论文总字数：27459字

摘 要

随着全球化的快速发展，跨文化交流一直是我们必不可少的一道关卡，在进行跨文化交流时，由于文化差异带来的误解和纠纷屡见不鲜。如何有效化解这些误会是从事跨文化交流的人最迫切要解决的事，而这就需要深入了解不同国家文化，认识文化差异。中美两国是东西方文化的典型代表，了解其文化差异及背后的原因是促进中美间跨文化交际顺利进行的助推器。

本论文通过对电影《刮痧》的案例研究来分析中美价值观差异的现状和原因，采用定性分析法，对中美文化差异进行整合对比，并以《刮痧》中的经典场景为文本分析价值观差异的具体现象及原因，最后提出建议，发展良性的跨文化交际关系。

关键词：刮痧；跨文化交际；文化价值观差异

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Introduction of The Treatment 3

3.1 Social background of the movie 3

3.2 Family and education background of the characters 4

4.The Conflicts Between Chinese Values and American Values in the Movie 4

4.1 Different outlooks on family education 4

4.2 Different attitudes towards friendship 6

4.3 Different attitudes towards honesty 6

5.Causes of the Conflicts 7

5.1 Living environment 7

5.2 Value orientation 7

5.3 Historical tradition 8

6.Suggestions 8

6.1 Increasing knowledge of different countries’ culture 8

6.2 Adjustment and adaption to cultural diversity 9

7. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction

Ancient China is always open to foreign exchanges and trade, while the closed-door policy of the Qing dynasty makes China stay in a closed state. In modern times, with the reform and opening up, China gradually joins in globalization and has increasing communication with countries across the globe. In the process of cross-cultural communication, cultural differences become an inevitable obstacle for the smooth and successful communication between peoples. The differences between Chinese and western cultures are the most representative and controversial. After thousands of years of accumulation, Chinese culture is profound and has a long history, while western culture advocates freedom, openness and youth. The conflict between the two different cultures has always existed, and new differences and collisions have emerged over time. In cross-cultural communication, we need to avoid conflicts caused by these differences, which requires us to understand each other’s culture, eliminate prejudice, reduce misunderstanding, and gradually deepen understanding with the change and development of the time. This is the charm of cross-cultural communication. This paper starts with some conflicts which related to the cultural value differences between China and America based on the plots of the movie. Then it analyzes the causes of cultural differences, and proposes some solutions according to different historical backgrounds. The historical background of the movie may be set in early times, but it can be combined with the current changes and put forward some new understandings and ideas.

This research adopts the qualitative analysis method to process the obtained materials by induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, so as to achieve the purpose of understanding the essence of things and revealing the internal laws from the outside to the inside.

2. Literature Review

So far, great achievements have been made in the academic research of cross-cultural communication. This part is basically a small summary of previous research related to this topic, mainly a review of the past studies on Chinese and American culture and the study of the film The Treatment.

The cross-cultural communication between China and America has a history of several decades. Because the United States is an immigrant country, which gathers people from all over the world, various cultures mix and form the current American culture, and the cross-cultural communication in the United States is very prosperous. In 1959, Edward hall, a famous American anthropologist, published a book called The Silent Language, which has a profound influence on the study of cross-cultural communication. (Hu 19)

In western countries, a lot of works on this issue have been published. While in China, we started to offer the course of cross-cultural communication in universities in 1990s. The Chinese scholars (Guan Shijie, Hu Wenzhong, Gu Jiazu, etc.) have devoted themselves to the cross-cultural research. The purpose of their research is to create an interactive bridge between people of different cultural backgrounds, allowing people to better communicate with each other in different cultures.

The reason for people have enthusiasm about the issue of cross-cultural communication is as Samovar states in the rationale of his book Communication between Cultures:

Worldwide interest in cross-cultural communication grows out of two assumptions. First, we live in an era in which there are changes in all aspects of creation, and we are increasingly interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. Second, the frequency and intensity of these interactions will continue to grow, because the world has become so small that we all depend on each other now.

