新编跨文化交际英语教程复习资料U4

/6Unit4LanguageandCultureSomeIdeasRelatedtolanguageandcultureInterrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageEachculturehasitsownpeculiaritiesandthrowsspecialinfluenceonthelanguagesystem.Forexample,referringtothesamecommondomesticanimal,Englishchoosestheword“dog”,whileChinesehasitsowncharacter“狗”；Chinesehasthephrase“走狗”whileEnglishhastheexpression“runningdog”,butthemeaningsattributedtothetwoexpressionsarecompletelydifferentaccordingtoChinesecultureandWesternculturerespectively.ToWesterners,“runningdog”hasapositivemeaningsincetheword“dog”,inmostcases,isassociatedwithanimageofananimalpet—thefavoritefriend,thustheyhavethephrases“luckydog”（幸运儿），“topdog”（胜利者）,“olddog”（老手）,“gaydog”（快乐的人）,anditisusuallyusedtodescribeeverydaylifeandbehavior,asin“Loveme,lovemydog”（爱屋及乌），“Everydoghasitsday”（凡人皆有得意日）.ButinChinese“走狗”referstoalackey,anobsequiousperson.SinceChineseassociatesderogatorymeaningtothecharacter“狗”dependingontheculturaldifference,Chinesehassuchexpressionsas“狗东西”，“狗腿子”，“狗仗人势”，“狗胆包天”，“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”，“狼心狗肺”，“痛打落水狗”，“狗急跳墙”.Wecanobviouslyseethatthemeaningattributedtolanguageiscultural-specific.Agreatdealofcross-culturalmisunderstandingoccurswhenthe“meanings”ofwordsintwolanguagesareassumedtobethesame,butactuallyreflectdifferentculturalpatterns.SomearehumorousaswhenaTurkishvisitortotheU.S.refusedtoeatahotdogbecauseitwasagainsthisbeliefstoeatdogmeat.SomearemuchmoreseriousaswhenaFrenchcoupleonatriptoChinatooktheirpetpoodleintoarestaurantandrequestedsomedogfood.Thedogwascookedandreturnedtotheirtableonaplatter!Wecansummarizetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageasthefollowing:languageisakeycomponentofculture.Itistheprimarymediumfortransmittingmuchofculture.Withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Childrenlearningtheirnativelanguagearelearningtheirownculture;learningasecondlanguagealsoinvolveslearningasecondculturetovaryingdegrees.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Itreflectsculture.Culturaldifferencesarethemostseriousareascausingmisunderstanding,unpleasantnessandevenconflictincross-culturalcommunication.Sapir-WhorfHypothesisTheSapir-Whorftheory,namedaftertheAmericanlinguistsEdwardSapirandBenjaminLeeWhorf,isamouldtheoryoflanguage.Writingin1929,Sapirarguedinaclassicpassagethat:Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworldalone,noraloneintheworldofsocialactivityasordinarilyunderstood,butareverymuchatthemercyoftheparticularlanguagewhichhasbecomethemediumofexpressionfortheirsociety.Itisquiteanillusiontoimaginethatoneadjuststorealityessentiallywithouttheuseof1/6languageandthatlanguageismerelyanincidentalmeansofsolvingspecificproblemsofcommunicationorreflection.Thefactofthematteristhatthe“realworld”istoalargeextentunconsciouslybuiltuponthelanguagehabitsofthegroup.Notwolanguagesareeversufficientlysimilartobeconsideredasrepresentingthesamesocialreality.Theworldsinwhichdifferentsocietieslivearedistinctworlds,notmerelythesameworldwithdifferentlabelsattached...Weseeandhearandotherwiseexperienceverylargelyaswedobecausethelanguagehabitsofourcommunitypredisposecertainchoicesofinterpretation.(Sapir1958[1929],p.69)Thispositionwasextendedinthe1930sbyhisstudentWhorf,who,inanotherwidelycitedpassage,declaredthat:Wedissectnaturealonglineslaiddownbyournativelanguages.Thecategoriesandtypesthatweisolatefromtheworldofphenomenawedonotfindtherebecausetheystareeveryobserverintheface;onthecontrary,theworldispresentedinakaleidoscopicfluxofimpressionswhichhastobeorganizedbyourminds—andthismeanslargelybythelinguisticsystemsinourminds.Wecutnatureup,organizeitintoconcepts,andascribesignificancesaswedo,largelybecausewearepartiestoanagreementtoorganizeitinthisway—anagreementthatholdsthroughoutourspeechcommunityandiscodifiedinthepatternsofourlanguage.Theagreementis,ofcourse,animplicitandunstatedone,butitstermsareabsolutelyobligatory;wecannottalkatallexceptbysubscribingtotheorganizationandclassificationofdatawhichtheagreementdecrees.