(完整word版)中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程

1、（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程Chapter3：MakingGeneralizationsWhenpeoplehavelittleinformationaboutagroupofpeopletheyarelikelytothinkoftheminaverygeneralway。Iftheotherpeoplewithwhomtheyinteractalsolackinformationaboutthatgroup,theyarelikelytoshareanoverlygeneralizingbasedonlimitedorinaccurateinformationiscalle

2、dstereotyping。WeallmakegeneralizationsEveryonegeneralizeseverydayjusttomakesenseofhisexperience。Noonecanrespondtoeverysituationasifitwereentirelynewandunique。Astudentanticipatingaclasstaughtbyateacherhehasnevermet,generalizesfromhisexperiencethatteachershavecertaintypicalbehaviors，opinions，andexpect

3、ations。Thestudentinteractswiththenewteacherhemeetsbasedonthegeneralizationshehasmadefromhispreviousteachers.Thisisnormalandsensible.Thestudentmayhaveaproblem,however，ifthegeneralizationhemakesistoobroadorisbasedoninadequateoroutdatedinformation。Suchaninappropriategeneralizationcangethimintotrouble。S

4、omegeneralizationsaretoobroad,outof-date,orinaccurateWhenIwasaskedtogivealecturetoasecondyearintensivereadingclassabouttheAmericancharacterIwasfacedwithacomplexproblemofgeneralization。Firstofall,areallAmericansalike?Dotheyallhavethesamecharacter？Ofcoursenot,butitispossibletosaythatAmericanstendtohav

5、ethisorthatattitudeorspeakinthisorthatway.Peoplewithasharedexperienceandsharedhistorydohavethingsincommon。（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程ThestudentshadbeenreadinganessaybytherespectedAmericanhistorianHenrySteeleCommager。InmylectureIwassupposedtoexpandonwhatCommagerhadsaidabouttheAmericancharacter.Theessaywas

6、writteninthe1960sandIwaslecturinginthe1990s。Surelymuchhadchangedinthattime.AnotherproblemwasthatCommagerwascomparingAmericanculturetoEuropeancultures。Whilehisgeneralizationsmayhavebeenappropriateatthetimetheessaywaswrittenandforhisintendedaudience,itwasnotasusefulageneralizationforChineseuniversitys

7、tudentsreadingitinthe1990s。AfurtherproblemwasthatCommagerwasdescribingwhathavecometobecalleddominantcultureAmericans。Therewasnomentionofsubcultures,regionalorsocialclassdifferences。IrealizedthatChinesestudentswhoformedtheirgeneralizationsaboutAmericansfromCommagersessaywouldhavemanymisconceptions。Ag

8、eneralizationthatwastoobroadWhenIfirstarrivedinhongkongIwasinvitedtoafamilyhomefordinner.Ihadreadableavingfoodinthebowltoindicatethatyouhavehadenough,soafterhavingmayfillIleftabouthalfaninchofricesatthebottomofmybowl。Tomyhorrortheladyofthehousegavemearealmouthful,inCantoneseofcourse。NotspeakingtheIa

9、nguagemyselfatthattime,IhadnoideawhatIhaddonewrong.IaskedmynewChinesefriendwhyhismotherhadshoutedatmesoangrily,andIwastoldthatshewasupsetbecauseIhadleftsomericeinnybowl.ApparentlyleavingfoodinyourbowlisnotthecorrectthingtodointheSouthofChina.SomegeneralizationsincludepositiveornegativejudgmentsInmyl

10、ectureItriedtopointouttheseproblemsandcautionthestudentsaboutmakinggeneralizations,butusuallythatdoesnothappen。Thousands,ifnotmillions,ofChineseuniversitystudentshavereadthatessayandconsideritareliablesource。Ifwasreliableforitstimeandforitsintendedaudience,butitisntnecessaryreliableforalltimeandfora

11、llaudiences.UndoubtedlystudentsinotherculturesreadsimilaressaysaboutChina.（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程Anotherproblemwithgeneralizationsisthatsometimestheinformationwereceiveaboutotherculturescontainsbiases.Thesecanbepositivebiasesornegativebiases.Areadermightthinktheinformationispure

12、lyfactual,whileinrealityitisintendedtoencourageaparticularattitudetowardaspecificgrouporculture。Sometimeseventheauthorsarenotawareoftheirownbiases.AfewyearsagotheprestigiousAsiaSocietyintheusedintheUnitedStatesdidastudyofhowAsianculturesweredescribedintextbooksusedinAmericanschools。TheyfoundthatAmer

