从广告语的角度看中美文化差异_英文_

1、收稿日期:2005-09-15作者简介:徐鸿雁(1979- , 女, 助教, 专业方向:英语语言文学。文章编号 1671-2730(2005 ZK -0057-05Differences betw een Chinese and AmericanCultures Reflected in A dvertisingXu H o ng yan(English Department, Shanghai DianJi U niversity , Shang hai, 200240Abstract T he paper illustrates som e differ ences betw een Ch

2、inese and American cultur es fr om the per spective of advertising. It also reveals the close relatio nship betw een adver tising and culture. In the translatio n of advertisements, it is necessary to o ver com e these cultural differences to achieve same ef -ficiency betw een source tex t and targ

3、et advertisem ent. Key words advertising; cultural differences; psycho logy从广告语的角度看中美文化差异徐鸿雁(上海电机学院英语系, 上海, 200240摘 要 从广告的角度, 分析了中美两国的文化差异, 同时, 也揭示了广告和文化之间的紧密关系。在广告翻译中, 为使译文广告与原文起到同样的效果, 应该充分考虑并克服这些文化差异障碍。 关键词 广告; 文化差异; 心理中图分类号 G 04 文献标识码 BIn a br oad sense, culture covers bo th mater ial field and

4、mental field. In line w ith this broad sense, Eug ene A. N ida, the famous Am er ican tr anslator, has identified five layers of cultur e:E -colog y; M ater ial Culture; So cial Cultur e; Rel-i g ious Culture; Ling uistic Cultur e 1. In a narrow sense, culture is restricted in the spiritual area. It

5、 is the to tal set of beliefs, attitudes, custo ms, be -havior, social habits, etc. o f the members o f a par -ticular society 2. Adv ertising is the non -perso n -al co mmunicatio n o f information usually paid for and usually persuasive in natur e about products,serv ices o r ideas by identified s

6、po nsors thro ug h the various media 3. T he ro le o f adv ertising is to propag ate pro ducts, attract consumers and enlar gem arket. Every consumer liv es in an enviro nm ent surr ounded by a unique cultur e, so his behav io r m ust be determ ined by the culture and mo st o f the time the influenc

7、e is imper ceptible and inveterate. In or der to g et the hearts and minds o f consumers, adv ertising takes the cultural backgr ound o f con -sumers into par am ount consideratio n. The cultural m eaning of advertising m ust be line w ith the psy -cholo gy of customers and, at the sam e tim e, can

8、tviolate the do minant culture of the comm unity. Meanw hile, because of its ling uistic artistry, per -m eability and pop cultur e sty le, adv ertising play s an im po rtant role in spreading culture w hile selling goo ds. Differ ent histor ical conditions, geog raphic circum stances and w eather f

9、actors determine the differences in culture, so it is natural that there ar e som e differences in cultures betw een China and A -m er ica, w hich are r eflected in advertising.1 The differences in cu ltural psychologyCultural psycholog y includes beliefs, values, and w or d view etc. Betw een China

10、 and America,there are g reat differences on this aspect.1. 1 C hinese cultural psychology reflected in adver -tising1. 1. 1 L ooking back to histor yChina has alr eady covered mor e than 5000splendid years. We have four great Chinese ancient inventions; w e have the most prosperous period o f the a

11、ncient time T ang Dynasty; w e have the a -m azing Gr eat Wall w hich is one of the human be -ings buildings that could be seen from the moon, and w e have abundant v aluable literary w o rks left by our ancesto rs. T wo thousand o f year s of feudal society handed do w n a lot of cultural heritag e

12、 to our modern people. So w hile the modern civiliza -tion of the w orld r eaches a hig h deg ree, Chinese people are still sentimentally attached to histor y. Chinese advertising keeps str iv ing to use national and classical culture to create no vel designing. T he frequent happening is ancient bu

13、ildings, historic site, cultural relies and fo ld flavo red scenes served as back ground fo r advertising. Even the ancient em perors and imperial concubines ar e often the main char acters of advertising. Som etimes, ancient bo oks are also revised to adv ertising. For ex am ple, one of the most su

