of text culture and what effects has it brought to out society? That is really a complicated issue requiring thorough analysis. In this thesis, I am going to discuss the causes of text culture from the following four respects: economic development and technological advancement, Confucian philosophy and high context culture environment, appealing features and functions of text itself and finally meaning-oriented feature of Chinese language and its history. Then, the effects text culture brings will also be discussed from four perspectives, i.e. the effect on social economy, on technology advancement, on people’s daily life and on Chinese language and literature.

Keywords: Text culture; causes; effects

Chapter 1 Introduction
A joke goes that the most nimble and flexible body part of a Chinese is his thumb, considering the astonishing number of texts sent per year in China. We are familiar with the scene that a person stops to edit short messages with eyes glued at his phone, regardless of his location, whether in a crowded market or beside a trash box. We are no stranger to people calling out at their friends at a bus stop or a train station “text me once you arrive”. And it’s often the case that a person who we rarely meet or call is a regular in our text list. Indeed, with the number of messages sent per person significantly exceeding the world average, text is among the most popular means of communication nowadays in China.