从跨文化交际角度对比中西方餐桌礼仪的不同英文冯心如1解析

[作者简介]冯心如,女,山东人,新疆工程学院讲师 ,硕士,研究方向:语言学与语言教学;徐艳萍,女,北京人,新疆工程学院讲师 ,硕士,研究方向:语言学与语言教学。TheComparativeStudyofChineseandWesternTableMannersfromthePerspectiveofCross－cultureCommunication○FengXinruXuYanping(XinjiangEngineeringInstitute,Urumqi,Xinjiang,830091[Abstract]Inthemodernsociety,thecross－culturecommunicationbetweenChinaandWesterncountriesbe-comesahotissueandtheinfluencesofChinaandWesternetiquetteareincreasinglyprofound,whichcausethedifferencesintablemanners．BytheanalysisofthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesterndietarycultures,wecancomprehendtherespectiveculturaltraditionsofChinaandthewest,andsetupaharmoniousrelationshipwiththewesterns．[Keywords]cross－culturecommunication,tablemanners,differences中[图分类号]G04[文献标识码]A[文章编号]1672-8610(201304-0092-03I．IntroductionWiththedevelopmentofglobaleconomy,cross－culturecommunicationhasbecomemoreandmorefrequent,andthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternculturehavebecomemoreobvious,especiallythedifferencesoftablemanners．Incrossculturecommunication,themisunderstandingscausedbyculturebarrierappearfrequently．Sometimeswell－meaningtalkingmightmakepeopleembarrassed．So,studyingthedifferencesbetweendifferentculturesandstudyingtherightactionsofcross－culturecommunicationarenecessary．Thepur-poseofknowingthedifferencesandsimilaritiesoftablemannersistounderstandthepresentcross－culturalsituationandtohaveabetterideaofpeople’srelationshipsbyavoidingunnecessarymisunderstandingandmistakes．ThroughcomparingthetablemannersofChinaandWesterncountriesandkeepingpacewiththechangingworldcanbemoremeaningfultoallpeople．Havingdinnerismorethanthebasicnecessityoflife．Instead,havingdinnerisanimportantpartofsocialformula．DuetoChineseandforeigners’differentlifestyles,thewayofthinking,culturesandtablemannersshowabigdifference．Chi-nesetablemannershavealonghistory,whichdatedfromZhouDynasty,atthattimetablemannershaveaquitecompletesys-tem．Thosetablemannersgraduallygotoalevelofmatureandperfect,moreover,theytookanimportantpartinthepastandstillhaveadeepinfluenceinthemodernsociety．WesterndiningcustomsoriginateinMerovingianDynasty,France,andinthe20century,ItalianculturecametoFrance,tablemannersandmenuturnedtobemoreelegantanddelicate,fromthattime,booksofetiquettearepublishedgradually．Today,tablemannersinheritinEurope．TablemannersinWesterncountrieshaveinfluenceonChinesetablemannersbecauseofWorldIntegration．Inordertoprotectourtableculture,wecanmakethetwotablemannersintegrated,whichisgoodforuscommunicatingwithforeigners．So,itisnecessaryforustoknowthedifferencesofthetwotablemanners．TherearenumberlessdifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternfoodcultures,andthosedifferencescausethedifferencesoftablemanners．Thispapermainlytalksaboutthedifferencesoftablemannersbetweentwocultures,toanalyzethecauses,aimtoachievecross－culturecommunicationmoresuccessfully．Forexample,someculturaldifferencesreflectedintablemannersbetweenChinaandtheWest．Ⅱ．DifferentTableMannersbetweenChinaandtheWest．21DifferencesintablesettingFirstofall,tablesettingforChineseandWesternarequitedifferences．Chinesepeoplealwayschooseroundtableswhenen-tertainingfriends．TherearelotsofrulesinChinaaboutwheretoputtheroundtableandwhichseattakesprecedenceonthesametable．ChinesepeopleprefertotheroundtableintheChineseban-quets．Ifthereisjustaroundtableinthefamilydinner,soithasnotableorder．Butifthebanquetsareheldinarestaurantorahallandtherearetwoorovertworoundtable,thenitmusthavethetablesettingorder．Theruleoftablesettingisthatthetoptableistheroundtablewhichisbacktotherestaurantorthehallandtherightofwhichisseniorandtheleftisinferior．Iftherearethreeroundtables,thenthetableinthemiddleissen-ior,therightisnextandtheleftissecond．Anyway,therightishonorandtheleftislow,whateverhowmanythetablesare．Therearefourbasicwaysofsettingarrangement:Firsthostshouldsitfacingthemaindoor,thenguestofhonorsitontherightofthehostanddeputychiefgustontheleft．