英语本科毕业论文-从美国汽车看美国文化.doc

此文档收集于网络，如有侵权，请联系网站删除 本科毕业论文 从美国汽车看美国文化学生姓名： 学生学号： 200320207155 院（系）： 外 国 语 学 院 年级专业： 2003级英语本科5班 指导教师： 二七年五月精品文档 American CultureFrom the Perspective of Automobile Cai Hao Under the Supervision of Liu Shengming School of Foreign Languages and Cultures Panzhihua University May 2007ContentsAbstract.IKey Words.I摘要.II关键词.IIIntroduction .1I. The Importance of Studying American Culture.2A. The Definition of Culture.2B. The Significance of Studying Culture.2C. The Reason of Studying American Culture.3II. Study American Culture from American Automobile.5A. The Individualism .5B. Pursuit of Change.8C. Humor of Americans.9D. Materialism.10Conclusion.11Acknowledgements.12Bibliography.13AbstractSino-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. It connects the worlds most populous country with the only Superpower. The mutual understanding is related to the quality of two countries relation. Therefore, it is urgent to increase the understanding of the United States. Understanding the United States includes the understanding of American culture. Automobile is an important traffic tool and an essential element in Americans life. It is also an American culture carrier. It is an aspect for Chinese people to understand the United States.This thesis introduces the definition of culture and the significance of studying American culture, and then analyses, in American culture, the individualism, humor, materialism and Americans pursuit of change in their life. At last the author draws a conclusion that from the perspective of automobile, Americans are individualistic, humorous, and good at pursuit of materials and change in their life.Key WordsAmerican Automobile; the United States; Culture 摘 要 中美关系是全球最重要的双边关系之一，它联系着中国这一个世界上人口最多的国家和世界上唯一的超级大国。两国的相互理解直接影响着两国的关系。因此，增加对美国的了解已经迫在眉睫。了解美国包括了了解美国文化。汽车是重要的交通工具，也是美国人生活的基本要素，同时也是美国文化的一种载体。它是中国人了解美国文化的一个方面。本文首先介绍文化的定义和研究美国文化的意义，然后再从汽车这个角度，对美国文化中的个人主义，美国人的幽默感，物质主义和美国人追求变化方面进行分析。从而得出了这样一个结论：从美国汽车方面可以知道美国人富有个性，幽默感，追求物质财富和生活变化。关键词美国汽车； 美国；文化IntroductionChina is a nation with the history of 5000 years, and is playing a more and more important role in the world. Along with the Sino-American relation increasingly closing, the Chinese traditional culture is faced with the challenges from the culture of the United States. In order to avoid it, it is urgent for Chinese people to know the United States very well. To know a country and its people, it is necessary know its culture first. America is the initiator of motor society. Chinese people might learn the American culture from a new perspective- American automobile.In the 21st century, motor has become the essential thing to Americans. It is not only a kind of traffic tool, but also the symbolization of American culture. The whole life of American cannot get rid of a car. When they are children, they go to school, go shopping and so on by car; when they are old, they go to hospital, go visiting and so on by car. This country, designed for motor, expresses its culture in many cases in automobile. We might know American culture better through researching and analyzing American automobile. This research might make cross-culture communications more easily.Many scholars have researched American culture through many other areas, but there are few people who study it from the perspective of automobile. The thesis plans to study American culture from cars, and attempts to let readers understand the culture more clearly. I. The Importance of Studying American CultureA.The Definition of CultureAll material products and the spiritual products create human culture. Culture also is language, literature, arts, and many other spiritual products of ideologies. Culture in the West comes from the Latin “cultura”, original meaning refers to farming and the cultivation of plants. Since the 15th century, it is extended the use gradually, and put on the character and ability of the train, also known as culture. People are fundamentally different from animals, because people have culture. Animals do not have culture. Lin Dajing (1996) states that culture is a humans awareness of life, nature and society and the content of the relationship between them. Animals consciousness has no such capacity. Culture is the memory of mankind. Culture as a complex system of symbolization has the function of recording all kinds of actions of mankind. Spoken and written languages are the main carriers of culture. People depend on the oral language, experience, and knowledge to create culture in the world. Culture of the world is the golden key to open the door of wisdom. For an individual, a persons son comes to the world is ignorant, and then the family, schools and community give him the culture, and also create a culture somewhat. On the community as a whole, regardless of changes in the social system, it would still have to study and inherit the culture of the past. Culture is intangible schools where people create culture. Once culture is created as a cultural environment, it will influence and restrict people. A society has three major components including economy, politics, and culture. Culture occupies an important position. It cannot only promote economic development, political progress, but also the national spirit. It units the national essence of the tradition, and displays a states history and the brilliant modern civilization. B.The Significance of Studying CultureSince the World War II, the people discovered the world is becoming smaller and smaller. The various countries government officials frequently shuttle back and forth at the international stages. The cross-nation corporations blossom and