從美國(guó)汽車看美國(guó)文化全英語畢業(yè)論文

1、 . American CultureFrom the Perspective of Automobile從美國(guó)汽車看美國(guó)文化AbstractSino-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. It connects the worlds most populous country with the only Superpower. The mutual understanding is related to the quality of two countries relati

2、on. Therefore, it is urgent to increase the understanding of the United States. Understanding the United States includes the understanding of American culture. Automobile is an important traffic tool and an essential element in Americans life. It is also an American culture carrier. It is an aspect

3、for Chinese people to understand the United States.This thesis introduces the definition of culture and the significance of studying American culture, and then analyses, in American culture, the individualism, humor, materialism and Americans pursuit of change in their life. At last the author draws

4、 a conclusion that from the perspective of automobile, Americans are individualistic, humorous, and good at pursuit of materials and change in their life.Key WordsAmerican Automobile; the United States; Culture 摘 要 中美關(guān)系是全球最重要的雙邊關(guān)系之一，它聯(lián)系著中國(guó)這一個(gè)世界上人口最多的國(guó)家和世界上唯一的超級(jí)大國(guó)。兩國(guó)的相互理解直接影響著兩國(guó)的關(guān)系。因此，增加對(duì)美國(guó)的了解已經(jīng)迫在眉睫。

5、了解美國(guó)包括了了解美國(guó)文化。汽車是重要的交通工具，也是美國(guó)人生活的基本要素，同時(shí)也是美國(guó)文化的一種載體。它是中國(guó)人了解美國(guó)文化的一個(gè)方面。本文首先介紹文化的定義和研究美國(guó)文化的意義，然后再從汽車這個(gè)角度，對(duì)美國(guó)文化中的個(gè)人主義，美國(guó)人的幽默感，物質(zhì)主義和美國(guó)人追求變化方面進(jìn)行分析。從而得出了這樣一個(gè)結(jié)論：從美國(guó)汽車方面可以知道美國(guó)人富有個(gè)性，幽默感，追求物質(zhì)財(cái)富和生活變化。關(guān)鍵詞美國(guó)汽車； 美國(guó)；文化 IntroductionChina is a nation with the history of 5000 years, and is playing a more and more impo

6、rtant role in the world. Along with the Sino-American relation increasingly closing, the Chinese traditional culture is faced with the challenges from the culture of the United States. In order to avoid it, it is urgent for Chinese people to know the United States very well. To know a country and it

7、s people, it is necessary know its culture first. America is the initiator of motor society. Chinese people might learn the American culture from a new perspective- American automobile.In the 21st century, motor has become the essential thing to Americans. It is not only a kind of traffic tool, but

8、also the symbolization of American culture. The whole life of American cannot get rid of a car. When they are children, they go to school, go shopping and so on by car; when they are old, they go to hospital, go visiting and so on by car. This country, designed for motor, expresses its culture in ma

9、ny cases in automobile. We might know American culture better through researching and analyzing American automobile. This research might make cross-culture communications more easily.Many scholars have researched American culture through many other areas, but there are few people who study it from t

10、he perspective of automobile. The thesis plans to study American culture from cars, and attempts to let readers understand the culture more clearly. I. The Importance of Studying American CultureA. The Definition of CultureAll material products and the spiritual products create human culture. Cultur

11、e also is language, literature, arts, and many other spiritual products of ideologies. Culture in the West comes from the Latin “cultura”, original meaning refers to farming and the cultivation of plants. Since the 15th century, it is extended the use gradually, and put on the character and ability

12、of the train, also known as culture. People are fundamentally different from animals, because people have culture. Animals do not have culture. Lin Dajing (1996) states that culture is a humans awareness of life, nature and society and the content of the relationship between them. Animals consciousn

13、ess has no such capacity. Culture is the memory of mankind. Culture as a complex system of symbolization has the function of recording all kinds of actions of mankind. Spoken and written languages are the main carriers of culture. People depend on the oral language, experience, and knowledge to crea

14、te culture in the world. Culture of the world is the golden key to open the door of wisdom. For an individual, a person's son comes to the world is ignorant, and then the family, schools and community give him the culture, and also create a culture somewhat. On the community as a whole, regardle

15、ss of changes in the social system, it would still have to study and inherit the culture of the past. Culture is intangible schools where people create culture. Once culture is created as a cultural environment, it will influence and restrict people. A society has three major components including ec

16、onomy, politics, and culture. Culture occupies an important position. It cannot only promote economic development, political progress, but also the national spirit. It units the national essence of the tradition, and displays a states history and the brilliant modern civilization. B. The Significanc

17、e of Studying CultureSince the World War II, the people discovered the world is becoming smaller and smaller. The various countries' government officials frequently shuttle back and forth at the international stages. The cross-nation corporations blossom and bear fruits in the world. The scienti

