A Comparative Study of Cultural Differences between China and the WestWord文档格式.docx

A Comparative Study of Cultural Differences between China and the WestWord文档格式.docx

《A Comparative Study of Cultural Differences between China and the WestWord文档格式.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《A Comparative Study of Cultural Differences between China and the WestWord文档格式.docx（13页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

2.HeroIstheOriginalDesireofHumantoSurviveintheNature--------------------------------1

2.1.ConceptandCategorizationofHeroes---------------------------------------------------1

2.2.NatureandOrientationofHeroes-----------------------------------------------------------2

3.HeroismistheBasicmotifofFilmIndustry----------------------------------------------------3

3.1.RelationofMovieandCulture--------------------------------------------------------------3

3.2.AnalysisoftheMotifsofAmericanTypicalCinema----------------------------------------3

3.3.AnalysisoftheMotifsofChineseTypicalCinema----------------------------------------5

4.AmericanHeroism:

HeroesofCommonPeople-------------------------------------------------6

4.1.TraditionalHeroisminAmericanMovie------------------------------------------------------6

4.2.Heroismin“ForrestGump”---------------------------------------------------------------------7

5.ChineseHeroism:

theDeificationofHeroesandtheNewHeroism---------------------------8

5.1.HeroesinTraditionalChineseMovie----------------------------------------------------------8

5.2.NewHeroism-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

6.ComparisonbetweenAmericanandChineseHeroisms--------------------------------------10

Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

Acknowledgements

IwishtothankProfessorforhisvaluablesuggestionsonearlierversionsofthisarticle.MythanksalsogotoforassistanceinaccesstotheInternet.Iespeciallythankmyfamilyandfriendsfortheirmoralesupport.Thankstomyroommatesfortheirhelpfuldiscussionandcommentsonthemanuscript.

KeyWords

Abstract:

Heroistheeternaltopicanddreamofhumanbeings.ReflectedinmoviesandTVplays,heroismisaforemostthemeinbothwesternandChinesecultures.Bycomparingdifferentinterpretationsofheroism,thedifferencesbetweenwesternandChineseculturescanbeobserved.Inthisstudy,Americancinema,especiallyHollywoodmovie,ischosenastherepresentativeofthewesterncinema.

Firstofall,thenatureandpersonalityofheroesarestudied.Fromtheangleofanalyticpsychology,heroismisanoriginaldesireinoppositiontothealienforcesinthenature.Secondly,thethemesofbothAmericanandChinesefilmindustryarediscussed.ThirtyfilmswinningOscarsandthefeaturefilmsofBeijingFilmStudioareanalyzedinthetermsofsimilarityofheroismasthemaintheme.Thirdly,theinterpretationofheroisminAmericanmovieisdiscussed.Severalbox-officehitfilmsarechosentoanalyzetheformofheroism.Themovie“ForrestGump”isattachedgreatimportanceto,observingtheheroismthatAmericanmassespursuit.Then,theinterpretationofheroisminChinesemovieisdiscussed.Traditionalviewonheroismisdiscussedwith“DrawnSword”asanexampletoanalyzethenewtrendofChineseheroism.Finally,thetwokindsofheroismsarecompared,andthenanewangleofviewtostudytheculturaldifferencesbetweentheWestandChinaisintroduced.

KeyWords:

heroism,comparison,culturaldistinction,Hollywood,Chinesemovie.

摘要：

英雄是人类永恒的追求和梦想。

无论是在东方文化，还是西方文化中，英雄都是影视文学中最基本的母题。

通过对比英雄主义在不同文化中的诠释，可以透视中西方文化的差异。

在这篇论文中，美国电影，尤其是好莱坞电影，被选作西方文化的代表。

首先，讨论英雄的本质和品性。

从精神分析学的角度来讲，英雄是一种原欲，源于人类的生存悖论所产生的死亡恐惧。

其次，分别撷取15届奥斯卡获奖影片及94年北京电影制片厂制作的电影，依据统计学，得出英雄是电影的基本母题的结论。

然后，分别研究英雄主义在中西影视中的不同诠释，以美国和中国最具代表性的影视作品为例。

最后对比这两种英雄主义，及其隐含在背后的中西方文化差异。

关键词：

英雄主义，比较，文化差异，好莱坞，中国电影

1.Introduction

Severalyearsago,ZhangYimou’sblockbuster“Hero”,broughtamazingaudiovisualshockandthrilltotheaudiencesallovertheworld,grossingastaggering¥

250milliondomesticallyandinternationallytogether.Recently,anotherbox-officehitmovie“ThePromise”harvestedbothapprovalandboos.From“CrouchingTiger,HiddenDragon”to“Hero”to“ThePromise”,peoplearediscussingwhatkindof“heroroad”Chinesemovieistaking.IntheWest,from“TheMatrix”totheseriesof“SpiderMan”and“TheIncredibles”,allgrossedawhoppingbox-officeandalldealtwithheroes.Wecan’thelppondering,whatisaheroorheroism?

HowisheroisminterpretedinmoviesoftheWestandChina?

