论文总字数：34865字

摘 要

饮食作为一种文化现象，无论在中国还是在西方，都在人类社会的发展进程中起着不可替代的作用。饮食与跨文化交际密不可分。但是中西的饮食文化又有很大的差异,这种差异会对交际产生一定的影响。《饮食男女》和《朱莉与茱莉亚》是两部能各自体现本国饮食文化特点的电影。通过电影中有关饮食文化特点的情节描写，本文在饮食对象、烹饪方式、饮食习惯、饮食态度等方面归纳出了中西饮食文化方面的异同，并尝试对这些差异进行原因分析。通过对比与总结，我们能有效地避免因双方文化差异带来的误解，从而促进中西方国家的跨文化交流。

关键词：中西饮食文化；对比；原因分析；电影

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Brief Introduction of the Two Films 2

4. Similarities between Chinese and Western Diets 3

5. Differences between Chinese and Western Diets 3

5.1 Differences in Eating Objects 3

5.2 Differences in Dietetic Habits 4

5.3 Differences in the Ways of Cooking 5

5.4 Differences in the Attitudes to Diets 7

6. Causes of the Differences 9

6.1 Different Geographical Conditions 9

6.2 Different Philosophy Thoughts 10

7. Impacts on Language Learners and the Solutions 11

8. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

Different climate and geographical characteristics, as well as different ideology between Chinese and Western countries have led to two different types of cultures. In turn, the differences between Chinese and Western cultures have also resulted in two different dietetic cultures. Nowadays, the development of globalization makes the communication of dietetic culture become more and more frequent in the international exchange. However, due to different cultural backgrounds, confusions and communication barriers sometimes occur at the dinner tables. The aim of communication “is to help increase people’s cross-cultural awareness so that fewer problems arise in their interaction with people of another culture. To do this, it is necessary to compare cultures to establish similarities and differences”(Hu Wenzhong, 1988:7). Based on the analysis of the two films, this thesis mainly deals with the features of Chinese and Western dietetic cultures. By means of the comparison and cause analysis, it would be helpful for both Chinese and Western people to enhance understanding and avoid misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. Thus international communication and integration would be further promoted.

2. Literature Review

In China, as early as in the 1930s’, Lin Yutang, a famous Chinese writer, published two books My Country and My People (1935) and The Importance of Living (1937) in English. These two books are useful for foreigners to have a reasonable understanding on Chinese dietetic culture. Another scholar, Sun Xiao, from Xinjiang Normal University, published Discussion on the Differences between Chinese and Western Dietetic Culture from Ang Lee’s “the Family Trilogy” in 2012. Zhang Yahong published Differences between Chinese and Western Dietetic Cultures and the Comparison of Dining Etiquette in 2009. What’s more, in 2013, Bai Mimi published On Differences between Chinese and Western Dietetic Cultures from Ang Lee’s Work Eat Drink Man Woman. Jiang Yan published The Research and the Influence of the Research about the Differences between China and Western Countries in Food Culture in 2007. All these researchers are helpful for us to learn the differences between Chinese and Western dietetic cultures.

Many foreign scholars also make some discussions on dietetic culture. Food and Culture in America is a book written by Pamela and Kathryn in 1998. This book talks about the food and food habits of Americans as well as immigrants from all over the world. The book talks about different kinds of food, various dietetic habits, and the role of diet that plays in different societies from the perspectives of culture, nutrition and health, which may arouse readers’ great interests.

In China and Western countries, the study on dietetic culture had involved many aspects, such as the concept of diet, ingredients of cooking, dietetic habits, as well as cooking methods. However, the study of Chinese and Western dietetic cultures is not thoroughly discovered and analyzed. Thus, this paper will further illustrate the differences on the basis of two distinctive films, Eat Drink Man Woman and Julie and Julia. In addition, the causes of the differences will be analyzed. By comparing the details about diets in the two movies, people will have a more concrete and intuitive understanding about the two different cultures.

