精品由喜福会看中美文化差异和冲突英文.docx

精品由喜福会看中美文化差异和冲突英文.docx

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精品由喜福会看中美文化差异和冲突英文

【关键字】精品

CulturalGapsandConflictsBetweenChinaandAmerica

fromaStudyofTheJoyLuckClub

由《喜福会》看中美文化差异和冲突

By

FengDie

（冯蝶）

Supervisedby

AssociateProf.GuoXihua

（郭锡华）

June,2007

Contents

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………i

Abstract&KeyWord………………………………………………………..………………………ii

1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1

2.AnalyzingtheCulturalGapsandConflictsbetweenandinDetailfromaStudyofTheJoyLuckClub……………………………………………………………………………….4

2.1.Differentvalues…………………………………………………………………………….5

2.2Differentconceptsoffamily………………………………………………………………..8

2.3Differentwaysofspeakingandbehavior………………………………………………….12

3.Lookingforwardtothefutureofculturaldifferencesbetweenand…………...18

References…………………………………………………………………………………………20

Acknowledgements

IamgreatlyindebtedtomythesissupervisorAssociateProf.GuoXihua.Shenotonlyguidesmetowritethisthesisintime,butalsoprovidesmewithusefulreferencematerials.Withoutherpatientassistanceandfriendlyencouragement,itwouldnothavebeenpossibleformetocompletethisthesisinsuchashortperiodoftimewithoutreducingitsscholarlyquality.

MyspecialthanksshouldgotomyfriendLeewhohasgenerouslysharedhisreferencematerialswithmeandexchangedideasonthissubject.Iespeciallythankmyfamilyandmyroommateswhohavesupportedmeduringmyresearchonthistopic.

Abstract&KeyWords

Abstract:

Thispapermainlydiscussesdifferentcultures.Asarule,interculturalcommunicationreferstothecommunicationbetweenpeoplefromdifferentcultures.Underdifferentculturalcircumstances,therearetangibledifferencesinpeople’sbothvaluesandmodesofthinking.Consequently,culturalgapsandconflictsareapttocomeintobeing.Fromthispointofview,thisarticleintendstoapproachandanalyzesomeconcretemanifestationsofdifferencesinChineseandAmericanculturesbymeansofthenovel,TheJoyLuckClub,whichisChineseAmericanfemalenovelist,AmyTan’smaidenwork.Thisarticlecanbedividedintothreeparts.Thewriterofthepapertriestoexplainthedefinitionofinterculturalcommunicationandsimilarlythehistoryofstudyingitinbothandinthefirstpart.ItalsochieflypassesonAmericanculturalanthropologist,EdwardT.Hall’stheorieswithrespecttointerculturalcommunication.Hismostfamoustheoryonhighcontextandlowcontextculturesisincluded,whichhasusuallybeenadoptedandcitedbyotherexpertstoresearchintointerculturalcommunication.Inthemeantime,thebriefintroductionofthenovel,TheJoyLuckClubisequallyhelpfulforreaderstobetterunderstandthereasonwhythisnovelischosentobeastheanalyticalsubject.ThesecondpartistomakegooduseofHall’stheoryonhighcontextandlowcontextculturestoanalyzetheconcretemanifestationsofdistinguishableculturesbetweenand.Firstly,therearedifferencesbetweenChineseandAmericanvalues.Chinesecultureadvocatescollectivism,onthecontrary,Americanculturesupportsindividualism.Secondly,ChineseconceptoffamilydiffersfromAmericanone.ChinesecultureemphasizestraditionalandconservativeconceptonthepremiseofcollectivismwhileAmericanculturestressescomparativelymodernandopenconceptonthepremiseofindividualismandself-development.Thirdly,itisimpossibletodoubtthatthewaysofspeakingandbehavioraredifferentforChineseandAmericancultures.Chineseculturelaysspecialemphasisonimplicitandindirectways.Bycontrast,Americanculturegivesprominencetoexplicitanddirectways.Thewriterlooksforwardtothefutureofinterculturalcommunicationattheendofpaper.Withtheglobalizationoftheworld,thecoexistenceofvariousculturesisaninexorabletrend.

Keywords:

TheJoyLuckClub;differentcultures;highcontextculture;lowcontextculture

摘要:

通常我们所说的跨文化交际，就是指来自不同文化群体的人们之间的交流。

在交流过程中，由于各自所处的文化环境不同，价值观念和思维方式有着明显的差异，因此很有可能产生文化隔阂甚至冲突。

而本文主要以此为切入点，借助美籍华裔女作家谭恩美的处女作《喜福会》，对中美文化差异的具体表现进行深入的分析和探讨。

文章主要分为三部分：

首先，就跨文化交际学的定义以及中美研究发展史做一番说明。

其中主要介绍多年来一直努力研究跨文化交际学的美国文化人类学家霍尔针对文化差异所提出的相关理论，包括最著名的高低背景文化理论。

同时，对小说《喜福会》的内容做个介绍，从而让读者更好的明白选择《喜福会》作为研究分析东西的原因。

其次，利用霍尔的高低背景文化理论，借助《喜福会》，对中美文化差异的具体表现来进行分析，文章从中美文化价值观念的差别、中美文化的家庭观念的不同以及中美文化说话行为表达方式差异等三个方面进行了详细的分析。

本文作者最后对跨文化交际进行展望。

随着全球化的进程，各种文化之间的融合将是一个必然的趋势。

关键词：

《喜福会》；文化差异；高背景文化；低背景文化

CulturalGapsandConflictsBetweenand

fromaStudyofTheJoyLuckClub

1.Introduction

Initsgeneralsense,interculturalcommunicationreferstothecommunicationbetweenpeoplefromdifferentcultures.Ittakesplacewhenamessageisproducedbyamemberofonecultureforunderstandingandresponsebyamemberofanotherculture.Asculturalvariationsaremanyandgreat,thepotentialformisunderstandinganddisagreementcanlikewisebeseriousandgreat（杜瑞清等,2004:

22）.Toputitanotherway,culturalgapsandconflictsareverylikelytobreakoutafterundergoingaperiodoftimeduringthecommunicationbetweenpeopleofdifferentcultures.

