英语专业毕业论文中西方幽默差异.docx

英语专业毕业论文中西方幽默差异.docx

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英语专业毕业论文中西方幽默差异

RevisedbyJackonDecember14,2020

英语专业毕业论文中西方幽默差异

黄山学院毕业论文

题目：

TheDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishHumorandtheReasonsfromaCross-culturalPerspective

学生姓名：

＿＿＿＿------＿＿＿＿

系别：

＿＿＿外国语学院＿＿＿

专业：

＿＿＿＿英语＿＿＿＿＿

学号：

＿＿＿＿＿＿

班级：

＿＿＿08英本3班＿＿＿

指导老师：

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

二○一二年四月

Acknowledgements

Firstofall,IwanttoexpressmyheartfeltthankstoLiYu,mysupervisor,forallthetimeandenergyhehasputintotrainingmeasastudentofEnglishwhenIstudiedatHuangshanUniversity.Withouthispainstakingsupervisionandhelp,thisthesiscouldneverhavebeenfinished.

Thefacultyisknowledgeableandrigoroustowardsresearchandtirelessinteaching.Theyhaveinfluencedmealotandhelpedmenotonlyestablishacademicgoals,graspbasicresearchmethodsbutalsolearnhowtocommunicatewithothers.HereIwanttoexpressmygreatrespectandsincerethankstothem.

Iamalsogratefultomyclassmatesatforeignlanguagedepartmentatourcollege.

Abstract

Humorplaysasignificantroleinpeople’sdailylife.Itcanmakeushappyandreliveouranxietyandstress.Itisjustbecauseofitsfunctionsthathumoriswidelyusedinmanyaspects.However,duetodifferentcultures,ChinesehumorisdifferentfromEnglishhumor.Whatisthoughtfunnyinonecountrymightbeconsiderednonsenseormisunderstoodinanothercountry.Thusweneedtoknowthedifferencessoastounderstandthehumorbetter.Byusingthecomparativeanddescriptiveapproaches,thisessaycomparesthedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishhumorandanalysesthecauses.ResearchesshowthatChinesehumordiffersfromEnglishhumorinmanyaspectssuchasorigin,style,content,function,skillsandtechnique,thewayofproducing.Differentvalues,differentwaysofthinking,differentideologyandculturebackgroundallaccountforthesedifferences.

KeyWords：

ChineseandEnglishhumor;differences;causes

摘要

幽默在人们的生活中有着非常重要的作用。

它能给人们带来欢乐，减轻忧虑和压力。

正因为幽默的重要作用，它在各方面都被广泛应用。

然而，由于不同的文化差异，中国幽默和英语幽默存在差异。

一个国家中被认为有趣的事在另一个国家就会被认为没有意义或者被误解。

因此我们需要了解其中的差异以便可以更好地领悟幽默。

本文比较了中西方幽默的差异并分析了原因。

研究表明中西方幽默在源流，风格，内容，作用功效，技巧和表现手法和产生方式等方面存在差异。

不同的价值观，思维方式，意识形态和文化背景是造成这些差异的重要原因。

关键词：

中西方幽默；差异；原因

CONTENTS

TheDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishHumorandtheReasonsfromaCross-culturalPerspective

1.Introduction

NowIwillgiveabriefintroductionabouttheobjective,significance,methodsandorganizationofmyresearchontheChineseandEnglishhumor.

Researchobjective

Humorplaysanimportantroleinourlife.Itcanreducetheinfluenceofourbadmoodandbringshappinesstous.Itisalsogoodforourinterpersonalcommunication.Tosomeextent,itisanimportantpartofourlife.Sinceitissoimportant,manypsychologists,linguistsandanthropologistsathomeandabroadhavemadesignificantcontributionstohumorstudiessuchas,LinYutang,GongWeicaiHumorcanreflectacountry’sculture.However,therearefewresearchesaboutcross-culturehumor.ItisinterestingandimportanttofindoutthedifferencesbetweenChinaandEnglishhumor.Thisthesisistofindthedifferencesinordertobetterunderstandandappreciatehumorandavoidmisunderstanding.

Significanceoftheresearch

BecausetheReformandOpeninguppolicy,Chinahasmorecommunicationwithothercountries.However,humorinonecountrymaybemisunderstoodinanothercountry.Soitisurgenttodothestudyandfindoutthedifferences.TheeconomicglobalizationhasbroughtmoreandmoremultinationalcorporationstoChina.However,theremaybemisunderstandingsofhumorduetoculturedifferences.Thecurrentresearchhopestosolvethisproblem.

Moreover,thereisalotofliteratureonhumorfromtheperspectivesoflinguistics,philosophy,psychologiesandaesthetics.Becausefewresearchesarefromacross-cultureperspective,thisresearchhopestointriguepeople’sinterest.

Methods

Inthisthesis,descriptivemethodisusedtogiveyouabriefunderstandingaboutthedefinition,classification,characteristicsofhumor.ComparativeapproachandexplanationareusedtocomparethedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishhumorandexplainthecauses.Othermethodssuchassummingupexperienceandreadingdocumentsforreferencearealsoused.

Generalorganizations

Thispaperismadeupofsixparts.PartOneisthebriefintroductionabouttheobjective,significances,methodsandthegeneralorganizationofthisstudy.PartTwoisabriefsurveyconcerningthedefinition,classification,characteristicsofhumor.PartThreesummarizesthedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishhumor.Partfourexplainsseveralaspectsthatcausethesedifferences.PartFivegivessomesuggestionsonhowtounderstandcross-culturehumorandenhanceourculturalsensibility.Thelastpartisasummaryforthewholethesis.