3. Brief Introduction of the Two Films

Ang Lee’s work Eat Drink Man Woman tells the story of Mr. Zhu and his three daughters. Mr. Zhu was a famous chef in Taiwan who was skillful at Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Yangzhou cuisine and Zhejiang cuisine. At the beginning of the film, Mr. Zhu was busy preparing many delicious dishes for the Sunday dinner, which showed us the Chinese ways of cooking felicitously. Mr. Zhu once gave a hand to a wedding banquet in the Grand Hotel, which could help audience have a better understanding of the dietetic culture in wedding banquets. What’s more, at the end of the film, the family dinner with sons-in-law could be viewed as the embodiment of dietetic culture in the family.

Unlike the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Julie and Julia tells a story of two American women, Julie Powell and Julia Child. Julie was a common employee working in the government. She took most interests in studying recipes. When reading the cookbook written by Julia Child, she was greatly attracted by the dishes introduced in the book. Julie began to learn to cook these dishes one by one, and wrote the details of the cooking process in the blog, which caused a lot of repercussions on the Internet. After watching the film, people will know relevant dietetic culture gradually. Besides, the stories about Julia will help people understand the culture of banquets in Western countries.

Both of the two films are typical examples which show people their native dietetic cultures. After watching the two films, not only will the audience be attracted by the stories, but also they will have deep impressions on the two distinctive dietetic cultures.

4. Similarities between Chinese and Western Diets

Through the comparison, it is easy to find that Chinese diet has something in common with Western diet in terms of table etiquette.

First, in the two films, the host usually sat in the middle at the party, from which we observe that both Chinese and Westerners pay attention to the seating arrangement. After the guests have arrived, they will be guided to have a seat by the host. In China, old people or the hosts always sit in the most important place to suggest that they are the master of the house. Generally, the most important guest will sit next to the host.

Second, people should not eat until the host begins to eat. The three daughters didn’t eat the dishes until their father sat down at the table. Similarly, the guests in Julie and Julia usually began to eat after the host had served all the dishes.

Third, Chinese and Westerners like to celebrate by drinking when there is a joyous occasion. In the films, both Chinese and Westerners preferred to drink toasts to one another at the party, which will show their respect and best wishes for the friends or guests.

The similarities in table etiquette are caused by people’s respect for ritual. China is one of the four major ancient civilizations. Chinese etiquette was originated in Xia, Shang, and Zhou Periods, and prevailed in Tang and Song Dynasties. Ritual is the moral criterion in Chinese society. People should behave properly when they visit other people’s home. Western countries develop their etiquette system by inheriting other ancient civilizations. Affected by humanism thoughts, Western people attached importance to gentlemen education in ancient times. Nowadays, children are still educated to behave politely and properly at home. Therefore, etiquette education occupies a decisive position in Chinese and Western cultures, which also exert great impact on table etiquette.

5. Differences between Chinese and Western Diets

Apart from the similarity discussed in Chapter four, the two films also show us some disparities in many aspects, such as eating objects, dietetic habits, the ways of cooking and the attitudes to diets.

5.1 Differences in Eating Objects

In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, there were many vegetarian diets at the dinner table and people always take rice as staple food. Besides, we can appreciate the works of a dragon and a soldier that carved with carrots and white turnips. There is no denying that such kinds of dishes are artistic and delicious.

While in the film Julie and Julia, we can see Julia and her husband ate pan-fried flatfish cooked by butter or roast chicken stuffed with livers and cream cheese as the main course. People in the film usually eat a large piece of meat, or the whole piece of chicken, which are vulgarly called “hard food”. Western people always have turkey and ham for Christmas.

There is a difference of eating objects between Chinese and Western dietetic culture. According to the survey made by Western botanist, there are more than 600 types of vegetables in Chinese food, which is six times more than the types of vegetables in Western countries. In the past, vegetables were the main food in Chinese cuisine. Meat diets only appeared when important guests came to the house or when there was a traditional festival. Nowadays, the topic of health maintenance has gained much more concerns among people. Vegetable’s function in keeping good health has been universally recognized. In this way, vegetarian diets hold a dominant position in Chinese dietetic structure. On the contrary, having the cultural lineages of nomadic tribes and sailing peoples, Western people always made a living by fishing, hunting or cultivation in the past. What they eat, wear, or use were mainly from animals. Nowadays, meat-based diet still takes a large proportion in Western diets.