13、icanbooks“oftenpresentAsianculturesnegatively,regardingthemashindrancestoprogressorasprimitivetrappingsthatwillbecomeoutmodedwhenchangehastakenplace。StudentsusingthesetextbooksaresubtlylearningthatWesterncultureissuperiortoAsianculture。SuchshortcomingsincrossculturaleducationonbothsidesofthePacifics

14、houldmakeuscautiousAvoidinggeneralizationsthataretoobroadInapopularbookJoelGarreauputforththeideathattheregionofNorthAmericaaresodifferentfromoneanotherthattheycanbestunderstoodasseparateculturesornations。TheNineNationsofNorthAmericaConsiderthewayNorthAmericareallyworks.ItisNineNations。Eachhasiscapi

15、talanditsdistinctivewebofpowerandinfluence.Severalhavereadilyacknowledgednationalpoets,andmanyhavecharacteristicdialectsandmannerisms.Someareclostobeingrawfrontiers；othershavefourcenturiesofhistory.Eachhasapeculiareconomy；eachcommandsacertainemotionalallegiancefromitscitizens.Thesenationslookdiffere

16、nt,feeldifferent,andsounddifferentfromeachother,andfewoftheirboundariesmatchthepoliticallinesdrawnoncurrentmaps.Someareclearlydividedtopographicallybymountains，deserts,andrivers.Othersareseparatedbyarchitecture，music，language，andwaysofmakingaliving。Eachnationhasitsownlistofdesires。Eachnationknowshow

17、itplanstogetwhatitneedsfromwhoeversgotit。Mostimportant,eachnationhasadistinctprismthroughwhichitviewstheworldoItsvaluabletorecognizethesedivergentrealities;sanFranciscoandLosAngelesarenotjusttwocities.TheyrepresenttwovaluestructuresoIndeedtheyarethecapitalsoftwodifferentnations-LosAngelesthecapitalo

18、fMexAmerica,andsanFranciscothatofEcotopia。Chicagoisnotacapitalcity,becausethereisnosuchthingasthe“Midwest.ChicagoisproperlyanimportantbordermetropolisdirectingthetradeinvaluesandenterprisebetweentheFoundryandtheBreadbasket。Yettheexistenceofinterstatehighways,denseairconnections,cheaplongdistancerate

19、s,ubiquitoustelevisionandthecelebratedfranchisedhamburgerhaslulledmany,incorrectly,intosomesensethatNorthAmericahasbecomeutterlyhomogenized,ifnotbland.JoelGarreau,HoughtonMifflin,1981TheexcerptfromNineNationsofNorthAmericaremindsusthatmanysubculturesexistwithinmostnationalcultures.Inthiscasecultural

20、differencesaredescribedintermsofregionaleconomiesandcharacteristicsofthepopulationslivinginthoseregions。ThisisaratherunconventionalwayofcategorizingculturaldifferencesintheUoS.PeoplearemoreaccustomedtothinkingofAmericansubculturesintermsofraceandethnicgroups.Inothercountrieslanguagedifferencesdefine

21、theboundariesbetweensubculturesasinthecaseofFrenchspeakingandEnglishspeakingCanada。Toavoidovergeneralization，spayattentiontolevelsofcultureInChinapeoplealsodefinethemselvesasdifferentfromoneanother.LivinginJiangsuProvinceIhavefoundthatpeoplemakedistinctionsbetweenpeoplefromtheeastandthosefromsouthof

22、theYangtzeRiverandthosefromtheNorth(economicdifferences)。Peoplealsodefineothersassimilarordifferentfromthemselvesonthebasisofurbanorruralresidence,occupation(professionalsandworkers)，ethnicity(Hanoroneofthenationalminorities)andage。LevelsofCultureAsalmosteveryonebelongstoanumberofdifferentgroupsandc

23、ategoriesofpeopleatthesametime,peopleunavoidablycarryseverallayersofmentalprogrammingwithinthemselves,correspondingtodifferentlevelsofculture.Forexample:Anationallevelaccordingtoonescountry(orcountriesforpeoplewhomigratedduringtheirlifetime)Aregionaland/orethnicand/orreligiousand/orlinguisticaffilia

24、tionlevel,asmostnationsarecomposedofculturallydifferentregionsand/orethnicand/orreligiousand/orlanguagegroups；Agenderlevel,accordingtowhetherapersonwasbornasagirlorasaboy；Agenerationlevel,whichseparatesgrandparentsfromparentsfromchildren;Asocialclasslevelassociatedwitheducationalopportunitiesandwith

