TheDevelopmentofChineseCultureinGlobalization10.doc

1、The Development of Chinese Culture inGlobalization（文學(xué)院外文系英語(yǔ)專(zhuān)業(yè)王志瑜）（學(xué)號(hào)： 1998013219 ）內(nèi)容提要： The era of globalization is coming. It has influenced us dramatically in every level of our lives, especially in culture. According to one view, globalization contributes to cultural diversity and can lead to the

2、 creation of new cultures. On the other hand, another view suggests that globalization undermines traditional cultures and leads to homogenization and assimilationwith stronger cultures. This paper analyzes the definition of globalization and suggests globalization as a paradox. Most importantly, it

3、 argues that how we preserve and develop traditional Chinese culture in this globalizing world. To use a metaphor, the structure of culture is like an onion divided into three layers. If a traditional culture can not be well preserved, it will be corroded with the elapse of the time. Therefore, the

4、solution of preserving and developing our traditional Chinese culture mainly depends on four major leading forces- Chinese youth, educators, government and media circle.關(guān) 鍵 詞： globalization, homogenization, heterogenization, culture, convergence, cultural transformation教師點(diǎn)評(píng)： 在世界全球化、 中國(guó)正緊鑼密鼓地與國(guó)際接軌、中國(guó)

5、社會(huì)全方位地受到外來(lái)勢(shì)力影響的大小環(huán)境下， 本文作者能夠?qū)彆r(shí)度勢(shì)， 以其敏稅的目光， 審視中國(guó)文化正面臨的困境、 挑戰(zhàn)、機(jī)遇及其發(fā)展動(dòng)向。 其命題新穎、獨(dú)特、富有時(shí)代感，發(fā)人深省。在闡述“文化“這一抽象概念時(shí)，作者利用深入淺出的手法，巧妙地借用形象生動(dòng)的比喻，將文化氛圍外、中、內(nèi)三個(gè)層面，即外在語(yǔ)言、形式及其他生活形態(tài)、行為觀、價(jià)值觀，對(duì)“文化”概念從外到內(nèi)，由表及里，深入細(xì)致，層層剖析，為之后的對(duì)中國(guó)文化，尤其是傳統(tǒng)文化的評(píng)估奠定了堅(jiān)固的理論框架。 本文作者縱觀歷史， 從多角度進(jìn)行分析證據(jù)，指出中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化的延續(xù)性、持久性正是來(lái)自于它自身自古就有的“兼容并蓄“的特質(zhì)。在文章最后，作者積極地提

6、出了建設(shè)性建議。全文行文流暢，旁征博引，證據(jù)清晰嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)。（點(diǎn)評(píng)教師：金瑩，講師）I. What is GlobalizationGlobalization broadly refers to the expansion of global linkages, the organization of social life on a global scale, and the growth of a global consciousness, hence to the consolidation of world society. Such an ecumenical definition cap

7、tures much of what the term commonly means, but its meaning is disputed. According to one popular view, globalization is the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to r

8、each round the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before. 1 By contrast, some groups of scholars and activists view globalization not as an inexorable process but as a deliberate, ideological project of economicliberalization that subjects states and individuals to more intense mark

9、et forces.2 .3 Personally, Istrongly support the argument that globalization refers both to the compression of the world andthe intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole; in other words, it covers the4 Itacceleration in concrete global interdependence and in consciousness of the globa

10、l whole.involves the crystallization of four main components of the global-human circumstance:societies (or nation-states), the system of societies, individuals (selves), and humankind; this takes the form of processes of, respectively, societalization, internationalization, individuation, and gener

11、alization of consciousness about humankind. 5 Rather than referring to a multitude of historical processes, the concept above all captures the form in terms of which the world has moved towards unicity. 5 It is obviously seen that nowadays people around the globe are more connected to each other tha

12、n ever before. Information and money flow more quickly than ever. Goods and services produced in one part of the world are increasingly available in all parts of the world. International travel is more frequent. International communication is commonplace. Take the Airbus consortium for example, it i

13、s jointly owned by companies from 4 countries: France,1German, Britain, and Spain. More specifically, wings come from Britain, fuselage and tail from Germany, doors from Spain, cockpit and final assembly in France. 1,500 suppliers are in 27 countries. More than 35 percent of components for the conso

14、rtiums aircraft are supplied from over 500 American companies. Numerous suppliers also are located in the Asia-Pacific. Singapore Technologies Aerospace produces wing ribs and passenger doors for the A320, and engine mounts and thrust reverser doors for the A340. Indias Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

15、 also builds A320 passenger doors.6 This cooperation case shows that globalization makes nationality become increasingly irrelevant and we are together producing and creating some wonders.However, some global phobias think that they could put a halt to globalization and rewrite the rules of the worl

16、d economy on their terms, but many cases show that opposition was futile.First, the undeniable fact is that we are connected, interchanged, exchanged and most importantly denationalized because the new developments, trends and technologies have helped expand the productive forces, given full play to