To get better intercultural communication, we should first understand the concept of culture and the concept of intercultural communication. In fact, culture may be a completed system including knowledge, faith, art, law, morality, customs, and all the abilities and habits from which a social member would acquire. Culture and civilization are connected. The development of culture is accompanied by the progress of civilization. Culture is a common acquisition behavior that is passed from one generation to another in order to promote the survival, adaptation, growth and development of individuals and society. (Goodwin 417) Intercultural communication entails the investigation of culture and the difficulties of communicating across cultural boundaries...Intercultural communication occurs whenever a message produced in one culture must be processed in another culture. (Samovar amp; Porter 2000)

Meanwhile, great progress has been made in the study of the film Treatment. The film was produced in 2001. Chinese scholars like Li Lihong, Wang Dandan and Liu Nan in their researches Differences between Chinese and Western Culture in the Movie The Treatment and An Analysis of cultural differences between China and America in The Treatment have conducted comparative studies on various aspects of film plots, such as law and human governance, Chinese scrapping and Western medicine, and Chinese education and Western education. All their studies give us a clear analysis about cultural differences between China and America.

3. Introduction of The Treatment

3.1 Social background of the movie

The film Treatment tells a story about a family that has immigrated to America for eight years. Xu Datong is a video game designer who has made some achievements in his career. He has a beautiful wife, Jian Ning, and a clever son, Dennis. Because the grandfather did not know the English instruction on the drugs, the grandfather gave Dennis a scrapping therapy to cure the fever, then the bruise left was found by the American hospital and identified as evidence of child abuse. So Xu Datong was forbidden to meet with Dennis, and separated from his wife and children, he quit his job and his father went back to China... At the end of the story, Quinlan, the boss and good friend of Datong, learned the truth after experiencing a scrapping therapy and helped Datong prove his innocence. On Christmas Eve, Datong climbed the water pipe to go home and reunited with his wife and son.

This film shows us how Chinese immigrants live in another country with a different culture, and how to integrate into American social and political life. The ending of the story is good, and eventually the misunderstanding is cleared up and the family gets together. However problems brought by the cultural difference is in the movie are not unique to Xu Datong’s family. In fact, they represent the general differences between Chinese and American values, and are worth in-depth analysis and discussion.

3.2 Family and education background of the characters

In the film, Xu Datong is a game designer, his wife is a real estate salesman, and his friend Quinlan is a lawyer. All the characters in the film are well-educated, and their social status is a little higher than the average people at that time. But when facing Chinese traditional treatment——scrapping, Xu Datong still does not know how to explain it to the judge, let alone all the professional terms. Cultural differences and different languages, make their communication more difficult, which indirectly lead to the failure of the hearing.

Although Xu Datong has lived in the United States for eight years, and he can speak fluent English, and has adapted to the American way of life, the Chinese traditional education still exists in his mind. His filial piety to his father, his love for the Chinese traditional work Journey to the West, and his trust to his friend, these distinctive Chinese characteristics collided with the American freedom and rational mind represented by Quinlan.

4.The Conflicts Between Chinese Values and American Values in the Movie

4.1 Different outlooks on family education

At the beginning of the film, Xu Datong scolded Dennis and asked him to apologize to Quinlan’s son. This is very strange in the eyes of Quinlan, because this is just a small matter and Dennis does not need to apologize. What’s more, in America, children are independent and protected by law, even parents are not allowed to beat their children at will. In China, however, it is common for parents to beat their children, which even result in children abuse. In recent years, thanks to the popularity and convenience of the Internet, more and more people begin to share their lives online, no matter good or bad. All the information can be sent to the public in the first time and become a real-time hot topic. With the explosion of some child abuse incidents, people begin to pay more attention to children. However, child abuse incidents still occur frequently, and grow in some places.

There is also a detail in the film. Xu Datong went to the police station to pick up his father, while his wife was not at home, so the sleeping son was left at home alone which was witnessed by the security. In America, it is illegal to leave the child at home alone. This matter has latter become the evidence of accusing Xu Datong of not being a competent father. In China, regardless of leaving children at home alone, there are as many as one million left-behind children in China. It is very common that children left at home alone with their elderly grandparents. Therefore, some tragedies inevitably occur. In fact, these are all related to Chinese situations. China has a dense population and the uneven development between urban and rural areas. The adults in backward areas will go to developed cities to find a job. Chinese situation is also a kind of culture, which even breeds our unique Chinese culture.

After grandpa said “being beaten and scolded is the way to be a useful person”, Dennis applied these words to his classmates. Chinese people believe that “爱之深，责之切”, which means that only when you love someone, you will be willing to scold him, beat him and discipline him. This is a unique Chinese way to express love and it is a kind of traditional Chinese culture. Three Character Primer also says “the son’s errors should be blamed to his father’s failure”, this sentence means if the child is not educated, it is the father’s fault, because the way children act and interact with others origins from the family. Just as the Swedish proverb tells “Children act in the village as they have learned at home”. The United States advocates equal communication. Parents and children are equal, even the little children can express their ideas to their parents, and parents will respect them. With the increasing progress of globalization, Chinese people’s minds are no longer as closed as in the past, and they have gradually been influenced by western culture. In some developed cities, people’s minds are more open. They have paid more attention to children education, and began to treat the child as a completely independent individual.