Second,whenthebanquetsarrivetothescaleofmorethanonetable,everyta-—29—语文学刊 ·外语教育教学2013年第4期bleshouldhavearepresentativeofhostandthesettingisonthesamewayofthehost,sometimesheorshecanfacetothehostonthemaintable．Third,takingthetableofthehostsittingasthesign,theguestonitsrightishonorandtheleftislow．Fourth,ifthepositionofthehostisinferiortotheguestofhono-r,thehostcanaskguesttositwherethehostshouldhaveseatedandthehostsitonhisright．Asforthedinningoflessthanfivepeople,itstablesettingcanfollowthosefourrules:rightishon-orandtheleftislow;themiddleseatissenior;theseatoffacingthedooristhetop;flexibilityarrangement．Butthewest,thelongtablesarethechoiceinthebanquet．Theyalsothinkthattherightishonorandtheleftislow．Inthebanquet,thehostandhostesssitfromeachother,gentlemanofhonorsitnearthehost,hisMadamesitnearthehostessandtheothersfollowthem．Intheinformalparty,itfollowsthatwomenisfirst．Ifamanandawomanhaveadiner,themanshouldletthewomansitonhisrightanddon

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tletshneartothepas-sageway;anywaythemanoughttoletthewomansitinside．Whentherearetwocouples,ladiesshouldsitagainstthewallandtheoppositearetheirhusbands．Whentwomenwithawoman,menshouldletwomansitinthemiddleplace．Whentwopeoplehaveadinner,theseniorsitinside．Besides,menshouldremovethechairsandletwomensitfirst．2．2DifferentindinnerwareSecondly,inChina,thedinnerwareweusearethose:thechopsticks,smalldishes,spoons,bowlandsoon．Intheban-quet,waterglassisontheleftofthedishesandwineglassisontheright．Chopstickandsoupspooncanbeputonthespecialseatorinthepapersleeve．Andthetoothpickandashtrayisnec-essary．Inwest,theyprefertousetheknifeandfork,spoon,dish,glassandso．onInthewayofsetting,Chinesedinneriseasybutwesterndinneriscomplex．Thesettingwaysofthewesterndin-nerintheworldisbasicallyunified．Thecommonprincipleis:underplateisplacedinthemiddle;forkisontheleftandknifeisright,knifepointkeepsupwardandknifeedgeinward;spoonisputtedonthefrontofplate;maindishisleftanddinnerwareisright,theothersareputtedbycircumstances．Besides,thenum-berofwineglassesequaltothevarietyofwine．Andtheputtingwaysareintheorderofthatstrongwineglass,wineglass,champagneglass,beerglass．Thenapkinisplacedontheplate．Iftheguestwantstoputsomethingintheplatebeforethedinner,thenapkincanbeputtedbesidetheplate．Thereisonecommonrule:righthandwithknifeandlefthandwithfork．2．3DifferencesintheorderofservingThirdly,inChina,Thefirstdishesarecolddishes,bever-ageandwine;thenthehotdishes;nextstaplefood;atlastthesweetsandfruit．Whenthebanquethasmanytables,eachtableshouldbeoneverydishatthesametime．Besides,hotdishesshouldbeservedfromtheleftsideoppositetheseatoftheguestofhonor,singlecopiesofvegetablesorsidedishesandsnacksshouldbegiventotheguestfirstthenthehost．Plasticdisheslikewholechicken,wholeduck,andwholefishcanuttheir’tpheadsandtailstowardthehostseat．Ingeneral,therearesever-alwaysofserving:First,thebigdishisputtedside,self－servedbythepeople．Second,awaiterholdsadishonebyonetoeachguest．Third,itisinfullbloomwithsmalldishes,andtheneachoneenjoysthosedishes．Inthebanquet,eachdishlikeslideshow,eachtimeadishisserved．Sometips:intheweddingbanquetorotherredbanquet,theplatesonthetablecanbeoverlapped,meaningthatagoodthingcomesagainandagain．While,intheWhiteBanquetlikefuneraltheplatescannotbeoverlapped,thereason,Ithink,youcanguess．Westernservingstepsareusuallylikethis:breadandbut-ter,colddishes,soup,seafood,maincourse,dessert,coffeeandfruit．Theyeatthecolddishes,soupandbreadatthesametime．Colddishesalsoknownasappetizerdish,servedasthefirstcourseusuallywithanaperitif．Andsoupincludesstainssoupandcreamsoup．Themaincoursehasfish,pork,beef,andchickenandsoon．Dissertusuallyhasice－cream,puddingetc．2．4DifferencesinthehostisverywarmandmodesttotheirguestsFourthly,thehostwouldprepareasumptuousfeastbeforethecomingofguestsinChina．Therearedaintiesofeverykindpreparingonthetable．