(Whorf1940,pp.213-14;hisemphasis)TheRoleofWordsinVariousCulturesWordsareinventivetoolsforcommunication,andtheenjoymentofusingthistoolboxofsymbolsvariesfromculturetoculture.Inlow-contextcultures,theroleofwordsisofinformational;meaningisencodedexplicitly.Nottoencodemessagesexplicitlyistoriskbeingmisunderstoodinthosecultures.Inhigh-contextculturesthepurposeofcommunicationisoftensociallylubricative.Thatis,communicationfirsthasaroleinsustainingrelationships,andsecondonlywithinthecontextofarelationshipoftransmittinginformation.ThecontrastsbetweenChineseandWesternwritinginEnglish.ReadingIHowIsLanguageRelatedtoCultureComprehensionquestionsWhatcanwedotoavoidattributingaverydifferentmeaningtothephraseorinterpretitmuchmoreliterally?Wehavetobeawareoftheculturalimplicationsofthephrase.Whataretheotherfunctionsofusingquestionformsapartfromaskingforinformation?Itservesasalubricanttomovetheconversationforward.Aquestionthathasthisfunctioncanbecalleda—socialquestion.2/6WhyarethoseGermansgettingstifferandmorereservedallthetimewhenvisitingIngridZerbe?Theyareconfusedabouthowtoaddressher,forsheintroducesherselfbyfirstandlastnameratherthanbylastnameandprofessionaltitle.Howdoestheenvironmentinfluencetheuseoflanguage?Languagereflectstheenvironmentinwhichwelive.Weuselanguagetolabelthethingsthatarearoundus.Doestheauthorthinkthereareexactequivalentsindictionariesthathavethesamemeaningsindifferentcultures?No.Accordingtotheauthor,therearenosuchequivalentsbetweenlanguages;therefore,tocommunicateconceptseffectively,culturalknowledgeisasimportantaslinguisticknowledge.Howdoesthelanguagechangeovertime?Wordsandphrasesthatareusedcommonlyatonetimemaybediscontinuedortheirmeaningmaychangeovertime.DoestheauthorthinkitispossibleforcountriessuchasFranceandIcelandtokeeptheirlanguagepurebyimplementinglanguagepolicytoensuretheuseofstandardizedlanguage?Theauthordoesnotthinkso,because,forinstance,theAcademieFrancaisemayinsistoncertainrules,butotherFrench-speakinggroupsmaymaketheirownrulesandconsidertheirFrenchjustascorrect.Whatarethepossiblelanguagebarriersinclassroomteaching?Insomecasestheprofessorsactuallymayhaveapoorcommandofthelanguage;however,inmostcasestheproblemisnotthelanguagebutdifferentintonationpatternsanddifferentculturalsignals..ReadingIILanguage-and-Culture,TwoSidesoftheSameCoinComprehensionquestionsWhatistheauthorsviewoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture?Languageandcultureareclearlyfused;onereflectstheother.Inwhichwaysdoeslanguagereflecttheculture?Languageembodiestheproducts,perspectives,communities,andpersonsofaculture.Membersoftheculturehavecreatedthelanguagetocarryoutalltheirculturalpractices,toidentifyandorganizealltheirculturalproducts,andtonametheunderlyingculturalperspectivesinallthevariouscommunitiesthatcomprisetheirculture.Howcanweusetherightlanguageintherightwayaccordingtotheauthor?Itisbasedondirectexperienceinthecultureandinteractionswithmembersoftheculture,inallthecomplexitythisentails.Isthereanyculturalproductthatconsistsentirelyoflanguage?Canyougivean3/6example?Manyculturalproducts,suchasliterature,taxcodes,telephonedirectories,operatinginstructions,passports,consistentirelyoflanguage.Anotherexampleisfolklores.Whatisthemeaningof“languageisaculturalproductinandofitself”？