中美文化差异

中美文化差异 习俗: 传统习俗是指人们在社会生活中逐渐形成的,从历史沿袭而巩固下来的,具有稳定的社会风俗和行为习俗,并且已同民族情绪和社会心理密切结合,成为人们自觉或不自觉的行为准则.传统习俗的内容是复杂的,存在于一个社会的传统习俗大体上分两部份:一是历史遗留下来的,其源远流长,时代久远,具有社会性,集团性,民族性的特点.不同地区,不同集体,不同民族都具有不同的传统习俗,如不同民族的民风习俗.二是适应现实社会历史条件而产生的,如新中国成立后所倡导的新的生活习俗. 在社会主义社会,传统习俗有两重性,存在着新与旧,进步与落后,积极与消极相对立的习惯.一方面,存在着社会主义新风俗习惯,它是适应社会主义制度的新风俗习惯,是适应社会生活的需要,在马克思主义指导下,在党和国家大力倡导下,逐渐产生和发展起来的.它对评价人们的道德行为起着重要的积极作用.另一方面,存在着旧的风俗习惯.在旧的风俗习惯中,有精华,也有糟粕.对此,我们要进行具体分析,区分出精华和糟粕,以摒弃其糟粕,而吸其精华,为巩固和发展社会主义所用. 文化差异，首先表现在风俗习惯上。文化冲击或文化震撼，往往也因风俗习惯不同而成。 个人主义与合作精神 说起个人主义，人们很容易想到利欲薰心、唯利是图的资产阶级伦理价值观，尤其是像美国这种典型的资本主义国爱。其实，英文里的个人主义(individualism)在美国有两层意思。第一层是它的积极意义，指的是个人自我独立、自我奋斗、自己掌握自己命运的执著精神。这层意义上的个人主义常与这样的美国人形象相联系:他是一个勇敢坚强的拓荒者，向荒野迁移，与蛮夷作伴，用自己的智慧和力量独辟蹊径，铺设成功之路，他所做的一切充满着创业精神和独特活力。第二层是它的消极意义，指的是个人为了追求自己的利益，置他人利益和公共利益于不顾，疯狂索取，贪得无厌。这层意义上的个人主义常与这样的美国人形象相联系:他是一个自私自利的投机分子，为了满足个人的种种欲望，不择手段、不顾一切地从社会和大自然中攫取有用之物，对社会福利和自然环境冷谈麻木，漠不关心。可以这么讲，个人主义的这两层意思是该词内涵所不可分割的一个整体，如同一枚硬币有其正反两面一样。 从好的角度说，个人主义有利于创业精神的弘扬，它给人以机会，赋予自由，鼓励多样性，从而推动和促进了美国的工业、农业、科技、教育、娱乐和体育的发展。从坏的角度来讲，个人主义的无节制膨胀给大自然造成了很大的破坏，也给社会中的人际关系抹上了一层厚厚的冷霜。许多人在冷酷的个人主义的竞争、挤压下，或生活潦倒、心灰意懒，或人性扭曲、愤世嫉俗。因此，从个人主义的积极、消极两方面因素来看，问题的关键是如何抑恶扬善，而这也是美国文化中始终没有妥善解决的“难结”。 不过，令人值得我味的是，美国人虽然个人主义强盛，但他们也很愿意合作。可以这么讲，除英国之外，西文国家中没有哪个国家象美国人那样愿意为某种共同的目的而自愿联合起来;没有哪个国家私人的联合会有美国那样多和那样卓有成效。 在欧洲大陆，建立一个教会、一所学院、一座医院、一个慈善机关，往往费时费劲，困难重重。但在美国，只要个人或团体有兴趣就可以轻易地建立这类机构。于是，各种各样的纷纷成立――乐施行善的、繁荣商 业的组织、影响政治的组织、收集历史资料的组织、规划未来的组织、研究文化的组织、拥有枪支的组织 等等，不一而足。几乎社会上的每个人都有自己的组织:学校里的男女孩子，商人和学者，朋友和领居， 老移民和新移民，素食者和戒酒者，集邮爱好者，心脏病患者等，统统都有自己的组织。这种现象说明， 人们在追求个性发展的同时，仍注重团体组织的建设，以保证社会能有秩序和稳定，使个人利益和集体利 益之间达到一定程度的平衡。 不同的地区，文化也是不同的 1.在美国，与第一次见面的人就直呼其名，或者小辈对长辈也可如此。而在我国，这样的行 为往往被认为不尊重对方的表现。 2.美国双反交谈时，往往不会谈及对方的工资与年龄。这是打探对方隐私的行为，认为是不 尊重对方;而我国恰恰相反，年龄往往作为一种问候性质的语言，而如果关系近一点，还可 以谈谈工资工作等。 Cultures in different regions are different. 1. In the United States, with the first meeting of the person on the address him by name, or a descendant of the older generation can also be the case. In China, this kind of behavior has often been considered not respect each other's performance. 2. The United States Anti-double-talk, they often will not talk about each other's wages and age. This is the information about each other's privacy act, think it is not respect each other; and our country the contrary, age is often used as a greetings to the nature of language, and if the relationship between the near point, you can talk about the job such as wages. 饮食习俗差异: 其一、美国人喜欢一日多餐，每餐适量;而中国人传统习惯一日三餐，每餐食量都较大，且 现已开始有不食早餐的风气。无疑少食多餐会比一日三餐、二餐科学，特别是不食早餐更易 患胆石症。其二、许多中国人习惯每日购买新鲜食品烹饪;美国人往往一次性购买一周的食 品贮存在冰箱里，每日食用冷冻食品，且食用的罐头和腌制品分别为中国人的八倍和六倍， 要知道它们含较多的防腐剂和色素等化学品，均对身体不利，这值得生活日趋简单化的都市 白领一族注意的。 其三、中国许多家庭逢年过节时菜肴特别多，应酬也特别多。而美国人宴客或过节，从不铺 张，连总统宴请外国元首也是五菜一羹，更不劝酒。 其四、中国人烹调时喜欢用植物油，美国人则喜欢用含胆固醇较高的动物油。植物油为不饱 和脂肪酸，不含胆固醇，因此美国人的心血管疾病发病率特别高。 