2.Literaturereview

ItisnecessarytohavesomebasicknowledgeofhumorbeforewediscussandcompareChineseandEnglishhumor.Thischapterwillmakeabriefsurveyonhumoraboutitsdefinitions,classificationsandcharacteristics.ThenthisessaywilldoafurthersurveytocomparethedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishhumorfromacross-culturalperspective.

Definitionsofhumor

Humorisalwaysusedinourdailylife,butfewpeoplecangiveasatisfactoryanswerofsuchquestionslike“whatishumor”or“whatisthedefinitionofhumor”.Sofirstabriefsurveywillbemadeonthedefinitionofhumor.

AccordingtotheonlineLongmanEnglishdictionary,thedefinitionislikethis.

a.theabilityortendencytothinkthatthingsarefunny,orfunnythingsyousaythatshowyouhavethisability

b.thequalityinsomethingthatmakesitfunnyandmakespeoplelaugh

Humoris,accordingtoancienttheory,anyoffourbodilyfluidsthatdeterminehumanhealthandtemperament.postulatedthatanimbalanceamongthehumors（blood,phlegm,yellowbile,andblackbile）resultedinpainanddisease,andthatgoodhealthwasachievedthroughabalanceofthefourhumors;hesuggestedthattheglandshadacontrollingeffectonthisbalance.

TheEnglishwordhumourderivedfromtheLatinwordhumor.Originally,itisamedicalterm,meaningliquidwhichcontrolshumanhealthandemotion.Humoristhetendencyofparticularcognitiveexperiencestoprovokeandprovide.

Thecharacteristicsofhumor

Whileitisclearthat“senseofhumor”varieswidelyamongindividualsandgroups,itisthepresenceofoneormoreoftheuniversalcharacteristicsofhumorthatmakeseventsmorelikelytobeperceivedasfunnybytheobserver.Amongtheuniversalcharacteristicsthatmayproduceahumorousresponsearetheexperiencesof:

incongruity,absurdity,ludicrousness,orridiculousness,anunexpectedfuture,apleasantsurprise,beingstartled,andemotionalchaosrememberedintranquility.

Classification

Justlikethedefinitionofhumor,theclassificationisalsovarious.

Herearesomeclassificationsbydifferentscholars.

Bergsonholdsthatbasedoncomiceffects,humorcanbedividedintoexpressedhumorandcreatedhumor.WhileaccordingtoKoestler,thereareverbalhumorandsituationalhumoronthebasisoftheexpressionsofthetext.TanDarenbelievesthatdocumentaryhumor（anecdotesoffamouspersons）differsfrommake-uphumor（humorcreatedbyahumorist’simagination）.（acomparativestudyofChineseandEnglishadvertisementhumorfromacross-culturalcommunication）

Whatisinterestingisthathumorcanbedividedintodifferentcolors.Whitehumorislikepurepapertriggeredbynaivechildren.Blackhumor,inliterature,drama,andfilm,grotesqueormorbidhumorisusedtoexpresstheabsurdity,insensitivity,paradox,andcrueltyofthemodernworld.Pinkhumorisrelatedtotheamorousfeelingsbetweenmenandwomen.Grayhumortriggersshallowandvulgarlaughter,reflectingpeople’sdissatisfactionandresentmenttowardssociety.Yellowhumorisrelatedtosex.

HumorcanbeclassifiedintoGallowshumor,surrealhumour,Jewishhumourandvitreoushumor.Gallowshumoristhetypeofthatmanagestobefunnyinresponsetoaperfectlyhopelesssituation.Itarisesfromstressful,traumatic,orlife-threateningsituations,ofteninsuchcircumstancesthatisperceivedasimpendingandunavoidable.Surrealhumorisalsoknownasabsurdhumourornonsensehumour.Onthebasisofviolationsofcausalreasoningwitheventsandbehavioursthatarelogicallyincongruent,surrealhumorisaformofinvolvingbizarre,irrationalsituations,andotherdisplaysandexpressionsof.Jewishhumouristhelongtraditionofin,referringtothemorerecentstreamofcrude,verbal,,andoftenanecdotalhumouroriginatingin.Thevitreoushumouristheclearwhichfillsthespacebetweentheandtheoftheofhumansandother.Itisoftenreferredtoasthevitreousbody.

3.DifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesehumor

Differentoriginsofhumor

TheEnglishwordhumouroriginatedfromtheLatinwordhumor.InancientGreece,“humor”wasamedicaltermwhichmeans“liquid”or“fluid”,havingsomethingtodowithmedicine.Inthefifthcentury.thefamousscholaraswellasDoctorHippocratescreatedatheory,holdingthathumanbodyconsistedoffourfluids.Thesefourfluids（humor）areblood,phlegm,yellowbileandblackbile.Itisthevariantmixtureofthese“humors”indifferentpersonsthatdeterminedtheirphysicalandmentalqualitiesaswellastheirdispositions.DuringtheRenaissanceperiod,humorreferredtoaperson’smoodortemperamentinaverygeneralsense.TheprominentEnglishwriterBenJohnsonadvocatedthatwhendescribingapersonweshouldputdispositionandtemperamentasaprioritysuchasthepassion,greed,sinisterandsoon.HisplaysEverymaninHishumorandEverymanoutHisHumorfirstintroducedtheconceptofhum