Whenspokenandwritten,languagetakesontangibleandperceptibleforms.Thesetangibleforms,aswithanyculturalproduct,canbedescribedthroughlanguage.Weconstantlyuselanguagetodiscusslanguageitself.Canyougiveanexampleofhowwordsleadtoculturalperspectives?Forexample,aswehavealreadylearned,thekinshiptermsspecificallyusedinChineseleadtoaculturalperspectivethatisdifferentfromthatoftheEnglish-speakingpeopleinthisaspect.WhatdidtheChineseteacherfindfromherin-depthstudyof“thebumpersticker”?Theperspectivesareindeedembodiedinwords,phrases,andsentences,buttheyarenotalwaysimmediatelyobvious,especiallytooutsiders.Arethereanyparticularnormsmadebydifferentcommunitiesfortheirlanguageuse?Yes,thereare.Communitiesdefinenormsforappropriateuseoflanguage.Withingroups,roles,relationships,andothersocialfactorsinfluencewhospeaks,whattheysay,andhowtheysayit.Thelanguageformsweuseinonesetofsocialcircumstanceswithcertaincommunitiesarenotnecessarilytheonesweuseinothers.CaseStudyThisexamplevividlyillustratesthatfailuresininterculturaltranslationmayprobablyleadtoveryseriousconsequence,orevendisasterstohumanbeings.Definitely,translationisnotsuchasimpleprocessasrenderingaword,asentenceoratextliterally,butratherafarmorecomplexonethanmostpeopleassumed.Forexample,onceaChinesecosmeticmanufacturerwantedtopromotetheirproductsintotheinternationalmarket.Thesloganoftheadvertisementwas:—sweetasJade,sinceinChinese—jadewasalwaysemployedtocomplimentwoman‘sbeauty;butunfortunately,itwasnotanappropriatewordtodescribethebeautyofaladyinWesterncultures.InEnglish,—jadeinitsuseofreferringawomanhadtheconnotationssuchasvulgar,rude,immoral,orskittish.Undoubtedly,thesalesinEuropeancountrieswerenotsatisfying.Theseemingequivalentsbetweenlanguagesmayhaveverydifferentconnotationsindifferentcultures,thusthetranslatorshouldbecautiousintheprocessofdoingthetranslationsoastoavoidmisunderstandings.“杨”referstoYangKaihuiwhowasMaoZedong’sdeceasedwifeand一柳1referstoLiuzhixunwhowasLishuyi’sdeceasedhusband.Theycanbetranslatedindifferentways,butitseemstobeverydifficult,ifnotimpossible,toachieveequivalenceintranslatingfromChineseintoEnglish.Adoptingtheliteraltranslationstrategy,version1appearstobefaithfultotheoriginalbutmayeasilyconfusethereadersinthetargetlanguage.Version2employs4/6theliberaltranslationstrategywithanattempttoconveytheoriginalmeaningaspreciselyaspossible.However,theoriginalpoeticflavorislostastherhetoricdevice—pun—isnotreproduced.Thetranslationseemstobefaithfultotheoriginal,butitmaynotbereallygoodforthepurposeofinterculturalcommunication.Foreignreadersofthetranslationmayfinditstrangeandinappropriate.ThefollowingiswhatafriendlyAmericanjournalisthascommentedonthetranslation:Myfirstreactionwasunfortunatelylaughterbecauseitissofullofmistakes.ItomitssomenecessaryinformationabouttheDragon-BoatFestival,includingitshistoricaloriginsandwhenitactuallytakesplace.Thesethingsareimportant…Thecopyseemstotryto—snowthereaderwithfanciful,overblownassertionsabouthowterrificitallis,butinunintentionallyhilariouslanguagethatleavesthereaderlaughingoutuninformed…Thebrochurealsosuffersfromlackofbackgroundmaterial,thetaking-if-for-grantedthatthereaderalreadyisfamiliarwithmanyaspectsofChinesehistoryandculture„Itdoesn‘ttellyouwheretogo,howtogetthere,whenthingsareopenandclosed,howmuchtheycost,andsoforth.Allthesearethingspeoplevisitinganareawanttoknow.WhyisitthatmanyChinesetravelguidesreadbasicallythesame,nomatterwhatregionisbeingwrittenabout,andaresopackedwithindiscriminatehyperbole?Lessexaggerationwouldactuallybemoreconvincing.ComparingthetwoEnglishversions,wecanseethatinYang‘sversionmorecultural