Of course, compared with Chinese education, American education also has its own drawbacks. For example it is so laissez-faire that parents often give children a lot of time and leisure, which may cause some unnecessary social problems; so rational that parents always have a strong sense of responsibility. Let the child focus on their own interests and hobbies instead of learning things step by step, which will make the children incapable of fulfilling their potential to the largest extent.

4.2 Different attitudes towards friendship

In the movie, Xu Datong needs to find a lawyer for the hearing. Instead of seeking a professional lawyer in children cases, he invited his good friend Quinlan to be his defense lawyer. But Quinlan’s major was in copyright, and he was not good at dealing with such cases. At last, the hearing was not successful. Later when his good friend Quinlan acts as the witness of the opposing side, Datong considered that Quinlan has betrayed him and then he quit the job. This plot reflects the Chinese people’s notion on their friends. Chinese people believe that as long as they are friends, they will stand by the same side when facing difficulties and seeking the help of their friends at the first time when things go wrong. Compared with asking a professional stranger for help, people often prefer someone they know well to make things more convenient. As the old saying goes, “do anything for your friends”, “long distance separates no bosom friends”, which shows that the ancient Chinese attached great importance to friends and the value of friends, and they could sacrifice their own interests for their friends. But in the United States, Americans are more rational and tend to focus on their own interests and respect the objective situation, which is the difference between China and the United States in the matter of friends.

4.3 Different attitudes towards honesty

In the movie, to get the grandfather the immigration card, Xu Datong lies to the justice that he gives Dennis the scrapping therapy. In Xu Datong’s opinion, he tells a lie because of his father and his filial piety. He wants his father to live with him and the three generations live under the same roof. To Americans, they usually state the truth regardless of the causes. When Quinlan saw Dennis’s purple trace of scrapping, he did not plead for Datong, but kept silent. In addition, when the opposing lawyer comes to invite him to be a witness and asks him whether Xu Datong has hit Dennis in public, Quinlan replys “yes.” As an American, Quinlan just rationally believes the fact in front of him. Because of this, Xu Datong thinks Quinlan has betrayed him, and tells Quinlan that “birds of different feathers do not flock together”. In this plot, Quinlan simply tells the truth based on what he sees. For Americans, they usually prefer the facts rather than personal feelings. They rely on rational feelings just as Quinlan proves that Datong is right after he has experienced the scrapping himself.

5.Causes of the Conflicts

5.1 Living environment

The cultural difference between China and America largely comes from their own environment.

Situated in the continent of East Asia, China is located in relatively enclosed geographical surroundings which provide exceptional natural advantages for the ancient Chinese culture to develop independently for a fairly long period free from the impact of foreign cultures, especially those powerful ones.

While western cultures originated from ancient Greek culture, which is closely connected with the sea which formed the ocean culture. The ocean environment helps form the characters of the western people——being good at moving, being eager to change, full of curiosity and competition, accepting challenges bravely, and seeking for freedom and equality. (Wangamp;Li 72)

The different environment of China and America brings different cultures which reflected in their education modes, friendship, attitudes towards scrapping and so on. Thus, living environment is related to our cultural communication.

5.2 Value orientation

Values include how a culture measures beauty or ugliness, right or wrong, fair or unfair. Values usually determine how people communicate, acting as a guidance in people’s lives, and influencing people’s behavior.

Values vary from culture to culture. In some American cultures, the value conveyed by respecting for the elderly is negative. Many Americans value youth rather than old age. For example, in America, giving your seat to the elderly in a bus is considered to be an annoying manner since your behavior means they are too old to be self-reliant. In China, however, respect for elder is the traditional virtue.（Wangamp;Li 27）

The difference between Chinese and American values is reflected in the fact that Chinese parents think their children are their private property. As Xu Datong says in the film: Dennis is his work. Most Chinese parents will tie their children’s lives to their own, help their children decide their life, and place all their hopes on their children. Therefore, most Chinese children are bound by their parents. Americans emphasize the natural freedom of children, allowing them to do what they want to do and what they are interested in. Americans believe that children are brought to this world by god, and they are individuals of independent personality and what the children want to do depends on their own choices. Such education often cultivates free and open thoughts.