14、ccessful advertisem ents fo r w ine is the Guoj iao Wine advertisement 品味的历史, 430年 国窖1573. Ano ther ex ample is the advertising o f the J ian N an Chun W ine . It show s the reso urce and cultur al meaning of the tradem ar kby emphasizing that it used to be the imperial w ine of Tang Dy nasty and ha

15、s a lo ng history. T he ad -vertising of Bai Yun Bian W ine also takes this kind of tactic 往事越千年, 陈酿白云边. This ad -vertising does not o nly make a stro ng cultural at -mosphere, but also m akes peo ple trust the wine by using the imag e of Libai.1. 1. 2 Value human r elationship sT he greatest differ

16、ence betw een Chinese and Am erican cultures lies on the fact that Chinese peo ple believe in the Do ctrine of the M ean, while w estern people, especially American people like g oing to the ex treme. Chinese culture, especially the Confucian culture v alues so cial status, et-i quette and fam ily r

17、 elationship. Therefor e, almo st half of Chinese adver tisem ents belong to the sent-imental ty pe, w hich promo te sales by appealing to peo ple s sympathy and emotion. If a pr oduct sym -bolizes affectio n or solicitude besides its effective -ness, buyers prefer it to o thers. For example, the ad

18、v ertising of 脑白金 mo ves consumers by show -ing the strong emotion between par ents and chi-l dr en 今年更要送健康, 爸妈只要脑白金. The adv ertisem ent of 黄金搭档 有多少亲朋好友, 送多少黄金搭档 uses successfully the char -acteristic that Chinese often visit relativ es and friends in festivals. Ano ther r eflection of valuing huma

19、n feeling is the strong sense of family. Ch-i nese peo ple v alue the happiness o f family v ery m uch. This character is reflected in advertising ob -viously , such as 一碗元宵圆又圆, 吃了元宵好团圆 ; 千万里, 我需找我的家 孔府家酒 , w hich are all classic advertisements emphasizing Chinese sense of fam ily. By this w ay, the

20、 aim of adver tis -ing is easier to achieve.1. 2 American cultural psychology reflected in ad -vertising1. 2. 1 Futurism and op timismAm erican people optimistically turn their ey es to the future rather than to the past, w hich can be called futurism . T his futurism came fro m optim -ism ro oted i

21、n their character. In their belief, thereis nothing that can no t be done and they w ill not give up until they have gained co mplete victor y. This belief is reflected in adver tising desig n. As the m ost ty pical r epresentativ es of future science, spacecrafts and astronauts appear fr equently i

22、n A -m er ican advertisements. For ex ample, T ang (the tr adem ark of a kind of drink m ade from fruit is advertised as SELECTED BY NASA FOR U. S. SPACE FLIGH T . T his adv ertising makes cus -to mers feel g lorious and proud besides nice taste o f the drink. Mo st o f the customers w ill think tha

23、t if the drink is selected fo r astro nauts, and if they drink the bev erag e, they are equal to the astro -nauts, and can do as w ell as them. (Since the suc -cess o f Mr. Yang s space flig ht, ther e have also been several space -advertisem ents in China, but the frequency is much less than that o

24、f Am er ican ones. 1. 2. 2 I ndivid ualism /self f reedomDifferent from Chinese, w ho v alue the co oper -ation o f g roup, American people emphasize ind-i v idualism. The belief in the fr eedo m of the individ -ual is pr obably the mo st basic and m ost str ong ly held one o f all. By self freedom

25、, Americans r e -fer to the desire and the ability o f all indiv iduals to control their o wn destiny, w ithout outside inter -ference fro m the gov ernment, a ruling noble class, the church or any o ther establishm ent. T o cite an ex ample, Stew art T ilger, a photographer in Seat -tle, advertises

26、 like this: I com pete w ith the giant studios, so my business image is v er y impor -tant the simple sentence sho w s the basic A -m er ican value. An individual can do as w ell as his much bigger co mpetitors, o rganized groups, as long as he w o rks hard. Another example is the w inner of the 40t

