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

1、2. Hero Is the Original Desire of Human to Survive in the Nature-12.1. Concept and Categorization of Heroes -12.2. Nature and Orientation of Heroes -23. Heroism is the Basic motif of Film Industry -33.1. Relation of Movie and Culture -3 3.2. Analysis of the Motifs of American Typical Cinema -33.3. A

2、nalysis of the Motifs of Chinese Typical Cinema -54. American Heroism: Heroes of Common People -6 4.1. Traditional Heroism in American Movie -64.2. Heroism in “Forrest Gump”-75. Chinese Heroism: the Deification of Heroes and the New Heroism -85.1. Heroes in Traditional Chinese Movie -85.2. New Heroi

3、sm -96. Comparison between American and Chinese Heroisms -10Conclusion-10References-12AcknowledgementsI wish to thank Professor for his valuable suggestions on earlier versions of this article. My thanks also go to for assistance in access to the Internet. I especially thank my family and friends fo

4、r their morale support. Thanks to my roommates for their helpful discussion and comments on the manuscript. Key WordsAbstract: Hero is the eternal topic and dream of human beings. Reflected in movies and TV plays, heroism is a foremost theme in both western and Chinese cultures. By comparing differe

5、nt interpretations of heroism, the differences between western and Chinese cultures can be observed. In this study, American cinema, especially Hollywood movie, is chosen as the representative of the western cinema.First of all, the nature and personality of heroes are studied. From the angle of ana

6、lytic psychology, heroism is an original desire in opposition to the alien forces in the nature. Secondly, the themes of both American and Chinese film industry are discussed. Thirty films winning Oscars and the feature films of Beijing Film Studio are analyzed in the terms of similarity of heroism

7、as the main theme. Thirdly, the interpretation of heroism in American movie is discussed. Several box-office hit films are chosen to analyze the form of heroism. The movie “Forrest Gump” is attached great importance to, observing the heroism that American masses pursuit. Then, the interpretation of

8、heroism in Chinese movie is discussed. Traditional view on heroism is discussed with “Drawn Sword” as an example to analyze the new trend of Chinese heroism. Finally, the two kinds of heroisms are compared, and then a new angle of view to study the cultural differences between the West and China is

9、introduced.Key Words: heroism, comparison, cultural distinction, Hollywood, Chinese movie.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

10、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. IntroductionSeveral years ago, Zhang Yimous blockbuster “Hero”, brought amazing audiovisual shock and thrill to the audiences all over the world, grossing a staggering 250 million domesticall

11、y and internationally together. Recently, another box-office hit movie “The Promise” harvested both approval and boos. From “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” to “Hero” to “The Promise”, people are discussing what kind of “hero road” Chinese movie is taking. In the West, from “The Matrix” to the serie

12、s of “Spider Man” and “The Incredibles”, all grossed a whopping box-office and all dealt with heroes. We cant help pondering, what is a hero or heroism? How is heroism interpreted in movies of the West and China? In this study, the origin of heroic complex of human being and peoples dreams of becomi

13、ng hero are illustrated. The focus is on the different ways of telling stories and its whys and wherefores, through which, we will observe the hidden differences between the western and Chinese cultures.2. Hero Is the Original Desire of Human to Survive in the Nature2.1. Concept and Categorization o

14、f HeroesThe following section delineates how heroes are categorized. It is a little difficult to classify the heroes into a certain genre because of the variety of classification systems in genre study. If we regard heroes as the ones describing in the mysterious mythology of the Orient and West, if

15、 we believe heroes are those recorded history of all the nations, if we think heroes are those in the “model drama” during the Cultural Revolution, then we have no choice but recognize that heroes have been far away from us. However, if we think that hero is a broad concept with various categorizati

16、ons, the conclusion will be utterly different. Thomas Carlyle is a famous Scottish historian and philosopher in 19th C. In his book “On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History”, Thomas Carlyle employs various examples of great men throughout recorded history to convey his notion of a Hero. T

17、he Hero for him defines masculinity, what every man should strive to emulate. Accordingto Carlyle, all heroes have a basic material of which they are all made, some sort of stuff that in each great man allows him to be great. They have, for example, a sort of savage sincerity - not cruel, far from t

18、hat; but wild, wrestling naked with the truth of things （Quoted from Covert, 2004）. However, at the same time, they also have a most gentle heart withal, full of pity and love, as indeed the truly valiant heart ever is （Quoted from Covert）. A hero is a man who willingly devotes his life to the divin

19、e and inner truth and shares his vision with the rest of the world. For Carlyle, this is the definition of a true man: one who is a deep and spiritual being, living his life by divine truths. He allows for differences in how the material of the hero will manifest itself by saying that each man is sh

20、aped by his own times. The basic qualities must be there; which form it will take out of the many he uses as examples depends on what circumstances into which a hero is born. In a sense, Carlyles view of the hero resembles the way that Jane saw Rochester shaped by circumstance, but Carlyle feels tha

21、t if a man has the basic qualities of a hero, he will not become corrupted, and therefore there is no need of the reforming woman.“A Hero is the embodiment of manhood, the ultimate male, and masculinity incarnate. A Hero is a great man, one to whom every man looks up and feels a sense of awe. Hero-w

22、orship is the deepest root of all; the tap-root, from which in a great degree all the rest were nourished and grown . . . Worship of a Hero is transcendent admiration of a Great Man. I say great men are still admirable; I say there is, at bottom, nothing else admirable! No nobler feeling than this o

23、f admiration for one higher than him dwells in the breast of men.” （Quoted from Covert） As a matter of fact, if we are not stickler for a certain kind of abstract view on heroes, if we associate heroes with the concrete historical and cultural context, deep into the level of humanity to comprehend t

24、he personality of heroes and regard heroes as the sincere efforts to resolve some certain universal problems and dilemma, we can come to this conclusion that “Hero is eternal”. In various kinds of historical and cultural context, there are always people who make great efforts to resolve some univers

25、al problems, to defend the current view of social values. 2.2. Nature and Orientation of HeroesHere, “hero” we are discussing is in the term of human beings, heroism root in the fear towards death, which is resulted from living paradox. As far as Adam and Eva were driven out of Eden, the paradox sta

26、nds out in contrast: on one hand, human is primate in the universe, the creator of cultural symbolism; on the other hand, human, after all, is a senior animal that is doomed to rottenness. It is this fundamental constraint human suffers that results in the unaware revolt, that is, the heroic impulse

27、: in order to resist the absurd destiny, human employs kinds of regulations and relations such as religion, morality, love, authority and art to try to construct some “causa sui project” so as to be superior and even eternal. （李启军,2004）However, what we should point out is, although the fear to death is the most internal motivation of humans, in reality, the revolt to death may evolve that to all the forces similar to threat of death. The external appearance of heroism may be the dedication to some “causa sui project” and great accomplishment, but