25、apersonsoccupationorprofession.ByGeertHofstede,CultureandOrganizations,1991Payingattentiontothemanylevelsofcultureisonewaytoavoidovergeneralizing。Peopledonotusuallythinkofpeoplewhoaredifferentfromtheminage,genderor（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程socialclassasbelongingtodifferentcultures。If，however，theyrealize

26、thatpeoplewhoaredifferentinvariouswaysexperiencetheworldsomewhatdifferentlyfromthewaytheyexperienceit.Forinstance，aChineseurbandwellermaybesympathetictotheproblemsofafarmerinthecountrtyside.Heorshemayadmirethefarmerandadvocatesocialpoliciesthatwouldbenefithimandhisfamily.Atthesametimetheurbandweller

27、mightfeelunabletofullyunderstandtheexperienceofthatfarmer,anditislikelythathewouldnotwanthisdaughtertomarrythefarmersson.Whendifferencesinlevelsofcultureinvolveagedifferences，peopletalkaboutthegenerationgap；whentheyinvolvedifferencesbetweenmensandwomensattitudesorvalues，peoplerefertoitasthegendergap

28、。Theuseoftheword“gap”isrevealing,becauseifindicatesthatpeopleinthesedifferentcategoriesoftenhavedifficultyunderstandingeachother。Theydonotfullysharemeaningswithoneanother。NegativeStereotypesWhenIconductedthissurveyinaclassofthirdyearEnglishmajors，IfoundthatstudentsgavequitelowscorestopeoplefromAraba

29、ndMoslemcultures,soItoldthemthisstory.IfeelathomehereOnedayImetamanfromLebanonwhowasworkingforaforeigncompanyinNanjing“HowdoyoulikelivinginChina?”Iasked。“IlikelivinginChinaverymuch.Ifeelcomfortablehere”hesaid,“becauseChinesecultureissomuchlikemyhomecultureintheMiddleEast。”（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程（完整wo

30、rd版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程Thestudentswereverysurprisedandwantedtoknowwhatthesesimilaritieswer，ebecausetheirimagesofhisculturedidnotincluedanysimilarities.ThemantoldmethathiscultureandChineseculturesharedastrongemphasisonfamilyvaluesincludingrespectforeldersandunquestioningloyaltytofamilyalikeintheirconservat

31、iveattitudesregardingrelationshipsbetweenmenandwomenascomparedtoWesterncultures.InChinaasathome,peopleunderstoodhisvaluesincludinghisobligationsandfeelingsaboutfamilyandrespectedthemThismadehimfeelmoreathomeinChinathaninAmericaorEurope。ThestudentsthentoldmetheimagestheyhadofMoslemculture。Thepeoplear

32、efanaticreligiousbelievers;womenaresubmissiveandoppressedbymen；theyaresometimesfeaturedinnewsreportsofterrorism。ItbecameclearthatthestudentshadlittleinformationaboutMiddleEasternculturesbeyondwhattheyknewfromnewsreportsandthatthisaccountedfortheirnegativebiasorprejudice。Wewanttobeclosetopeoplewhoare

33、alikeusThesurveyresultsshowedthatmostimportantforaperceptionofsimilaritywasChineseculturefollowedbyeducation,residenceinadevelopedcountryandethnicityorrace.Inessaysthatexplainedtheirresponses,manystudentsexplainedtheirchoicesbysayingthatthereisan“echooftheheart”whentwopeopleshareculture.Theyfeltther

34、ewassomethingintangibleandnon-verbalabouttheintimacythatwaspossibleonlywithaforeigner。Manystudents，however，ratededucatedforeignershigherthanlesseducatedmembersoftheirownculture.Genderdifferencesalsoprovedtobeimportant.SomestudentssaidthataChinesemanmightmarryaJapanesewomanbutaChinesewomanwouldnotmar

35、ryaJapaneseman。StudentswhoansweredinthiswaybelievethatChinesementreatwomenbetterthanJapanesewomen.Manyothersdidnotfeelthatintimatefriendshipswerepossiblewithmembersoftheoppositesex。(T/hisisanothersimilaritybetweenMiddleEasternculturesandChineseculture.)StereotypesandprejudicesAgeneralizationthatgoes

36、beyondtheexistingevidence,andinaccurateorovergeneralization，isastereotype.Wemighthavepositivestereotypes(membersofacertaingrouphavegoodqualities)aswellasnegativestereotypes(membersofthegrouphaveundesirablecharacteristics).Ineithercaseitistheinaccuracyorovergeneralizationofthecharacteristicsthatweatt

