英专毕业论文 American humor and culture roots 探究美式幽默的文化根源和独特形式.docx

1、英专毕业论文 American humor and culture roots 探究美式幽默的文化根源和独特形式 学号1015010305 年级 10级 本科毕业论文探究美式幽默的独特主题和文化根源：以生活大爆炸为例专业年级英语系10级学 号1015010305姓 名 吴冰姿 指导老师 秦晨 评 阅 人 2014年6月中国 南京BACHELORS DEGREE THESIS OF HOHAI UNIVERSITYUnique Themes and Cultural Roots of American Humor: Based on the Case Study of The Big Bang

2、TheoryEnglish Department of College of International Languages and Cultures College ： Subject ： English Name ： Wu Bingzi Directed by ： Professor Qin ChenNANJING CHINA郑 重 声 明本人呈交的毕业论文，是在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果，所有数据、图片资料真实可靠。尽我所知，除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文的研究成果不包含他人享有著作权的内容。对本论文所涉及的研究工作做出贡献的其他个人和集体，均已在文中以明确的方式标明

3、。本论文的知识产权归属于培养单位。本人签名： 日期： AcknowledgmentsFirst of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Qin Chen, for her instructive advice and useful suggestions on my thesis. I am deeply grateful of her help in the pletion of this thesis.I am also greatly indebted to the professors

4、and teachers at the Department of English: Miss. Zhang, Mr. Cai and Ms. Yang, who have instructed and helped me a lot in the past two years. Last my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitud

5、e to my friends and my fellow classmates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.ABSTRACT With the communication between cultures, American dramas, especially the comedy, are getting more attention in China. Chi

6、nese audience need to understand American humor to get the point of American comedy. Through the methods of experience summarization and descriptive study, this paper explores the reason why American humor is funny with the sample of The Big Bang Theory. American humor often jokes on gender relation

7、ship, religion and politics and make fun of the opposite sex, people from different races and politicians. The unique theme of American humor is the key to its attraction. The unique theme of American humor comes from its culture of immigration, Feminist Movement and election, etc. Therefore, only o

8、n the basis of knowing American culture can Chinese audience understand American humor. Key Words: American humor The Big Bang Theory American culture摘 要 随着文化的不断传播，美剧在中国日益受到关注，尤其是喜剧类美剧最为受欢迎。中国观众要理解美国喜剧的笑点，就要理解美式幽默。本文以美剧The Big Bang Theory为例，通过描述性研究法和经验总结法探究美式幽默好笑的原因。美式幽默常以两性关系、宗教问题、时事政治为笑料，调侃异性、不同种族

9、的人以及政治人物。美式幽默的独特主题是其吸引观众的关键所在。美式幽默的独特主题来源于美国移民、女权主义运动和选举等特有文化。因此，中国观众只有在充分了解美国文化的基础上才能更好地理解美剧中的美式幽默。关键词： 美式幽默 生活大爆炸 美国文化 Chapter I. Introduction.1 Chapter II. Unique Themes of American Humor.3 2.1 Ethnic Humor.3 2.1.1 Humor Caused by Stereotypes.3 2.1.1.1 The Definition of Stereotype.3 2.1.1.2 Ameri

10、can Peoples Stereotypes of Other Races.3 2.1.2 Ethnic Humor in The Big Bang Theory.4 2.2 Gender Jokes.5 2.2.1 Type of Gender Jokes.6 2.2.1.1 Jokes about Gender Relationships.6 2.2.1.2 Jokes about Homosexuality.6 2.2.1.3 Blonde Jokes.7 2.2.2 Gender Humor in The Big Bang Theory.82.3 Jokes on Politics.

11、8 Chapter III. Cultural Roots of American Humor .9 3.1 History of Immigration.9 3.1.1 Three Big Waves of Immigrants.9 3.1.2 Chinese Immigration to the U.S.10 3.2 Feminist Movement & Gay Liberation Movement.11 3.2.1 Three Waves of Feminist Movement.11 3.2.2 Gay Liberation Movement.12 3.3 American Pol

12、itics.13 3.3.1 Political System of the United States.13 3.3.2 American Presidential Election.13Chapter IV. Conclusion.14 Unique Themes and Cultural Roots of American Humor: Based on the Case Study of The Big Bang Theory Chapter I. IntroductionAmerican humor refers collectively to the conventions and

13、 common threads that tie together humor in the United States. It is often defined in comparison to the humor of another countryfor example, how it is different from British humour and Canadian humour. From the definition of American humor, it can be concluded that humor usually concerns aspects of A

14、merican culture, and depends on the historical and current development of the countrys culture. The research object of this paper is American humor. In todays China, people appreciate not only Chinese films and television programs, but also those from other countries. American TV series is one of th

15、em. The study of American humor can help Chinese audience get the point of American comedy better. American has its own unique themes of race relationships, gender relationships and politics. To understand these themes, it is better to study American culture. As the themes of American humor are cons

16、tantly changing their forms, their culture roots stay the same. Only through understanding the culture roots of American humor can people better enjoy American comedy. The book American Humor: A Study of the National Character by Constance Rourke identified the character of the Yankee as that first

17、American comic figure, the first widely accepted American character that the nation could find funny, make fun of and even export for the amusement of the world. Yankee refers to a gangly traveler who told stories and played elaborate practical jokes. He was ingenuous, sly, and perhaps uneducated. T

18、he author reports that American comedy sprang forth after the American Revolution, when the country was “freed from the worry of self preservation” (2004, p. 57) and its citizens began to regard themselves as works of art. This book has been the pioneering analysis of American humor (2004).With the

19、development of society, American humor successively appears in the form of literature, cartoons and magazines, theater and vaudeville, radio and records, film and TV series. When American humor frequently appeared in the form of literature, many writers had done some researches on it. Most of them t

20、ended to study on Mark Twains works as he is considered the founding father of American humor.In James M. Coxs book Mark Twain: The Fate of Humor , instead of seeking the seriousness behind humor, Cox concentrates upon humor itself as the transfiguring power that converts all the serious issues and

21、emotions of Mark Twains life and time into narratives designed to evoke helpless laughter (2002).Although there are also some Chinese scholars writing papers about Mark Twains humor, most of them have focused on the writing skills and literature aspects. This paper analyzes humor in The Big Bang The

22、ory by referring to the historical development of America. Then we can see through the common points of all forms of American humor to find the culture roots of American humor. The Big Bang Theory is an American situation comedy produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions. It was

23、 firstly performed on CBS on September 24, 2007. The seventh season is now on air. It has won many big awards in American Award Ceremony for TV plays. The show has five main characters: Sheldon, Leonard, Rajesh, Howard and Penny. Sheldon is a theoretical physicist who works at the California Institu

24、te of Technology. He has a very high intelligence quotient. Even though earned a Ph.D. at 16, he totally lacks social skills and provides major sources of laughter in the show. Leonard, who both lives and works with Sheldon, is an experimental physicist. Right after Penny moved to their nextdoor, Le

25、onard falls in love with her. Their relationship is always in snatches and is one of the circular themes of the show. Penny lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. She comes to California to realize her dream of being an actress. So far in the show, Penny has not made any achievement in her

26、acting career and has to work as a waitress for living. Her social contact skills formed a sharp contrast with the genius and intellect of other four male characters. Howards job is an engineer at Caltech. He is a Jewish and has a clingy mother. He is the only one who doesnt have a doctor of philosophy. These facts often cause laughter. Rajesh is an Indian particle astrophysicist who works at Caltech. His comes from a wealthy family. But he cant find a girlfriend because he is extremely shy aroun