Althoughasaformalizedanddefinedareaofstudy,interculturalcommunicationhasacomparativelyshorthistory,itisgratifyingtoseethatmoreandmoreemphasisandimportancehavebeenplacedoninterculturalcommunicationbothinandoutsidetheacademiaallovertheworld.Indetail,letushaveamoredeep-goingcomprehensionofthehistoryofthestudyofinterculturalcommunicationindetail.

Fromtheangleofregion,interculturalcommunicationinbeganasaseriousdisciplineforstudyintheearly1980swiththenation’sreforminitiativesandopeningupendeavors.ThestudyofinterculturalcommunicationintheUnitedStatescanbetracedtopost-WorldWarⅡ,whenbusinessandgovernmentwereexpandingandrebuildingglobally.Governmentandbusinesspersonneloverseasoftenfoundthattheywereill-equippedtodealwiththechallengesofworkingamongpeopleofdifferentcultures.Thelanguagetrainingtheyreceived,forexample,didlittletopreparethemforthecomplexchallengesofworkingabroad.Inresponsetothissituation,thegovernmentpassedtheForeignServiceActin1946andestablishedtheForeignServiceInstitute.TheInstitutehiredEdwardT.Hallandotherprominentanthropologistsandlinguists（includingRayBirdwhistellandGeorgeTrager）todevelop“predeparture”coursesforoverseasworkers.Interculturaltrainingmaterialswerescarce,sotheydevelopedtheirown.Insodoing,theInstitutetheoristsformednewwaysoflookingatcultureandcommunication.Thus,thefieldofinterculturalcommunicationwasborn（杜瑞清等,2004:

22-23）.

Withtheaspecttoacademia,therearemanyoutstandingexpertsfrommanyfieldswhoaredevotingthemselvestodoingresearchintothehistoryanddevelopmentofinterculturalcommunication.Amongthem,theachievementsofscholarsfromculturalanthropologyandliteratureareprobablyparticularlyoutstanding,inspiteoftheirdifferentresearchangles.

Culturalanthropologistspossesspowerfulprofessionandtheyareworkinghardininterculturalcommunicationatalltimessothattheirresearchtheoriesandconsequencesaremoreauthoritative.Forexample,EdwardT.Hall,WalliamB.Gudykunst,LarryA.Samovar,YoungYunKimandTing-Toomyareallsplendidculturalanthropologists,especiallyEdwardHallwhosetheoriesinviewofinterculturalcommunicationareusuallyadoptedbyotherspecialists.EdwardHallhasdescribedthreeimportantconceptsandtheorieswithregardtoculturaldifferences,thatis,time,space,andcontext.

“Timeisoneofthefundamentalbasesonwhichallculturesrestandaroundwhichallactivitiesrevolve.Understandingthedifferencesbetweenmonochromictimeandpolychromictimeisessentialtosuccess.”Monochromictimeischaracterizedaslinear,tangible,anddivisible.Inmonochromictime,eventsarescheduledoneitematatimeandthisscheduletakesprecedenceoverinterpersonalrelationships.Polychromictime,onthecontrary,ischaracterizedby“thesimultaneousoccurrenceofmanythingsandbyagreatinvolvementwithpeople.”（杜瑞清等,2004:

20）

Here,spacereferstotheinvisibleboundaryaroundanindividualthatisconsidered“personal.”Thissenseofpersonalspacecanincludeanarea,orobjects,thathavecometobeconsideredthatindividual’s“territory.”Thissenseofpersonalspacecanbeperceivednotonlyvisually,but“bytheears,thermalspacebytheskin,kinestheticspacebythemuscles,andolfactoryspacebythenose”aswell（杜瑞清等,2004:

21）.

ConcerningEdwardHall’stheoryonhigh-contextandlow-contextcultures,itmaybeconsideredashismostsignificantachievementintheresearchofinterculturalcommunication.EdwardHallcategorizesculturesasbeingeitherhighorlowcontext,dependingonthedegreetowhichmeaningcomesfromthesettingsorfromthewordsbeingexchanged.Thiscanvaryfromahighcontextculturewherebackgroundinformationisimplicittolowcontextculturewheremuchofthebackgroundinformationmustbemadeexplicitinaninteraction（杜瑞清等,2004:

21）.

Inahighcontextstyle,thetalktendstobeindirect.Muchofthemessageisexpressedbymeansotherthanwords,andpeoplelearntowatchforandinterpretnon-verbalcuesandhinted-atnuancesofmeaning.Agreatdealisleftunsaid:

silenceisvaluedandisassociatedwithself-restraint（Fitzgerald,Helen,2003:

81）.Inotherwords,informationisprovidedthroughgestures,theuseofspace,andevensilence.Meaningisalsoconveyed“throughstatus（age,sex,education,familybackgrounds,title,andaffiliations）andthroughanindividual’sinformalfriendsandassociates.”（Samovar,2000:

79）Chinesecultureandtraditionarelong,continuousandunified,andchangeverylittleovertime.Itpossessesstrongstabilityandsolidaritysothatisvieweda