37、ributetoagroupthatistheproblem.Stereotypesthatincludenegativefeelingsandattitudestowardagroupareprejudices.Strongprejudicesaresometimesdescribedasracism,ageismandextremenationalism。Astereotypeinvolvesapersonsthinkingwhileaprejudiceincludesnegativefeelingsaswellasnegativebeliefsaboutmembersofagroup.P

38、rejudicetakesmanyforms：SevereprejudiceSomepeoplebelievethatmembersofaparticulargroupareinferioraccordingtosomestandard。Forinstance，peoplewhobelievethatwomenareinferiorinmentalabilitytomenareoftencalledsexists，whilepeoplethatblacksaregeneticallyinferiortowhitesarecalledracists.Suchpeopledeeplybelieve

39、thatmembersorthegrouparenotworthyofequalorevendecenttreatment。ThiskindofsevereprejudicewasexpressedbymanyEuro-AmericansintheirrelationshiptoNativeAmericanswhentheyagreedwiththeslogan，“TheonlygoodIndianisadeadIndian.”Todaywearerepelledbysuchterriblefeelings，butweallknowthatsuchsevereprejudicestillexi

40、stsintheworld。Anumberofrecentregionalwarshavebeenaccompaniedbywordsanddeedsdescribedbyhorrifiedobserversasgenocide,theattempttokillallmembersoftheopposinggroup.Researchonprejudiceshowsthatthiskindofsevereprejudicedecreaseswitheducation。Moreeducatedpeoplearelesslikelytothinkthatpeoplefromanothergroup

41、areinferiororinsomewaylessthanfullyhuman。SymbolicprejudiceSomepeoplehavenegativefeelingsaboutaparticulargroupbecausetheyfeelthatthegroupisathreattotheminsomeway。Theydonotdislikethegroupitselfbutfeelthatthegroupisathreattoawayoflifethattheyvalue.Forinstance，inexplainingtheirresponsesonthesurveystuden

42、tsoftensaidthatruralrelativelyuneducatedHanChinesehavea“lowculturallevel”。Indiscussingtheiropinions,itbecameclearthatmyeducatedstudentsfeltthatuneducatedpeople，especiallythosecomingtothecityfromthecountryside，threatenedtheirwayoflife。Theymightbecomecriminal，mightcheat，mightliveinanunsanitarywayoroth

43、erwisemakethecitylesscivilized.Thosewithsymbolicprejudicemayfeelthatmembersofagroup(women，ruralmigrants，immigrantsfromaparticularcountry，etc。)aremakingunreasonabledemandsonthesociety.Theymayfeelthegroupiscostingthemmoney，drivingdownwages,puttingtoogreataburdenonthepublicschoolsorcausingovercrowding，

44、crimeoradeclineinfamilyvalues.Thistypeofprejudiceismorecommonmembersoftheeducatedmiddleclassinvariouscountriesthanthefirsttype。TokenismSomepeoplehavenegativefeelingsaboutmembersofaparticulargroupbutdonotwanttoadmitthis,eventothemselves.Suchpeopledonotviewthemselvesasprejudicedandtoprovethistothemsel

45、vesandotherstheyoftenparticipateinunimportantbutpositivebehaviortowardmembersofthegroup.Forinstance,apersoncanconvincehimselforherselfthatheorsheisasmallamountofmoneytoacauseofaminoritygroupbydonatingthesametimethepersonislikelytopassupopportunitiestoengageinmoreimportantbehaviorsrelativetothegroup，

46、suchasgivingasignificantamountoftimeandenergytoaprojectthatwouldbenefitthegroup.Wemightshowourlackofprejudicetowardthedisabledbyhelpingsomeoneinawheelchairtocrossthestreet,butwemaybeunwillingtoworktomakesurethatcitystreetsandpublicbuildingsareaccessibletoeveryonewhomustuseawheelchair。Subtleprejudice

47、Somepeoplebehavetowardmembersofagroupinapositiveandfriendlywayinrelativelydistantsocialsituationsbutshowtheirprejudiceinmorepersonalorintimatesocialsituations.Forinstance，atabanquet,intheofficeoratanypublicsocialevent,thepersonwillbepoliteandrespectful，evenfriendly,towardsomeonefromthegroupheorshefe

48、elsprejudiceagainst。Inmorepersonalsituationssuchasadinneratsomeoneshomeorinagroupofclosefriend，sthepersonwithsubtleprejudicemaybeuneasyorunfriendlytowardthepersonfromthegrouphedoesnotlike。Heorsheisshowingthattheywanttokeepmembersofthisgroupatadistanceandnotincludetheminmorepersonalrelationships.Real

