A Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Dieteti.docx

A Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Dieteti.docx

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AComparativeStudyofChineseandWesternDieteti

中西饮食文化对比

AComparativeStudyofChineseandWesternDieteticCulture

Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………….......1

KeyWords……………………………………………………………...........1

I.Introduction…………………………………………………………….....2

II.UnderstandingCulture.……………………………………….………...3

1.Definingculture………………………………………………………….3

2.Confiningfoodculture……………………………………………………3

III.DifferencesonEtiquetteinChineseandWesternFoodCultures…...4

1.ChopsticksinChinesefoodculture……………………………….…….…4

2.Forkandknifeinwesternfoodcultures……………………………….….5

IV.DifferentSeatingArrangements……………………………………......5

1.Spacespeaks……………………………………………………………..5

2.Southandnorthvs.rightand.left………………………………………...6

V.DifferencesonContentsinChineseandWesternFoodCulture…........7

1.TasteinChinesefood……………………………………………………..7

2.Nutritionandbalanceinwesternfood………………………………….....7

VI.DieteticCultureInfluenceourLanguageTeaching….……..….….....8

VII.Conclusion…………………………………………………….……....9

References………………………………………………………….…….....9

AComparativeStudyofChineseand

WesternDieteticCulture

Abstract:

Food,anessentialprerequisiteforexistence,playsanirreplaceableroleinthedevelopmentofsocietyandintheprocessofhumanbeings,whetherinancienttimesorinmoderntimes,andwhetherineastorinwest.However,thereisanoldEnglishsaying“oneman’smeatisanotherman’spoison”,whichmeansnotallhumanbeingshavethesamefoodordevelopthesamefoodhabits.Clydekluckhohn,aworld-famousanthropologist,statesinhispaperwhatisculture,“whatheeatsisofcoursevarieswithnations.Basedonthetheoryof“thedeepstructureofculture”and“culturalrelativism”,thisthesisendeavorstoanalyzetheculturaldifferencesandtheirrootedcausesinChineseandwesternfoodculturesfromtheperspectivesofconcept,etiquetteandcontent,andpointsoutthatwiththedevelopmentofcross-culturalcommunication,morefactorsandnewvariablesinfoodcultureswillarisethroughcommunication,interactionandimitation.

Keywords:

Chineseandwesternfoodculture;differences;cross-culturalcommunication

摘要:

无论是在古代还是在现代，无论是在东方还是在西方，饮食，作为作为人类生存的必要前提,在人类社会发展和文明进步中起着无可替代的作用。

然而，人类的饮食或饮食习惯各不相同。

正如英语谚语所说，“某人之佳肴即他人之毒药”。

美国著名人类学家克拉孔在其《什么是文化》一文中指出，“一个人的饮食当然要受到其获得食物种类的限制，但同时也受到文化的制约”。

由此可见，饮食与文化密不可分.不同的民族缔造了不同的饮食文化。

本人以“文化深层结构”和“文化相对论”为理论基础，着重探讨、分析中国与英美等西方国家在饮食观念、宴会礼仪、饮食内容等方面的跨文化差异，揭示导致饮食文化差异的深层次原因，从而阐明随着跨文化焦急的不断发展，中西饮食文化的交流，互补和兼容的因素也会日益增多。

关键字:

中西饮食文化；差异；跨文化交际

I.Introduction

TherearemanyculturedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Food,anessentialprerequisiteforexistence,playsanirreplaceableroleinthedevelopmentofsocietyandintheprocessofhumanbeings,whetherinancienttimesorinmoderntimes,andwhetherineastorinwest.However,thereisanoldEnglishsaying“oneman’smeatisanotherman’spoison”,whichmeansnotallhumanbeingshavethesamefoodordevelopthesamefoodhabits.Clydekluckhohn,aworld-famousanthropologist,statesinhispaperwhatisculture,“whatheeatsisofcourselimitedbyavailability,butisalsopartlyregulatedbyculture.”Therefore,foodandfoodhabitscanbebestunderstood,onlywithinthecontextofeachindividualculture.”

Globalizationisanimportantfactorstimulatingandacceleratingtheprocessofexchangebetweencultures,whichshoulddeserveourenoughattention.Itiswellknownthatglobalizationhasbeenbecominganinevitabletrendaroundtheworld,andaninexorableforcetoinfluencepeople’slifeinalmosteveryaspect.Inotherwordsthewheelofhumanhistoryhasmovedusinexorablyforwardfromisolationtointegration.TherearegreatdisparitiesbetweenChinaandwesterncountriesinideas,attitudes,contentsandfunctionsoffoodcultures.Basedonthetheoryof“thedeepstructureofculture”and“culturalrelativism”,thisthesisendeavorstoanalyzetheculturaldifferencesandtheirrootedcausesinChineseandwesternfoodculturesfromtheperspectivesofconcept,etiquetteandcontent,andpointsoutthatwiththedevelopmentofcross-culturalcommunication,morefactorsandnewvariablesinfoodcultureswillarisethroughcommunication,interactionandimitation.