Diet Culture difference between China and America. The main difference between Chinese and America eating habits is that unlike, where everyone has their own plate of food, in China the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares. If you are being treated by a Chinese host, be prepared for a ton of food. Chinese are very proud of their culture of food and will do their best to give you a taste of many different types of cousin. Among friends, they will just order enough for the people there. If they are taking somebody out for dinner and the relationship is polite to semi-polite, then they will usually order one more dish than the number of guests (e.g. four people, five dishes). If it is a business dinner or a very formal occasion, there is likely to be a huge amount of food that will be impossible to finish. A typical meal starts with some cold dishes, like boiled peanuts and smashed cucumber with garlic. These are followed by the main courses, hot meat and vegetable dishes. Finally soup is brought out, which is followed by the starchy "staple" food, which is usually rice or noodles or sometimes dumplings. Many Chinese eat rice (or noodles or whatever) last, but if you like to have your rice together with other dishes, you should say so early on. 文化 文化是一个复合的整体，其中包括知识、信仰、艺术、法律、道德、风俗以及人 作为社会成员而获得的任何其他能力和习惯。 Culture is a composite of a whole, including knowledge, beliefs, arts, law, ethics, customs and any other capabilities and habits obtained by people being as members of society. 价值观念的差异 传统的价值观念是各国文化的核心。与西方离散性相反，中国人崇尚聚拢性。多 少年来，汉民族形成一种崇尚集体反对个人主义为主的强烈意识。个人主义，即 一切从个人出发，“只顾自己，不顾别人”。而西方资产阶级学者提出的“人本”、 “人本”则强调人的价值。它的核心是个人奋斗和独立精神。 Traditional values are the core of culture in each nation. In contrast with the West iscreteness, the Chinese people advocate gathering. For many years, the Han people d form a strong sense to uphold the opposition to individualism-oriented. Individualism, that is from a personal point that is “for their own interests, disregarding others”. 宗教信仰的差异 宗教文化在西方文化中占有及其重要的地位。在西方，大多数文学作品里，都可 以找到宗教文化的影子。西方人信奉宗教，笃信上帝，上帝至高无上，是宇宙万 物的创造者和主宰。中国人也有自己的宗教，但无论形式和内涵，都无法与宗教 在西方文化中的影响相比。在中国几千年历史长河中，都伴随着宗教文化的波涛， 在语言、习俗、心理上都有宗教文化的影子，一些中国人信奉道教、佛教、伊斯 兰教，甚至还有天主教和基督教，但就大多数中国人来说，宗教文化在中国人心 目中的地位与作用，都远远无法与西方人意识中的宗教同日而语。 只要深入西方社会生活，就会发现，无论欧洲人还是美国人，宗教不仅与他 们生活息息相关，而且与人们的喜怒哀乐紧紧相联。与东方人不同，教堂在西方 已成了人们精神生活的支柱，以至于每星期人们都要花大量时间到教堂去礼拜。 Religious culture in America and its culture occupies an important position. In America, the religious culture could be easily found in the majority of literary works. Americans believe in religion, believe in God. For them, the supremacy of God beyond everything and God is the creator and the ruler of everything in the universe. Chinese people also have their own religion, but the form and content are unable to compete with the impact of religion in the West culture. During the several-thousand-years history of China, waves of religious culture have been accompanied in language, customs and psychology. Some Chinese people believe in Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, and even Catholic and Protestant. However, the status and role of religious culture in the eyes of the Chinese people are unable to be compared with the religious consciousness of Americans. As long as you understand Western social life, it is easy to find that, whether Europeans or Americans, religion is not only with their lives, but also tightly linked with people's emotions. Moreover, the church in the America has become the spiritual pillar so that people spend a lot of time go to church to do worship every week. 