17、 creativity, enhanced exchanges and co-operation among countries and forged closer global ties.Second, globalization is an inevitable and irresistible historical trend, such as the Depression, the Cold War Era, the Space Age, and the Roaring 20s. If we ignore or resist this trend, finally wewill suf

18、fer a lot from our unwise behavior. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example, governors and people at that time had strong sense of ethnocentrism, they refused to trade with other countries by setting up the barriers and closing the market. Since they had adopted the closed-door policy, later China had l

19、agged far behind others and become backward. Therefore, one can see that open societies, open economies do better. Development means security, means peace, means higher living standards and better outcomes in terms of the human condition and human rights improve.Third, even though globalization is i

20、nevitable, it does not indicate that it is a flood that will submerge us soon. Globalization brings changes, influence, opportunities and various challenges in different walks of our lives. Nevertheless, changes sometimes give us life, sometimes agony. As Friedman says:Globalization can be incredibl

21、y empowering and incredibly coercive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing1cultures, it is also enabling people to share

22、their unique individuality farther and wider.Hence, as for the global world, if globalization is not handled properly, it may broaden gaps between north and south, between the developed countries and the developing countries, between the invested and the deprived because the rules of economic game a

23、re not in their favor. They must strive for fighting against the current unjust economic order. Whereas, globalization brings the first real chance of prosperity to the impoverished corners of the world. Statistics show that, thanks to the globalizing world, in poor countries, people live longer, ea

24、t better, and have more access to clean water than they did 50 years ago. GDP per head in less developed countries has trebled since 1950, life expectancy has resist by over 20 years and adult literacy rates have increased by over 30 percentage points. Moreover, developed nations will forgive billio

25、ns in debts owed by the worlds poorest countries and those rich nations dedicate a portion of their economic output to helping the neediest. Recently, Bush pledged to give US$5 billion in additional foreign aid to poor countries over the next several years. 7As for China, WTO membership will provide

26、 the 1.3 billion Chinese with secure, predictable and non-discriminatory access to the markets of 142 trading partners. It will commit China to implement legal and domestic policy reform. Moreover, cars will be sold at much lower prices and American oranges and New Zealand Kiwi fruits will become co

27、mmon goods on store shelves. With the lowered tariffs and diminished trade barriers, many goods will reach prices acceptable to ordinary families in China. These range from high-tech products including newly developed PCs and cell phones to daily items including foreign-made foods and well-known clo

28、thing brands. However, every coin has two sides. Some problems come with the benefits. Intense competition from foreign companies threatens to force unprofitable Chinese companies out of business and increase the rate of unemployment. Chinas domestic telecommunications industry has ended its monopol

29、y and is offering more considerate and personalized services to compete against its foreign counterparts. Moreover, agriculture is cited as one of the industries most threatened. Following Chinese membership of the WTO, tariffs on agricultural commodities will fall within five years from 31 per cent

30、 to an average of 17 per cent, with the average duty on key American agricultural exports dropping further, to 14 per cent. Chinese farmers will be threatened because2domestic grains like corn and soybeans must compete with higher quality imports. The impact will be that much greater because China i

31、s still primarily an agricultural country and has 800 million farmers. Observers believe huge numbers could be forced to leave the countryside for the cities,where new jobs will have to be created for them.8 Globalization even has the deep and profoundinfluence on Chinese culture, for the open-door

32、policy not only opened the country s economicdoor, it also opened eyes and minds. Western concepts and ideas and other components of popular culture were talked about enthusiastically everywhere. Sartre, Freud and Nietzche found their wayonto the desktops of Chinese intellectuals. The“ chorus ” of M

33、ichael Jackson, Madonna andBackstreet Boys could be heard on urban high streets as well as in“ red sorghum ” fields in thecountryside. Short skirts and bell-bottom trousers, along with long hair and sunglasses becameicons of a new urban popular culture. Even the most insensitive could see that weste

34、rn popular culture was becoming pervasive, but the most sensitive could hardly imagine the far-reachingimplications. Recently, it is reported that HongKongers have taken western style fast food to theirhearts and stomachs, especially McDonald s. James L. Watson professor of Chinese Society andAnthro

35、pology at Harvard University says,“ HongKong s McDonald s gradually made thetransition from a trendy exotic outpost of American culture to an ordinary purveyor of ordinaryfood for ordinary people.7 Therefore,” some people like to describe globalization as a horriblebarrier to the continuance of our

36、culture. However, others will perceive that globalization will bring us the cultural diversity and it is no need to particularly preserve our traditional Chinese culture.Personally, it seems to me that globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good nor bad. Used properly, it can cook f

37、ood, sterilize equipment, form iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly, fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an instant. The present state of Chinese culture is that globalization, on one hand, has enriched our culture to a certain extend, on the other hand, Chinese culture seems to confro