18、sts, the scholars repeatedly appear in the international academic forums. The United Nations peacekeeping troops are on the run to the world military conflict hot spot. More and more people love the international travels. More and more people become the international students, immigrants. The Chines

19、e teachers mount the foreign rostrum. The foreign scholars come to China to hold speeches. There are more and more cross cultural communications, and show a quite magnificent sight. A country in the world almost cant isolate for self-propagation, but always communicate cultures with the other countr

20、ies and influence each other, constantly learn, absorb and integrate from foreign culture. This culture communications play a great role in promoting the social progress. However, one can often hear cross cultural relations contradiction and question, because of the different cultures and the ways t

21、o express. Some countries heads behave a hand signal that they thought is friend, but they had enraged the people of other countries. The American merchants come to China to do business. Any business has not been done, and the merchants are unhappy. The English teachers often complain that Chinese s

22、tudents do not cooperate. Some people first go to the US to study, and then they have to come back after a short time because of the different culture. To prevent the above things happening again, more and more scholars begin to study the foreign countries and foreign cultures. Since the mid-20th ce

23、ntury, waves of culture studies have been rising quietly. After the Cold War period, the culture studies reached a climax, and expanded. The culture studies have become a very important issue today. In Europe, the culture studies as a subject already exist early. It mainly refers to study the writte

24、n materials, which mainly reflects the upper ruling classes. The books of history and cultural realities, sometimes also include literary arts and customs are written for the ruling classes. The culture studies involve not only the philosophy, but also the history, cultural anthropology, sociology o

25、f culture, cultural geography, literature, political science and many other fields, which have researched on their understanding and interpretation or are carrying out their own culture studies. Culture studies will enable us to understand the past of a country, and have clearunderstanding of the co

26、untry today, and also help us to expect a countrys tomorrow. C. The Reason of Studying American CultureThere are so many countries and different cultures in the world, and they havecomplete different form. It is not easy to completely analyze the American culture from all aspects. It is better to st

27、udy one aspect.In the modern world, there is no a country as America that arises Chinese people complicated affection. There is no such a country as America that arises Chinese peoples curiosity and imagination. There is no such a country as America that influences the present condition of China and

28、 the development of future. In the open society, the shadow of American culture influences everywhere. In the life of Chinese people, especially the young generation, the American music style is very popular. In the Chinese medium, there are many reports about America. Schools, governments, and the

29、ordinary people notice the change of American policies carefully. At the book stores and libraries, all kinds of books about America are very popular. Generally speaking, China is confronted with the invasion of American culture. To avoid losing our own culture that has a heritage of 5000 years, and

30、 do international business well, Chinese people must know the United States very well. So we must know the culture of America. As the representative of Western culture, the development and fate of the American culture may be the prospect of Western civilization. The culture studies of the United Sta

31、tes will also go beyond national borders and become global civilization issues.If we want to study the American culture, we should know American people how to view their own culture first. Raymond Williams has researched the complex cultural history of the development in the world. He states,“ civil

32、ization is moved from culture, and developed into civilization since the 18th century”(Williams,Raymond.1976: 20). In 1950s, he published The Culture and Society, which wrote a culture of four different meanings: 1. Culture is a personal habit of thinking; 2.Culture is a form of the development of t

33、hinking; 3.Culture is the art; 4. Culture is a whole way of life. Terry Eagleton says:“culture is the most complex word in the world”.(Eagleton, Terry.2000: 89) Most American people think that culture is related to the traditions, the customs and the way of life. Culture is stemmed from the traditio

34、ns and customs of their family. The American culture is a product of compromise and the creation of community, and is the tool of understanding them all over the world. The United States is a country of immigrants. So American culture is the culture of migrants, and is called diversity culture. The

35、world is diverse cultures, because it is composed of many different cultures. TheUnited States is a pluralistic culture country, because it is also composed of many different cultures. He also writes, “I hate the native American party. People are the synthesis of all biology. This is a mixture forme

36、d in the North American continent. It has become a heaven for all people. Irish, Germans, Swedes, Poles, and all the European tribes, Africans will build a new race, new religions, new country, and new literature, just like from the smelting pot of the dark ages of the new Europe with the same vigor

37、.” Obviously, The United States is a multi-ethnic people with the common ideology and consciousness, views, beliefs and integrity after the formation of new nation. II. Study American Culture from American AutomobileThe cultures of America reflect everywhere. If one wants to study all of them, he ne

38、eds much time and energy, which is very difficult. We have to research from one subject, which can be the carrier of American cultures. In America, there is no doubt that automobile has become the essential thing in American life. So automobile has reflected the American cultures. Since 1886 the Ger

39、many people Cull Benz invented the first automobile, it is always the modern civil symbolization. The existence of automobile has the inseparable relations with the culture of a nation. The USA, the country, which designs for automobile, is not exceptional. The automobile plays a very important role