ThispapermakesthecomparativeanalysisbetweenChineseandwesterndieteticculture,andalsocomparestheChinesedieteticcustomswithwesterncountries’dieteticcustom.ChinesedieteticcultureispartofChinesevaluablecultureheritage.ChinesedietcultureisanimportantpartofChinesehistoricalculture,whichisfamousforitsvarietyandabundance.Today,moreandmoreforeigntouristswouldliketovisitChinaandtheyenjoyChinesefoodalot.Atthesametime,foreigntouristsalsowanttoknowthemeaningofnamesoftheChinesedishes.SotheaccuratetranslationofChinesedishesintoEnglishisnecessarytospreadChinesedietculture.TotranslateChinesedishesintoEnglishisthelinguistictransference.Westerndieteticculturesareveryfashionable.Westernfoodhasmanytypes.BecauseofcultureexchangesbetweenChinaandothercountries,fooddoesn’tnativetoChinaorwesterncountry,thedevelopmentincookingreflectsancientpeople’schangeinconventionandlivingstandards.

II.UnderstandingCulture

1.Definingculture

Whatisculture?

Andhowtodefineit?

Asamatteroffact,asearlyasin1952,twoanthropologists,KroeberandKluckhohn,publishedabookwithovertwohundredpagesdevotedto164definitionofculture,noneofwhicharethesame.Sincethen,manyotherscholarshaveofferedadditionaldefinitions,rangingfrombroaderonestonarrowerones.Sapirsays,“Culturemaybedefinedaswhatasocietydoesandthinks”（Sapir2002:

180）.BeneditsaysinherbookPatternsofCulture,“Whatreallybindsmentogetheristheirculture--theideasandthestanderstheyhaveincommon”（Benedict1934:

16）.BateandPlogproposeadescriptivedefinitionthatincludesmostofthemajorterritoryofcultureonwhichscholarscurrentlyagree:

cultureisasystemofsharedbenefits,values,customs,behaviors,andartifactsthatthemembersofasocietyusetocopewiththeirworldandwithoneanother,andthataretransmittedfromgenerationtogenerationthroughlearning（Di2002:

1）Basedonthedefinitionmentionedabove,Samovar,aleadingfigureincross—culturalcommunication,purposeshisowndefinitionthatisperhapsmoresuitedtothecommunicationbetweencultures--wedefinecultureasthedepositofknowledge,experience,beliefs,values,actions,attitudes,meanings,hierarchies,religion,nationsoftime,roles,spatialrelations,conceptsoftheuniverse,andartifactsacquiredbyagroupofpeopleinthecourseofgenerationsthroughindividualandgroupstriving（Samovaretal2000:

36）.Theseandotherdefinitionsallpointtoonefactthatcultureisallpervasive,includingeverythingfromritesofpassagetoconceptsofthesoul.Withoutculture,itishardtoimaginewhatwehumanbeingswillbeandhowoursocietywillbecome.

2.Confiningfoodculture

Whenwestudyacultureforcommunicationpurposes,however,weshouldfocusonthedominantculturalpatternandguardagainstgettingside-tracked.Whenwecompareculturaldifferences,weshouldconcentrateonthemajordifferencesoftwodominantpatterns.Forinstance,whenwesaydifferencesbetweenChineseandAmericancultures,wemeandifferencesbetweenthedominantHancultureandtheAmericanculture（Hu1988:

6）.

Accordingtotheclassifications,mentionedabove,foodcultureobviouslybelongstopopularculturethatisovert,explicitandobjective.Actually,tillnow,nobodyhasevermadeawidelyrecognizeddefinitionbecauseofvariousreasons.However,here,asfarasthisresearchisconcerned,inordertomakethecomparisonmoreconcreteandpractical,theauthorconfinesfoodculturetotheaspectsoffoodcontents,foodhabits,foodetiquette,theattitudestowardsfood,thefunctionoffood,ect.Thatisderivedfromeachindividualculture.

1）Chinesefoodculture

ChinesefoodcultureinthisresearchmainlyreferstotheoneintheHannationality.Asweallknow,Chinaisanationwith56ethnicgroups,eachofwhichhasitsuniquefood,foodhabits,ect.ButtheHannationalityanditsculturearethemainstreaminchinaduetosomehistorical,political,andeconomicreasons,which,however,arenotthemainconcernsofthisresearch.

2）Westernfoodculture

WesternfoodcultureismainlyconcernedwiththeoneintheEnglish-speakingcountries,especiallyinAmericaandBritainduetothefactthattheirculturalpatternsandinfluencehavebecomedominantinthewest,whichisgenerallyrecognizedbytheinternationalcommunity.Ontheotherhand,mostofthematerialsandinformationonfoodculturecollectedbytheauthorareaboutAmericanandBritishpeople’sfood,foodhabits,ect.

III.DifferencesonEtiquetteinChineseandWesternFoodCultures

EtiquetteisanotherimportantaspectthatshoulddeserveourenoughattentioninbothChineseandwesternfoodcultures.However,becauseofdisparitiesbetweenChineseandwesternfoodcultures,differentfoodetiquetteconsequentlymanifestsdifferentfeatures.Therefore,acomparisonbetweendifferentetiquetteinChineseandwesternfoodcultureswillnotonlyhelpusbetterunderstandthoseculturallyrootedcauses,butalsoimprovecross-culturalcommunication.

1.ChopsticksinChinesefoodculture

AsmanyscholarspointoutthatthetraditionalattitudeofChinesepeopletowarduniverseornatureis“OnenessBetweenManandnature”（Jia1977:

35）.Undertheinfluenceofthisorientation,Chinesepeopleattemptabalancedactwithnatureandtrytoliveinharmonywithit.Besides,Chinaisatraditionalagriculturalcountry,andtheoldsayingthat”