5.3 Historical tradition

The Chinese believe that “harmony is the most precious”, and the word “harmony” here stands for peace, reunion, and beauty... In China, a big family is a group. The Chinese tradition always advocates “four generations under one roof” and “family reunion”. Ancient Chinese people attach importance to the respectful relation of the emperor and minister, father and son, so there is a tradition of respecting the older and honourable people. Even in modern times, these traditions still exist in some areas. In the United States, children usually move out when they are 18 years old, and they have to take a part-time job to pay for college expenses. Parents are not obliged to pay for their tuition and living expenses, and children do not need to support their old parents. In traditional Chinese culture, filial piety and filial happiness are of great importance. It means that children should be filial to their old parents, repaying their upbringing and respecting and loving their parents.

6.Suggestions

6.1 Increasing knowledge of different countries’ culture

Understanding each other’s culture is the premise for overcoming communication barriers and exchanging information conveniently and smoothly. When Xu Datong tells his boss that he slapped Dennis just to give him respect because he considers him a good friend, but Quinlan is puzzled ——Datong treats beating children as a courtesy, he thinks Chinese culture is strange, since he does not understand the meaning of Chinese culture outside the behavior. This shows a kind of cultural difference. Chinese people have a variety of ways to express politeness, some are very indirect, and some are from different ways, but the purpose is not bad. Americans, on the other hand, tend to be very direct and rational, so you do not have to talk in a roundabout way to get your ideas across.

As Smith mentioned, “in modern society, different people communicate in different ways, and people around the world communicate in different societies, which is their way of life and their culture. Because culture has very strong communication capacity, we must first learn how to understand culture, in order to improve our ability of cross-cultural communication.” (Smith 1)

Culture is like a teacher. To some extent, your culture is part of who you are. Different cultures will produce different lives. People build their own values according to their unique lives. We have to abandon those stereotypes about others and try to experience the true look of culture in person. A good understanding of a culture will allow us to communicate better.

6.2 Adjustment and adaption to cultural diversity

Many examples in the film can be seen as manifestation of cultural diversity, such as different educational concepts, different ways of emotional expression, and even different understandings of the same thing in different cultural backgrounds. In the movie, the different interpretations of the Chinese classic work Journey to the West in court is a typical example of the cultural diversity. In the eyes of Chinese people, the Monkey King is the embodiment of justice and a hero in the hearts of countless people. But in opposition lawyer’s opinion, the Monkey King is a symbol of violence and brutality since he steal the peaches, hit the guard , eat elixir of internal life and create a tremendous uproar in the heavenly palace. All these are considered to be barbaric and aggressive behaviors. The idea enrages Xu Datong, and let him lose the ability to think calmly, finally he failed to win the hearing.

Cultural diversity is inevitable. When different cultures start to communicate, we should learn to adapt to each other’s culture, understand each other’s cultural background, and view others’ cultural achievements from their own perspective. Culture differences can result in hundreds flowers bloom. Every nation needs to be part of the “global member” and no nation may remain immune to culture diversity. Mutual adaptation, mutual adjustment and mutual recognition are the best ways for us to overcome prejudice and eliminate misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication.

7. Conclusion

Film is the product of culture, through which the cultural elements are displayed so that the audience can know a country from the film and encourage them to broaden their horizons, challenge themselves and discover the unity and interdependence of life. The Treatment fully shows us the cultural differences between China and America from the aspects of education, friendship, laws and so on. At the same time, the movie also stressed the importance of increasing cross-cultural communication when facing cultural conflicts, and the possibility of cultural integration at the end of the film.

How to deal with the relationship between two different values rooted in different cultures is the core topic throughout the film. The conflict helps to uncover the problems. In fact, every culture has a reason for its existence. We should remember that all cultures change at any time.

In addition, although culture is considered to be more stable than any other element, this does not mean that culture is always static. In fact, culture will not be static, it will change from time to time, because in the process of cross-cultural communication, culture will interact with each other, and one culture is likely to change after interacting with another culture. Thus, cultural values will change along with culture. Therefore, in further research, the study of cultural value differences can be carried out simultaneously with the current in-depth study of culture.

The world is colorful. Cultural diversity is not only the basic characteristics of human society, but also the driving force for the progress of human culture. We should respect the reality of the world"s cultural diversity and understand the charm of cultural diversity.

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