40、 in Americans' life. They ride in a carriage in the mother's womb to the gynecological and obstetrical hospital. Child accompanies in the automobile grows. They ride the car for dealership, play in the vehicle, and go to school in a carriage. They also ride the vehicle to make a long journey

41、. After work, they drive to company and home, go to the market, the Stadium to watch the sports match, to the friend family, to attend the party. It has also reflected American culture from various aspects, such as Americans modest declining, time idea and so on. Therefore, we analyze the American a

42、utomobile through the careful research. We may even understand the American culture more clearly from the side.A. The IndividualismIt is well known that America is the biggest country of manufacturing automobile. There are so many famous motor brands in America, such as Ford, GM, and so on. These mo

43、tors have a same character, which is safe, because the steel plate of American automobile is thickest in the world. The average steel plate of motor is about 0.8-1.0mm normally, but the steel plate of American car is 1.2mm, which would increase the price and oil consumption. The American automobile

44、consumes the oil mass accounts for the national oil used total quantity 63%, but American people do not think about it too much in the wave of environmental protection greatly. They found that it would be safer, and decrease the risk in the traffic accidents. According to New York Times, the mortali

45、ty rate of people driving American car is the lowest. American take care of safety, it is not because the Americans fear death, but they care about individual. They think a person is combined with the society, and the personal value is more important than everything in the world. The single most imp

46、ortant pattern in the United States is individualism. Broadly speaking, individualism refers to the doctrine, spelled out in detail by the seventeenth century English philosopher John Locke (1658), “Each individual is unique, special, completely different from all other individuals, and the basic un

47、it of nature.” Lockes view is a simple one. The interests of the individual ought to be paramount, and that all value rights and duties originate from individuals. The value of individualism is so commanding that other imperative American values spring from individualism. Kim Gannon (1991) underscor

48、es the link between individualism and other when he wrote: Equality of opportunity, independence, initiative, and self-reliance are some of the values that have remained as basic American throughout history. All of these values are expressive of a high degree of individualism.” As Gannon noted, this

49、 emphasis on the individual, hidebound elsewhere in the world, has emerged as the cornerstone of American culture. Huntington points out that this “sense of individualism and a tradition of individual rights and liberties is unique among civilized societies.”(Huntington. 1996:125) The origin of this

50、 value has had a long history and a variety of champions. Benjamin Franklin told Americans that “god helps those who help themselves” and Xu Xingyan reminds them “the American system was based on rugged individualism.”(Xu Xingyan. 2004:98) Whether it is sexual, social, or ethical, the self for Ameri

51、cans holds the pivotal position. Duan Muyiwan:“Anybody who is any good is different than anybody else.”(Duan Muyiwan.1999:256) Whether it is literature, art or American history, the message is the same. Individual achievement, sovereignty, and freedom are the virtues most glorified and canonized. Am

52、erican role models may be the cowboys of the old west or action heroes in todays movies, videos, or computer games are all portrayed as independent agents who accomplish their goals with little or no assistance. The result of these and countless other messages is that most American believes that eac

53、h person has his or her own separate identity, which should be recognized and reinforced. As Kim Gannon points out, “In America, hat counts is who you are, not who others around you are. A person tends to be judged on his or her own merit.”(Gannon, Kim. 1991:25) The Americans think the individualism

54、 is very important. That is not formed in modern society, it stems from Bible. In Bible, the god loves everybody, therefore, each people all are an object, which the god loves, withstands the carrier. Individual blessing realization is the God's love manifesting. God produced firstly was individ

55、ual, later will produce the association, which should exist for the goal of people, Therefore, as for personal relations, individual should first belong to the association. While membership in a church community is important to Christians, most religious scholars maintain the notion that "Chris

56、tianity discovered the individual,” That is to say, the Western concept of the importance of the individual, can be linked partially to Christianity. For example, salvation, particularly for Protestants, is achieved by our own efforts alone and there is a tendency for deeds to count more than prayer

57、s. Even the Bible carries examples of individualism. As Dong Xiaochuan notes,“ The Gospels are replete with scenes in which Jesus works on one's own healing one womans sickness, forgiving that another mans sins and calling each to personal conversion.”(Dong Xiaochuan.1999:70) Summarizing this im

58、portant point, Kim Gonnon adds,“ Christianity discovers individuality in the sense that it stresses personal conversion.” In addition, the Christian theology begins with the assumption that the world is real and meaningful because God created it. Human beings are significant because God created them

59、 in his imagination. God has a special relationship with each person in that God sees and hears, rewards and punishes. Each person is important to him. The Christian God is a personal God, who desires a relationship with his creation. In a culture that values individualism, Christianity is perhaps the perfect religion. B. Pursuit of ChangeAmericans are so fond of cars. There is another important reason, because the Americans believe in changes, like change,