民族习惯的差异 民族习惯的差异表现在许多方面，现仅举称谓上的一些不同。中国人称谓上 常常用“老”，“老王”、“老李”、“老刘”，对地位稍尊的人甚至还叫“赵老”、“张 老”。中国人一般也不直呼其名，直呼别人的名字被视为没有修养，不懂礼貌， 有辈分问题时，甚至是不能容忍的;而西方的称呼习惯与中国人相反，西方人从 不愿意别人说“老”，相互称呼时，他们都喜欢直呼其名，就算小辈对长辈也没 有问题。西方人送客，从不出门，而中国人为了表示客气，总要送出很远，且还 要说“您慢走，您走好。” Differences in national habits manifested in many ways. Chinese people often use the title “Lao”; the people a little more respected for the status are even called “Zhao Lao”, “Zhang Lao”. Chinese people generally do not address the elders by name, address them by name was considered as not self-cultivation and impolite. Coming to seniority in the family, it even cannot be tolerated; and Westerners call at the other way, Westerners would never be willing to say “Lao”. They all like to address each other by name, even between a descendant and the older generation. What’s more, when the Westerners see a visitor out, they never go out, and the Chinese people, in order to express polite, will always be very far out, and would like to say, “Take care!” Different cultural backgrounds lead to different ways of expressions; the Chinese people in advertisements express affection, friendship and love, which are in line with the Chinese implicit character (Xu, 2003). Some advertisements have truly expressed the most sincere love between children and parents, the husband and his wife as well as the neighbors; it is in line with the consumers’ mentality. For instance, China has already covered more than 5000 splendid years. Two thousand of years of feudal society handed down a lot of cultural heritage to our modern people. So while the modern civilization of the world reaches a high degree, Chinese people are still sentimentally attached to history Advertisement can be classified into two types. One is called narrow sense advertisement. It only refers to commercial advertisement which advertisement persuading customers to buy products and make profits through advertisement. Another called broad sense advertisement. It refers to all kinds of advertisement, including commercial or non-commercial advertisement. The advertisement appeals employed should be consistent with the values and taste of the target audience. Advertisement is an information and activity, which should pay the money. Firstly, as part of commercial activity, advertisement has the features of putting and producing. Secondly, as part of informational transmission, advertisement information must be perfect, but all of these should be ensured by cost. Thirdly, the advertisement companies should seek profits so that they can live and develop. Chinese people often use the title “Lao”; people, a little more respected for the status, are even called “Zhao Lao”, “Zhang Lao”. Chinese people generally do not address the elders by name, addressing them by name was considered as not self-cultivation and impolite. It even cannot be tolerated calling directly the seniority in the family by name. Westerners call the other way; they all like to address each other by name, even between a descendant and the older generation. What’s more, Xu (2001) illustrated that when the Westerners see a visitor off, they never go out, and the Chinese people, in order to express courtesy, will always be very far out, and would like to say, “Take care!” 