49、likesanddislikesSomepeoplemayhavenegativefeelingsaboutmembersofagroupbecausetheydontlikesomeofthebehaviorofmembersofthatgroup.Forinstance,someonemayreallybebotheredbyloudmusicandknowsfromexperiencethatmembersofonegrouparemorelikelytoplayloudmusic。Thepersonmayrespectthemusicaltraditionofthatgroupbuts

50、tillmaynotlikeit.IftheolderpeopleinyourareaareveryfondofChineseoperaandliketoplaytheirmusicinadisturbingwayinalessthanpleasantmanner.WesternersvisitingChinasometimescommentontheirdislikeofspittingorthestandardofcleanlinessinpublictoilets。Whentheymeettheseconditions,theirinteractionswiththelocalpeopl

51、einvolvedwillprobablybenegativelyinfluencedbytheirdislike，eveniftheyfullyunderstandthereasonsfortheunpleasantsituationtheyfindthemselvesin。PreferenceforthefamiliarItismorerelaxingandcomfortabletointeractwithpeoplewithwhomweshareculture，language，levelofeducation,beliefs，styleofcommunicationandexperie

52、nce.Whatlookslikeprejudicemay,infact，beapreferencefornon-stressfulandenjoyableinteractions。Lackoffamiliaritywithagrouporlackoffluencyinalanguagecanmakeitdifficultforpeopletocommunicateandtheriskofmakingamistakeishigher.Ifsomeoneisunwillingtomaketheextraeffortneeded，heorshemayappeartobeinsensitivetom

53、embersofaparticulargroup。Itmaybethatitisonlyunfamiliaritythatcausestheinsensitivityandmisunderstanding。Intheseinstancesimprovedcommunicationandmorefamiliaritywiththegroupmayhelptoimprovethesituation.AttitudesofculturalsuperiorityAttitudesandopinionsaboutanotherculturemaybepositiveornegative，accurate

54、orinaccurate,butwhataboutouropinionsaboutourownculture?Itisnormalandnatural（完整word版）中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程(完整word版)中西文化之鉴跨文化交际教程foreachofustobeproudofourownculturesachievements,valuesandcharacteristics，butsometimeswegotoofar。Weallowourpridetoturnintoanattitudethatothersarenotasgoodasweare。Hereareattitudesofs

55、uperiorityoftenassociatedwithspecificnationalities：Americansmigh11hinkthatAmericaisthebiggestthebest,thenewestandtherichest,andallothersareabitslow，oldfashioned，ratherpoorandsomewhatonthesmallside.VisitorstotheUShavecommentedthatmanyAmericansthinkallnewcomerswanttobecomeAmericans.SomeChinesethinkthe

56、yhavethehighestcivilizationintheworld,thattheirpresentrelativepovertyistheresultofhistoricalforcesthatwillsoonbecorrected,andthattheworldwillonedayrecognizethesuperiorityofChinesecivilization。Spaniardsmaytakeprideinbeingespeciallybrave.TheFrenchmaybelievethattheyareintellectuallysuperiortoeverybodye

57、lse.Germansmayfeelthattheyarethebestinmattersofefficiency,method,andorganizationandmaybeperfectlywillingtosharetheirexpertiseontheseissueswithnonGermans.BothAsiaandtheWesthavetraditionsthatrankcultureinhierarchiesfromtheworsttothebest,fromtheleastcivilizedtothemostcivilized.IntheWestthisideawaspopul

58、arinthenineteenthcenturyundertheinfluenceofSocialDarwinism,alineofthinkingthatsaidthatculturesevolvefromalowlevelofhigherlevels。InEuropeandAmericathisthinkingputWesternsocietyatthetop,mostlybecauseofitstechnologicalandscientificachievements.TheAmericananthropologistLewisHenryMorganinhisbookAncientSo

59、cieties(1877)definedeachlevelinthepyramidandclassifiedalltheculturesoftheworldaccordingtothissystem.Figure2AnineteenthcenturywayofrankingculturesUndertheinfluenceofSocialDarwinism,somepeoplestillthinkthatprimitivecultures,whatscientistsnowcallhunter-gatherersocieties,aresimpleandbelievethatmembersof

60、thoseculturesarelikechildren。SomeofusarestillburdenedwithattitudesfromthenineteenthcenturythatbecamepopularbecausevisitorstothosecultureswereunabletounderstandwhattheywereseeingandhearingandweresoproudoftheirownculturesthattheycouldnotappreciateaculturethatwassodifferentNowresearcherstellusthatevent