38、nt the big threat of the westernization. The major task for us is that, how can we manage and rein globalization well to defense our good parts of traditional culture and avoid the totally cultural homogeneity in this 21 st century.II. Chinese Culture in GlobalizationAn obvious complaint about globa

39、lization is that it leads to cultural homogeneity: interaction and integration diminish difference; global norms, ideas or practices overtake local mores; many cultural flows, such as the provision of news, reflect exclusively Western interests and control; and the cultural imperialism of the United

40、 States leads to the global spread of American symbols and popular culture. 9 10 The counterargument stresses new heterogeneity that results from globalization: interaction is likely to lead to new mixtures of cultures and integration is likely to provoke a defense of tradition; global norms or prac

41、tices are necessarily interpreted differently according to local tradition, and one such norm stresses the value of cultural difference itself; cultural flows now originate in many places; and America has no hegemonic grasp on a world that must passively accept whatever it has to sell. 11. 12. 13In

42、my viewpoint, since globalization has the nature of paradox and dilemma, on one side, it contributes to cultural diversity and can lead to the creation of new cultures. On the other hand, globalization undermines traditional cultures and leads to homogenization and assimilation with stronger culture

43、s. Therefore, we can not separately consider the problem, rather, we should think it over as a whole. Namely, globalization brings both homogenization and heterogenization. Facing the adversities of homogenization, we should try to find out ways to maintain our characteristics. Whereas, why should w

44、e preserve and develop our Chinese culture? To answer this question, we had better come down to what culture is and how important the culture is towards our lives and our countries.1. What Is Culture?The word culture stems from the Latin colere, translatable as to build on, to cultivate, tofoster. I

45、n the early stages of the philosophical debate about what is culture, the term often refers to the opposite of nature, whereas culture was referring to something constructed willingly by men, while nature was given in itself. Since the 18th century, the word culture emerged more inthe sense of produ

46、cts that are worthy: somewhat reduced to D rer, Goethe and Beethoven, the term was used to describe Elite and high-culture concepts, particularly in continental Europe.14This definition of culture is still vivid; Rickert, in the science of culture and the science of nature,defines culture as“ The to

47、tality of real objects, to which the general values, or sense constructions3of those, are related, and which are cared for with regards to the values. 15 Equally, during ”the mid-nineteenth century, the concept of mass culture and popular culture emerged, fueling the critical theory of the Frankfurt

48、 School and the Birmingham School. In the words of Stuart Hall, of the Birmingham School, culture is both the means and values which arise among distinctive social groups and classes, on the basis of their given historical conditions and relationship, through which they handle and respond to the con

49、ditions of existence. 16Another view of culture focuses of culture as a set of values and attributes of a given group, and the relation of the individual to the culture, and the individuals acquisition of those values andattributes: in the words of Geert Hofstede: the collective programming of the m

50、ind. 16 Fisher, quoted in the same work, defines culture as:It is shared behavior, which is important because it systematizes the way people do things, thus avoiding confusion and allowing co-operation so that groups of people can accomplish what no single individual could do alone. And it is behavi

51、or imposed by sanctions, rewards and punishments for those who are part of the group. 17In the context of this paper, we will adopt the definition of culture as the totality of the following attributes of a given group (or subgroup): shared values, believes and basic assumptions, as well as any beha

52、vior arising from those, of a given group. Culture is understood, in this context, as collectively held set of attributes, which is dynamic and changing over time.2. The Structure of CultureCulture has also been described as ordered into three layers, in fact like an onion, where one peel has to be

53、taken off in order to see the following layer.The three layers of culture are explained as follows:The outer layer, artifacts and products, is the most explicit of all layers: including language and food, architecture and style etc.The second inner layer, norms and values. Norms are the mutual sense

54、 what is right and18wrong while values represent the definition of what is good and bad.The innermost layer, basic assumptions, represents the core assumptions of what life are, assumptions about how to handle everyday problems that have become self-evident. Take Chinese Culture for example, nowaday

55、s, Chinese culture not only appears in the form of Kungfu, paper cutting and thousands of other folk arts, but also it is deeply rooted in the way that the Chinese people look at this world and deal with the daily problems.3. Culture is dynamic, not static19As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said,

56、 “ Everything flows, nothing staysHestillwas. not only talking about nature and the universe changing, but he was also referring to the cultures change and therefore so do the values of the culture. The outer layer of culture is the easiest part to be changed by the time and the society, such as coo

57、king, language and fashion. Then it permeates into the second inner layer, the norms and values. Finally, if we are not careful enough, it will reach to the innermost layer, the basic assumptions. Whereas, many scholars perceive that granting the dynamic nature of culture and value system, the deep

58、structure of a culture is resistant”“ eve19“ the deeper the culture, the more emotional it isShould improper pressureto change ”becausebe exerted on the emotional roots of peoples, there is bound to be resolute resistance.20 Personally,”I admit that in the deeper level of culture, such as the norms and assumptions, there has been a certain resistance against the