中国人有图吉利、避不祥的文化心理，有孝敬父母，重视家庭子女的观念。 反映这些文化心理的广告语附拾皆是。如: 金六福，中国人的福酒。 孔府家酒，叫人想家。 威力洗衣机，献给母亲的爱。 以上广告语符合中国人的文化心理，很能打动受众的心，容易引起共鸣。西 方国家的历史不及中国悠久，加之地域狭小，经常迁徙，家庭观念淡漠，因此， 广告语中很少有反映上述文化心理的广告。 中国人比较相信政府，信任和服从权威。广告商也正是利用了消费者的这种 心理，将广告诉诸国家或是协会这些权威来诱惑消费者，使得消费者认为这些权 威机构推荐或是保护的产品在质量和信誉上都是肯定可靠的。 Chinese believe in the government, trust and obey authority. Advertisers exactly have made use of this consumer’s mentality, they advertise with resort of the coming of the country or the associations, to allure the consumers, making consumers think of the products recommended and protected by these authorities are certainly reliably on the quality and credibility. 该广告运用了权威效应或直接运用上级权威。中国传统文化崇尚自上级而下 的绝对权利。自始至今，对长辈的尊敬和对上级权威的服从还是存在与大部分中 国老百姓的思想中。 The advertisement applied the effect of authority or higher authority directly. Chinese traditional culture advocates the absolute right coming from superiors. So far, the respect for elders and obedience to superior authority are still exist in the idea of the most Chinese people. 但是美国人对权利的认同和接受程度与我们存在较大的差异，他们更相信自 己的判断，不轻易接受别人的想法，特别是官方的看法，他们看重事实的权威。 However, to the degree of recognition and acceptance to the rights, there are great difference between Chinese and American; they trust their own judgments, not easily accept other people's ideas, especially the official view. They value the authority of the fact. Therefore, they most probably provide a few reliable data in advertisements, to cause the consumers a more firmly believe on the products. Advertisers exactly have made use of this consumer’s mentality, they advertise with resort of the coming of the country or the associations, to allure the consumers, making consumers think of the products recommended and protected by these authorities are certainly reliably on the quality and credibility. For instance, in the advertisement of Colgate—“高露洁牙膏在世界上都到超过40个牙医学会承认，更 多中国口腔护理专家选用品牌，中国口腔医学会(CSA)，中华预防牙医会(CPMA) 推荐品牌。”, the advertiser used words such as “协会推荐品牌”, “专家选用产品”. The advertisement applied the effect of authority or higher authority directly. Chinese traditional culture advocates the absolute right coming from superiors; so far, the respect for elders and obedience to superior authority are still exist in the idea of the most Chinese people (Zhu, 2007). However, to the degree of recognition and acceptance to the rights, there are great difference between Chinese and American; they trust their own judgments, not easily accept other people's ideas, especially the official view. They value the authority of the fact. Therefore, they most probably provide a few reliable data in advertisements, to cause the consumers a more firmly believe on the products. It is forbidden to use leaders’ name, image, or speech state leaders. 戴着白色牛仔帽的农场主看着牛仔们把牛群赶上山。 There was the farmer, wearing a white cowboy hat, looking at cowboys running the herd of the cattle.