5.2 Differences in Dietetic Habits

There was a wedding party both in the two films. In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Mr. Zhu once gave a hand for the wedding party in the Grand Hotel. At the party, the guests sat together to enjoy the dishes, drink a toast, and chatted with the person next to them. Except the waiters, few people would walk back and forth in the room.

However，in Julie and Julia, dietetic habit was quite different from that of China. At the wedding party of Julia’s sister, the host displayed different kinds of food on the table, and guests would take what he or she wanted. Guests did not need to sit in the fixed place. They could walk freely and make new friends at the party.

We can learn from the Chinese film that a family should sit together to have meals, which would create a phenomenon of unity and politeness. Being placed on the middle of the table, these dishes are not only the objects the whole family tastes and enjoys, but also the media for emotional communication. Sometimes, a banquet will cost several hours for communication. Sometimes the host would take the food to the guest’s bowl with chopsticks. It may sound unhygienic, and have its deficiency to a certain degree, but it truly reflects the virtues of comity among people. It also conforms to the common mentality of joyous reunion. Therefore, this kind of habit that passed down through generations has been hard to get changed so far.

In Western parties, though the dishes and wine are important, the core of parties is to make friendly contacts with each other by communicating with the neighbors and other guests. If we compare parties to types of dance, Chinese parties must be equal to collective dance and Western parties are just like ballroom dance. Western people stress the friendship with the guests at the party. In recent years, buffets become more and more popular which also reflects Western people’s respect for individuality.

5.3 Differences in the Ways of Cooking

With different eating objects, people have developed many cooking methods. This chapter aims to discuss the differences in the ways of cooking between China and Western countries by the analysis of the two films.

5.3.1 Complexity and simplicity (Sun xiao, 2012:128)

In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, all dishes the father cooked had their amazing presentations and great tastes, which can be termed as works of art. The dishes were skillfully handled with knives, and added with five flavors (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and pungent), which gave people the dual temptation on vision and gestation. Every time Mr. Zhu cooked the meal, it would take him a lot of time and energy to finish the meal. Different food needs different cooking methods to deal with.

While in the film Julie and Julia, the main ways of cooking in the film were only frying, roasting, and boiling. Besides, the style of the dishes was always simple. In their opinion, food was cooked to satisfy one’s hunger to some extent.

Chinese cookers attach importance to the color of food. That is to say, the color of seasonings should go with the color of raw food reasonably. Sometimes green vegetables, tomatoes and onions will be used to achieve better visual effect. Chinese people have made a specific breakdown on cooking techniques. There are many commonly used cooking techniques in Chinese diets: stir frying, quick frying, deep frying, simmering, steaming, smoking, salting, roasting, stewing, scalding, marinating, boiling, quick boiling. Each cooking method has distinctive features, and the cooking process can be viewed as a visual feast.

In contrast, cooking methods in Western countries are very limited. Different kinds of food are seldom cooked collectively. Even though there is a need for seasonings, Western people tend to add them while eating the food. The ingredients they cook are kept with the original appearance to a great degree. Chinese people stress the color, the aroma and the taste of the dishes. Therefore, the accomplishment of the dish needs a very complex procedure. However, Western people attach more weight to nutrition and health. They think that some ways of cooking in China will destroy the nutrition of the food. Western people are used to eating raw vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuces. They even eat raw cabbages and onions. They exercise control over the ingestion of calories, vitamins, and protein every day. Therefore, they would like to choose relatively simple ways when cooking dishes. Chinese people also stress the nutrition of food materials. They understand that the heating process will destroy the vitamin of green vegetables. They prefer to stir fry the vegetables so that the vitamin of the green vegetables would not be destroyed completely.

5.3.2 Harmoniousness and separation (Sun xiao, 2012:128)

In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, we can see Mr. Zhu often cooked the food with many kinds of seasonings. The dishes in the film were not simply cooked with one food material. At the beginning of the film, Mr. Zhu used ham to simmer the fin and matched braised meat with green vegetables. By using different ways of cooking and different collocation of raw food and seasonings, the dishes will have their unique flavor.

Unlike Chinese cooking methods, in the film Julie and Julia, there was a scene that Julie’s friend added ground pepper on Julie’s first successful poached egg before eating. When Julia and her husband had dinners with their friends, the food materials were put separately on the plates. In short, people usually cooked food separately and add seasonings while eating.