27、hCLO AWARDS. T his adv ertise -m ent is for Pepsi Cola.Sense:I t is in a bar w hich a lot of old soldiers of-ten v isit.A n old of f icer and his gr anddaughter com e in. Grandp a:(to w aiter J ack, how ar e y ou? W aiter :F ine, thanks!Gr andp a:D ear , w hat do y ou w ant? Gr anddaughter:P ep si C

28、ola, p lease.Waiter :We only have Coca Cola.Gr anddaughter:Of f icer , y ou once f ought f or f reedom ; then, w hat is f r eedom? Freedom is to hav e the right to choose. Every body , no m atter man, w om an, adult and child , should live in the lif e he/she w ants and choose things he/she likes. N

29、 o Pep si Cola!W ith the martial m usic, all p eop le f ollow ed the gir l to leav e the bar . T he Pep si mar k ap p ear s on the sense.T his adv ertising reflects deeply the individua-lism of A merican people.2 The differences in aesthetic interestsAesthetic psycho logy is a comprehensive cu-l tur

30、 al co nsciousness, w hich involves political view, religious conception, living w ay and custo m, etc. T here are great differences in the action and ideas, especially aesthetic interests of people, betw een different national cultures. Advertising is bo th an important propag ating m ethod and a k

31、ind of im po r -tant social cultur e. It not only must fo llow the so -cial habits and cater to the aesthetic interests of peo ple, but also play an important ro le in influen -cing and form ing so cial culture and aesthetic psy -cholo gy. Because o f the differences in political view , relig ious i

32、dea and liv ing w ay etc. , betw een Chinese and A mericans, there ar e great differences in aesthetic interests. 2. 1 AnimalsIn Chinese view , Dragon and Phoenix are both the symbols o f auspicio usness. Dragon has been the sy mbol of the East for several hundred years. It is a mag ic animal, w ho

33、can make rain fo r peo -ple, so Drag on is a w ord of comm endation. Pho enix is a m ysterious anim al in Chinese leg end. In ancient time, people believed that the appear -ance of phoenix for eboded the peace of the w orld. H ow ever, in w estern cultur e, drag on is a beast that is able to br eath

34、e o ut fir e. It is often consid -ered as the sym bo l o f calam ity o r ev il. In Wester -ner s opinion, phoenix is a bird w hich, after liv -ing hundreds of years in Ar abian desert, burnt it -self on a funeral pile and rose from the ashes yo ung ag ain, to liv e for another cycle. So, it is natur

35、al that Chinese often use dr ag on and phoenix in tr adem arks, such as 凤凰牌自行车 , 凤凰阁 and 凤鸣大厦 . H ow ev er, these tw o w ords ar e seldo m used in American advertising. Ev en if they appear in adv er tising, they are usually considered as the neg ative im ag es. Fo r ex am ple, in Am er ican adverti

36、sing o f Koda film, a boy holds the cloak in one hand and gr asps a sw ord w ith the other hand. A m an says : H e has killed a dragon. Besides drago n and pho enix, so me other animals have also different meanings betw een Chinese culture and w estern culture. For ex ample, cock is o ften used in t

37、rademark in China, such as 金鸡 、 雄鸡 . Chinese consider it as the emblem of luck, happiness; w hile, in A merica, it means pride and flaunting and is often used to r efer to some org an as a m etaphor. Magpie is a lucky bird in China, but it is used to com pare a talkative and disgusting person in Eng

38、 lish. 2. 2 C olorIn festivals of Chinese, red colo r can t be ab -sent. According to Chinese v iew , red colo r repre -sents energ y, enthusiasm, happiness and go od luck. T he frequency of its appear ance in advertis -ing is much hig her than other colo rs. For ex am ple, in the serial advertising