Therichusuallyeatshellfishandcrab,whilethecommonpeopleeatchicken,duck,fish,etc．Whenthefeaststarts,hosturgesgueststodrinkandeatmoreandpickupfoodfortheirguestfrequentlywiththeirownchopsticks．Inthehost＇sopinion,theaimtoentertainistoletgueststodrinkandeattotheirheart＇scontent．Whilethehosturgestheirgueststodrinkandeatmore,theyalwayssay:”Thereislittletoeat,pleasemakethisdoforeating,”or“thesedishestsoaregoodno,enjoyyourself．”AfeatureinChinamustbementioned:Peopleeattogether．Itmeansthatpeopleusetheirownchop-stickstopickupfoodinoneplate;theothersalsopickupfoodinthesameplate．However,thehostoftenuseshisownchop-stickstopickupfoodforguests．Thisisasignofgenuinefriend-shipandpoliteness．Whenthefeastisfinished,thehostwillin-vitetheirgueststodrinktea．IthasbeenacustominChina．Theychatwhentheydrink．Thehosturgesgueststodrinkteare-peatedly．Ithintstoguestthattheyshouldgonow．Furthermore,thehostarrangestheseatsinadvanceinordertogetthenamesofthesepeoplewhojointhebanquetontheirmarks．Thentheguestsareseatedinarow．Thearrangementofseatsembodiesrespectforguests．Whereaguestisseatedde-pendsonhisage,socialstatusandsoon．“Takingtheleftforupper”,itisthetraditionalcustominChina．Itmeanstheleftseatsarehigherthantherightone．Theguestofhonorshouldbearrangedontheleftofthehost．Inthepast,Chineseadvocatedsouth,eastandtheleft．Withthetime＇sgoing,theviewofposi-tionhaschanged．Itdosenotonlyinheritthetradition,butalsousesomeviewsofWesterncountiesforreference．Theguestshouldbearrangedontherightofthehost．Atpresent,whenpeopleholdmeetingortakeagroupphoto,theyareaffectedbythisrule．ChineseentertainedguestwiththeEight－Immortalta-bleintradition．Theseatfacedtothedooristheseatofhonor,whiletheothersareseatedaside．Thehigher－levelisseatedintheupperseatandthehostssitatthelowerseat．Theolderguestsareseatinorder．Whentherearemorethanonetable,thehostandthehostessseattogetherinthemaintable．Thedis-tancefromthemaintabledeterminedthepositionofthesepeo—-39—CULTUREFengXinruXuYanping/TheComparativeStudyofChineseandWesternTableMannersfromthePerspectiveofCross－cultureCommunicationple．Theshorterthedistanceis,themoreimportanttheguest．isThemaintableisstandardized．Therighttableishigherthantheleftone;theclosetableislowerthanthefarone;themiddleta-bleishigherthantheoneplaceaside．Inwesterncountries,thehostneverservesmorethan6dishes,souporfreshfruitcupormelonorshellfishbeforethecomingofguests;Fishisavailableonlyifshellfishisnotservedasafirstcourse;theentre,ormaincourseé,isusuallymeatorfowlalongwithvegetables;thenSalad,dessertandcoffeeareof-fered．Sometimes,thedishespreparedforguestsareextremelysimple．TheWesternershopetheirguestsjoyful．Meanwhile,theythinkthatinvitationisjustanoccasionforintercourse,achanceofthemaintenanceoffriendship．Andthemostimportantistogetmuchusefulinformationbyentertainment．Influencedbythisidea,entertainmentinWesterncountrieshardlyattachim-portancetofood,butalsohavevariousandfreewaysofenter-tainment．Theycreatearelaxed,comfortableanddelightedairfortheirguestinathousandandoneways．Theywanttomaketheirguestenjoythatgoodtimefreely．Whenthefeaststarts,theWesternersarealsowarmtoguestsandurgegueststodrinkandeat,butonlyonceortwice．Atlast,theWesternersliketohavesomepastriesanddrinkcoffee．Thecoffeespoononlyusedtostirthecoffeeisnotusedtopoundthesugarcubeintopieces．Whenpeopledrinkcoffee,theyeatsomepastriesanddonottakepastryinonehandaswellascoffeeinanotherhand．Drinkingdoesnotalternatewitheating．Otherwise,peoplewillfeeltheyaregreed-y．Inaddition,peopledonotaddsugartocoffeeforotherswithout-knowingothers ’．tasteⅢ．ConclusionInsummary,differenttablemannersembodythedifferentcultures,whichisshownintheChineseandWesternfromtheabovefourmaindieteticdifferences．Chinaandwesternhavealotofdifferences．Nowweknowaboutthedieteticculturebe-tweenChinaandwestern．Thenwhatshouldwedotofacethisgapinthegraduallyglobalizingworld?Wecannotdenyanyofthecultures．Wecannotsaythatthiscultureorcustomisrightandthatiswrong．Equalrespectshould