Qian mu, master of Chinese culture in Taiwan, China, once said that Chinese stress harmoniousness, while Western people stress separation. This cultural feature can also be reflected in term of Chinese and Western diets. When Western people are cooking, they prefer to cook food one by one, and put them together at last. These food ingredients are quiet distinct from each other, and have their original tastes. Even though there is a collocation sometimes, this process must be done on the plates. Seasonings like lemon juice and pepper are always added while eating. Take “Braised Beef with Potatoes” as an example. The Western way of cooking it is to cook beef and potatoes separately. People tend to put them together on a plate in the end. In this way, both beef and potatoes would keep their original tastes. However, when it comes to the Chinese way of cooking this dish, Chinese people tend to cook them together in a saucepan, together with some necessary seasonings. This method can make the dish taste flavorful.

5.3.3 Hot food and cold food (Sun xiao, 2012:128)

Chinese like food that looks steaming-hot, while Western people do not pay much attention to the temperature the food. In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Mr. Zhu and his daughters always treated visitors with a cup of hot tea. While in Julie and Julia, visitors were often treated with a glass of ice water. Because of various cooking methods and complex cooking procedures, the dishes that Chinese make are often hot and can easily bring back people’s appetite.

In the film Julie and Julia, we often see people eat vegetable salad or fruit salad as a meal. While in the film Eat Drink Man Woman, people like to cook dishes in full swing, and the kitchens were filled with lampblack. What’s more, hot pots often appeared on the Chinese dinner table. This condition could not happen in Western kitchens because people usually cook food with a low flame. In addition, if there is too much lampblack in the Western kitchen, the fire detector would sound to make a warning. For example, in the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Aunt Liang once made a complaint that the fire detector would have alarmed once she sautéed the food.

With simple cooking methods, Western diets always have their original taste and flavor. They believe that raw and cold food must be fresh. Therefore, they often eat sandwiches, salad or medium steaks. Even if they want to eat hot food, they just scald the food with boiling water or simply fry it with a pan. A scene of steaming-hot food is hardly to be seen on a Western table. This phenomenon has something to do with the pace of life in Western countries. The fast pace of modern life makes Western people always eat quickly. In this way, fast food like hamburgers and sandwiches can be the best choice for them. However, this kind of food is always cold. Apart from the pace of life and the cooking methods that lead to the differences in the temperature of food, another reason is that Chinese people like jollification. Hot food indicates booming life, but odds and ends of a meal may bring the feeling of sadness and loneliness.

5.4 Differences in the Attitudes to Diets

Different cultures determine different cultural values. Chinese culture attaches importance on artistic conception and graveness, while Western cultures stress reason and freedom. In the case, the attitudes will be quite different.

5.4.1 Sensibility and rationality (Sun xiao, 2012:129)

In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Mr. Zhu made a dish called “Prosperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix” for the wedding banquet in the Grand Hotel. In fact, it is a dish cooked with stewed hens and snacks. Chinese cookers name it with an auspicious phrase in order to express best wishes for people who eat it. Chinese people usually add perceptual color on food. It seems that Chinese people put their love of life and family on the dishes they cook. The dishes usually have complex procedures and beautiful shapes. In Chinese restaurants, based on the literary quotation or the wishes for good luck, the names of the dishes are always abstract, such as “Soup of pearls”, “Buddha jumps over the wall” and “Gold and jade fill the hall”. Although these names sound great, people especially foreigners will not know what on earth the dishes are until they taste them in the restaurants.

In contrast, names of Western dishes seem relatively simple. We can learn from the film Julie and Julia that Western diets always have their literal meanings, such as fried chicken legs, pasta, and roasted beef. Although this kind of behavior may not reflect cultural connotation of the country in Chinese people’s view, it is truly in conformity with Western habits. Simple names of dishes make it clear for people to choose. It can save the time for consideration and simplify the process of having meals. Chinese writers Lin Yutang once said that in Westerner’s view, if they can keep healthy and resist the attacks from germs and diseases after eating, other things are not worthy mentioning. “Food, as an essential prerequisite for existence, is any substance that provides the nutrients necessary to maintain life and growth when ingested”(Pamela and Kathryn, 1998:2). Thus it can be seen that “eating” functions only as the process to fill the belly and sustain life in Westerner’s opinion.