bear fruits in the world. The scientists, the scholars repeatedly appear in the international academic forums. The United Nations peacekeeping troops are on the run to the world military conflict hot spot. More and more people love the international travels. More and more people become the international students, immigrants. The Chinese teachers mount the foreign rostrum. The foreign scholars come to China to hold speeches. There are more and more cross cultural communications, and show a quite magnificent sight. A country in the world almost cant isolate for self-propagation, but always communicate cultures with the other countries and influence each other, constantly learn, absorb and integrate from foreign culture. This culture communications play a great role in promoting the social progress. However, one can often hear cross cultural relations contradiction and question, because of the different cultures and the ways to express. Some countries heads behave a hand signal that they thought is friend, but they had enraged the people of other countries. The American merchants come to China to do business. Any business has not been done, and the merchants are unhappy. The English teachers often complain that Chinese students do not cooperate. Some people first go to the US to study, and then they have to come back after a short time because of the different culture. To prevent the above things happening again, more and more scholars begin to study the foreign countries and foreign cultures. Since the mid-20th century, waves of culture studies have been rising quietly. After the Cold War period, the culture studies reached a climax, and expanded. The culture studies have become a very important issue today. In Europe, the culture studies as a subject already exist early. It mainly refers to study the written materials, which mainly reflects the upper ruling classes. The books of history and cultural realities, sometimes also include literary arts and customs are written for the ruling classes. The culture studies involve not only the philosophy, but also the history, cultural anthropology, sociology of culture, cultural geography, literature, political science and many other fields, which have researched on their understanding and interpretation or are carrying out their own culture studies. Culture studies will enable us to understand the past of a country, and have clearunderstanding of the country today, and also help us to expect a countrys tomorrow. C. The Reason of Studying American CultureThere are so many countries and different cultures in the world, and they havecomplete different form. It is not easy to completely analyze the American culture from all aspects. It is better to study one aspect. In the modern world, there is no a country as America that arises Chinese people complicated affection. There is no such a country as America that arises Chinese peoples curiosity and imagination. There is no such a country as America that influences the present condition of China and the development of future. In the open society, the shadow of American culture influences everywhere. In the life of Chinese people, especially the young generation, the American music style is very popular. In the Chinese medium, there are many reports about America. Schools, governments, and the ordinary people notice the change of American policies carefully. At the book stores and libraries, all kinds of books about America are very popular. Generally speaking, China is confronted with the invasion of American culture. To avoid losing our own culture that has a heritage of 5000 years, and do international business well, Chinese people must know the United States very well. So we must know the culture of America. As the representative of Western culture, the development and fate of the American culture may be the prospect of Western civilization. The culture studies of the United States will also go beyond national borders and become global civilization issues. If we want to study the American culture, we should know American people how to view their own culture first. Raymond Williams has researched the complex cultural history of the development in the world. He states,“ civilization is moved from culture, and developed into civilization since the 18th century”(Williams,Raymond.1976: 20). In 1950s, he published The Culture and Society, which wrote a culture of four different meanings: 1. Culture is a personal habit of thinking; 2.Culture is a form of the development of thinking; 3.Culture is the art; 4. Culture is a whole way of life. Terry Eagleton says:“culture is the most complex word in the world”.(Eagleton, Terry.2000: 89) Most American people think that culture is related to the traditions, the customs and the way of life. Culture is stemmed from the traditions and customs of their family. The American culture is a product of compromise and the creation of community, and is the tool of understanding them all over the world. The United States is a country of immigrants. So American culture is the culture of migrants, and is called diversity culture. The world is diverse cultures, because it is composed of many different cultures. TheUnited States is a pluralistic culture country, because it is also composed of many different cultures. He also writes, “I hate the native American party. People are the synthesis of all biology. This is a mixture formed in the North American continent. It has become a heaven for all people. Irish, Germans, Swedes, Poles, and all the European tribes, Africans will build a new race, new religions, new country, and new literature, just like from