39、 of 红杉树品牌 , the red flag serv es as the background; red co lor g uides the scenes, which appropriately symbolizes its bus-iness spirit/philosophy fo rging ahead, pionee -r ing and regarding human being as the center. Yello w co lor also play s a special r ole in Chinese culture. It is the sym bo l o

40、f nobility and ro yalty in ancient time. While, in w estern culture, people consider w hite color as the noble and pur e symbol and hav e no g ood feeling about red colo r. In w est -ern culture, red colo r m akes people think about danger and ex treme . Purple is the w elcom ecolor in America, w hi

41、le Chinese do n t have special feeling about it. 2. 3 PlantsIn Chinese culture, som e plants, such as Bamboo ,pine ,chrysanthem umandplum , stand for str ength and ro use, so they are likely to be used in advertising 菊花香皂 , 雪松牌录音机 Especially , chrysanthemum has very good graces in China, because it

42、keeps on str ug gling w ith the fr ost w hen other flo w ers fade in the autum n. H o w ever, Westerners loathe chr ysanthemum w hile liking ro se. While w estern peo ple have no special feeling w ith the lotus flo w -er, in Chinese culture, it is the sym bo l of being pur e and elegant and is prais

43、ed highly. So, in Ch-i nese advertisements, the w o rd lotus appears fre -quently as tradem ar k, such as 莲花味精 .3 The differences in languageT he relationship betw een languag e and culture is not the parataxis but the subordinate r elation. Culture, w hich includes lang uag e, is one of the m ost i

44、m por tant attributes of language; language is one of the mo st important carr iers of culture. Be -cause there ar e differences in the thinking pattern betw een Chinese and A merican people, Chinese linguistic structure differs fr om English ling uistic str ucture.3. 1 The characteristics of C hine

45、se linguistic struc -tureU nder the influence of traditional philosophy and culture, Chinese g radually form the special lin -guistic structure that stresses on inherent r elation, implied r elation and blurr ed relation. When sen -tences and articles are w ritten, the connection of w ords and sente

46、nces depend on not the structure but the coherence of meaning. This is reflected in adv ertising lang uag e. In the advertising of H-i Fi stereo, Zhang fei tells reader s the ex cellent quality of the product:张飞用上麦克风 (我 开口一喝, 就是一千六百瓦超强功率, (使 敌军闻声倒退数里;(我 透过杜比B 杂音消除系统忽斥再发, (则 一时声如潮涌, (使 马似山崩; 待(我 第三回再

47、开口, V -Bass 低音回路声效直震诸将脑门, (使 曹操披发而逃! ! . T he w o rds in brackets are om itted , im -plied and blurred par ts. As Shen Xiaolong said: 汉语最注重的不是空间构架的严谨, 而是线性的流动, 转折, 追求流动的韵律, 节奏, 不滞于形, 削尽冗繁, 辞约义丰4.3. 2 The characteristics of the English linguisticstructureThe thinking patter n o f w estern nations inc

48、lu -ding American, ow ns an o bv io us characteristic o f em phasizing reason, analy sis and per fection o f fo rm. A s reflected in lang uage, Eng lish has the ling uistic character of mor pholog y. This character -istic decides that cohesion o f structure is the key point w henever sentences or ar

49、ticles are m ade. As the fam ous linguistic ex pert Shen Xiaolong said: 英语句子往往以形统神, 以丰满的形态变化制约句子的格局, 规定句界, 结合程序严谨规范, 是一种以限定动词为核心, 控制各种关系的空间性树形构造. 4 From the fo llow ing advertising w e can find this character o f Eng lish.Your body is beautif ul. I t s y our j eans that ar e out of p rop or tion.Eve

50、n the most beautif ul body can get lost un -der the w rong p air of j eans. T hat s w hy it s im -p ortant to w ear j eans that let y ou look y our best, j eans that make the most of w hat y ou v e got:Look our R elax ed Rider s. When w e mak e R elax ed Rid-ers , w e cut our mater ial on a cur ve to conf or m to the natural contour s of y our body. So w here y our p r op ortions change, the p r op ortions of y our L ee s Relax ed Rider s J eans change too. I f