5.4.2 Graveness and random (Sun xiao, 2012:129)

In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, Mr. Zhu treated Aunt Liang and her daughter with many delicious dishes. In addition, when Mr. Zhu’s leader held a banquet for his son’s wedding in the Grand Hotel, there were hundreds of dinner tables in the hotel, let alone the expenditure it cost. From these two movie scenes, we can see that Chinese people take diets seriously.

However, in the film Julie and Julia, when Julie had lunch with her old friends in the restaurant, each of them just ordered a simple vegetable salad as a meal, even though they had chatted for a long time. Besides, when Julie invited her best friend to come to her house and taste the dish she cooked, Julie only treated her friend with a plate of poached eggs.

There is a fundamental difference on the concept of feasts among China and Western countries. Chinese people pay attention to ostentation. In China, feasts are often needed when some important things such as weddings, funerals, treatment for guests on arrival and a farewell party that happen in a family. Diet plays an essential role in Chinese culture. “So basically influenced are we by this matter of food and drink that revolutions, peace, war, patriotism, international understanding, our daily life and the whole fabric of human social life are profoundly influenced by it”(Lin Yutang, 1998:44).

However, Western people treat diets at random. They view eating as a need for living or social contact. Emily Post’s Etiquette in American has made a summary on the aims of American banquets: showing gratitude for people who provide service, celebrating for a successful deal, asking for help, introducing a person or having a discussion. In a word, the main purposes are not to eat and drink but to make new friends and to communicate with old friends.

6. Causes of the Differences

Apart from the differences, the causes that lead to the disparities also deserve our enough attention. In this chapter, the causes of the differences will be analyzed from the perspectives of geography and philosophy.

6.1 Different Geographical Conditions

Different geographical conditions lead to differences in eating objects.

China is located in the East Asia. With the seas on two sides, the monsoon is prevailing in our country. Taking advantage of fine weather and favorable geographical position, the crops usually grow in a good condition. In this case, Chinese people developed a dietetic structure that dominated by plant food. Although there are various kinds of meat to choose, wheat and rice are always the most important food for Chinese people. In China, people in northern areas often take steamed buns and noodles made by wheat flour as their staple food, and people in southern areas mainly eat rice. In Western countries, the temperate marine climate makes it appropriate to develop livestock husbandry. Being surrounded with the sea, Western countries can also develop fishery. Therefore, the dietetic structure in Western countries is based on meat and fish which contain rich calories, accompanying with dessert which is also rich in calories.

What’s more, because of different geographical conditions, Chinese and Western dietetic cultures also have differences in tableware. In China, people invent chopsticks as the tool of eating. While in Western countries, geographical conditions promote the development of livestock husbandry which in turn leads to the invention of forks and knives.

6.2 Different Philosophy Thoughts

Dietetic culture is developed during the process of cooking and eating. It is deeply influenced by the humanities, especially philosophy thoughts.

First, different philosophy thoughts lead to the differences in dietetic habits. In terms of philosophy, “temperament” and “being and not-being grow out of one other” are two essential problems in Chinese philosophy thoughts. (Jiang Yan, 2007:61) In the new era of China, building a harmonious socialist society is a major strategic task. Therefore, Chinese people like to sit together to have meals, which can reflect their respect for harmony. Western philosophy thoughts stress the separation and opposition between entity and nothingness (Jiang Yan, 2007:61). Western families usually give children autonomous rights to choose what they want. In this case, the form of Western party is always free. People would like to choose the food according to their preferences.

Second, philosophy thoughts have impacts on the ways of cooking. In terms of cultural spirit and mode of thinking, Chinese people stress the unity of man and nature, while Western people stress the separation between man and nature. “People believe that nature is something to be controlled, domesticated, and subjugated (Neuliep, 2000:105). Chinese people treasure harmonious relationships in daily life. Similarly, they also stress the harmony in cooking. In Western people’s views, individuality is the impetus of social development. They often stress uniqueness both in life and diets. They believe that people have their independent wills and thoughts since they were born. Therefore, they tend to cook food separately to show their respect for independence.

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