the smelting pot of the dark ages of the new Europe with the same vigor.” Obviously, The United States is a multi-ethnic people with the common ideology and consciousness, views, beliefs and integrity after the formation of new nation. II. Study American Culture from American AutomobileThe cultures of America reflect everywhere. If one wants to study all of them, he needs much time and energy, which is very difficult. We have to research from one subject, which can be the carrier of American cultures. In America, there is no doubt that automobile has become the essential thing in American life. So automobile has reflected the American cultures. Since 1886 the Germany people Cull Benz invented the first automobile, it is always the modern civil symbolization. The existence of automobile has the inseparable relations with the culture of a nation. The USA, the country, which designs for automobile, is not exceptional. The automobile plays a very important role in Americans life. They ride in a carriage in the mothers womb to the gynecological and obstetrical hospital. Child accompanies in the automobile grows. They ride the car for dealership, play in the vehicle, and go to school in a carriage. They also ride the vehicle to make a long journey. After work, they drive to company and home, go to the market, the Stadium to watch the sports match, to the friend family, to attend the party. It has also reflected American culture from various aspects, such as Americans modest declining, time idea and so on. Therefore, we analyze the American automobile through the careful research. We may even understand the American culture more clearly from the side.A. The IndividualismIt is well known that America is the biggest country of manufacturing automobile. There are so many famous motor brands in America, such as Ford, GM, and so on. These motors have a same character, which is safe, because the steel plate of American automobile is thickest in the world. The average steel plate of motor is about 0.8-1.0mm normally, but the steel plate of American car is 1.2mm, which would increase the price and oil consumption. The American automobile consumes the oil mass accounts for the national oil used total quantity 63%, but American people do not think about it too much in the wave of environmental protection greatly. They found that it would be safer, and decrease the risk in the traffic accidents. According to New York Times, the mortality rate of people driving American car is the lowest. American take care of safety, it is not because the Americans fear death, but they care about individual. They think a person is combined with the society, and the personal value is more important than everything in the world. The single most important pattern in the United States is individualism. Broadly speaking, individualism refers to the doctrine, spelled out in detail by the seventeenth century English philosopher John Locke (1658), “Each individual is unique, special, completely different from all other individuals, and the basic unit of nature.” Lockes view is a simple one. The interests of the individual ought to be paramount, and that all value rights and duties originate from individuals. The value of individualism is so commanding that other imperative American values spring from individualism. Kim Gannon (1991) underscores the link between individualism and other when he wrote: Equality of opportunity, independence, initiative, and self-reliance are some of the values that have remained as basic American throughout history. All of these values are expressive of a high degree of individualism.” As Gannon noted, this emphasis on the individual, hidebound elsewhere in the world, has emerged as the cornerstone of American culture. Huntington points out that this “sense of individualism and a tradition of individual rights and liberties is unique among civilized societies.”(Huntington. 1996:125) The origin of this value has had a long history and a variety of champions. Benjamin Franklin told Americans that “god helps those who help themselves” and Xu Xingyan reminds them “the American system was based on rugged individualism.”(Xu Xingyan. 2004:98) Whether it is sexual, social, or ethical, the self for Americans holds the pivotal position. Duan Muyiwan:“Anybody who is any good is different than anybody else.”(Duan Muyiwan.1999:256) Whether it is literature, art or American history, the message is the same. Individual achievement, sovereignty, and freedom are the virtues most glorified and canonized. American role models may be the cowboys of the old west or action heroes in todays movies, videos, or computer games are all portrayed as independent agents who accomplish their goals with little or no assistance. The result of these and countless other messages is that most American believes that each person has his or her own separate identity, which should be recognized and reinforced. As Kim Gannon points out, “In America, hat counts is who you are, not who others around you are. A person tends to be judged on his or her own merit.”(Gannon, Kim. 1991:25) The Americans think the individualism is very important. That is not formed in modern society, it stems from Bible. In Bible, the god loves everybody, therefore, each people all are an object, which the god loves, withstands the carrier. Individual blessing realization is the Gods love manifesting. God produced firstly was individual, later will produce the association, which should exist for the goal of people, Therefore, as for personal relations, individual should first belong to the association. While membership in a church community is im