Inthisstudy,theoriginofheroiccomplexofhumanbeingandpeople’sdreamsofbecomingheroareillustrated.Thefocusisonthedifferentwaysoftellingstoriesanditswhysandwherefores,throughwhich,wewillobservethehiddendifferencesbetweenthewesternandChinesecultures.

2.HeroIstheOriginalDesireofHumantoSurviveintheNature

2.1.ConceptandCategorizationofHeroes

Thefollowingsectiondelineateshowheroesarecategorized.Itisalittledifficulttoclassifytheheroesintoacertaingenrebecauseofthevarietyofclassificationsystemsingenrestudy.IfweregardheroesastheonesdescribinginthemysteriousmythologyoftheOrientandWest,ifwebelieveheroesarethoserecordedhistoryofallthenations,ifwethinkheroesarethoseinthe“modeldrama”duringtheCulturalRevolution,thenwehavenochoicebutrecognizethatheroeshavebeenfarawayfromus.

However,ifwethinkthatheroisabroadconceptwithvariouscategorizations,theconclusionwillbeutterlydifferent.ThomasCarlyleisafamousScottishhistorianandphilosopherin19thC.Inhisbook“OnHeroes,Hero-Worship,andtheHeroicinHistory”,ThomasCarlyleemploysvariousexamplesofgreatmenthroughoutrecordedhistorytoconveyhisnotionofaHero.TheHeroforhimdefinesmasculinity,whateverymanshouldstrivetoemulate.According

toCarlyle,allheroeshaveabasic"

material"

ofwhichtheyareallmade,somesortofstuffthatineachgreatmanallowshimtobegreat.Theyhave,forexample,"

asortofsavagesincerity--notcruel,farfromthat;

butwild,wrestlingnakedwiththetruthofthings"

（QuotedfromCovert,2004）.However,atthesametime,theyalsohave"

amostgentleheartwithal,fullofpityandlove,asindeedthetrulyvalianthearteveris"

（QuotedfromCovert）.Aheroisamanwhowillinglydevoteshislifetothedivineandinnertruthandshareshisvisionwiththerestoftheworld.ForCarlyle,thisisthedefinitionofatrueman:

onewhoisadeepandspiritualbeing,livinghislifebydivinetruths.

Heallowsfordifferencesinhowthematerialoftheherowillmanifestitselfbysayingthateachmanisshapedbyhisowntimes.Thebasicqualitiesmustbethere;

whichformitwilltakeoutofthemanyheusesasexamplesdependsonwhatcircumstancesintowhichaheroisborn.Inasense,Carlyle'

sviewoftheheroresemblesthewaythatJanesawRochestershapedbycircumstance,butCarlylefeelsthatifamanhasthebasicqualitiesofahero,hewillnotbecomecorrupted,andthereforethereisnoneedofthereformingwoman.

“AHeroistheembodimentofmanhood,theultimatemale,andmasculinityincarnate.AHeroisagreatman,onetowhomeverymanlooksupandfeelsasenseofawe.Hero-worshipisthedeepestrootofall;

thetap-root,fromwhichinagreatdegreealltherestwerenourishedandgrown...WorshipofaHeroistranscendentadmirationofaGreatMan.Isaygreatmenarestilladmirable;

Isaythereis,atbottom,nothingelseadmirable!

Nonoblerfeelingthanthisofadmirationforonehigherthanhimdwellsinthebreastofmen.”（QuotedfromCovert）

Asamatteroffact,ifwearenotsticklerforacertainkindofabstractviewonheroes,ifweassociateheroeswiththeconcretehistoricalandculturalcontext,deepintothelevelofhumanitytocomprehendthepersonalityofheroesandregardheroesasthesincereeffortstoresolvesomecertainuniversalproblemsanddilemma,wecancometothisconclusionthat“Heroiseternal”.Invariouskindsofhistoricalandculturalcontext,therearealwayspeoplewhomakegreateffortstoresolvesomeuniversalproblems,todefendthecurrentviewofsocialvalues.

2.2.NatureandOrientationofHeroes

Here,“hero”wearediscussingisinthetermofhumanbeings,heroismrootinthefeartowardsdeath,whichisresultedfromlivingparadox.AsfarasAdamandEvaweredrivenoutofEden,theparadoxstandsoutincontrast:

ononehand,humanisprimateintheuniverse,thecreatorofculturalsymbolism;

ontheotherhand,human,afterall,isasenioranimalthatisdoomedtorottenness.Itisthisfundamentalconstrainthumansuffersthatresultsintheunawarerevolt,thatis,theheroicimpulse:

inordertoresisttheabsurddestiny,humanemployskindsofregulationsandrelationssuchasreligion,morality,love,authorityandarttotrytoconstructsome“causasuiproject”soastobesuperiorandeveneternal.（李启军,2004）

However,whatweshouldpointoutis,althoughthefeartodeathisthemostinternalmotivationofhumans,inreality,therevolttodeathmayevolvethattoalltheforcessimilartothreatofdeath.Theexternalappearanceofheroismmaybethededicationtosome“causasuiproject”andgreataccomplishment,but