从《喜福会》看中美家庭观的差异_英语论文

On the Differences of Family Values between China and America in The Joy Luck Club

摘要

谭恩美是著名的华裔美国女作家，她的代表作品《喜福会》以母女关系为中心，生动展现了四个从中国移民到美国的华裔家庭里，有着中国文化背景的母亲和接受了美国文化教育的女儿之间的冲突。四个家庭的故事体现了中美文化的差异，尤其是家庭观的差异。与尊崇孝道的中国传统家庭观念相比，美国家庭更加注重自由和平等。正是这两种家庭观的差异导致了两国人民在处理夫妻关系、父母与子女的关系上的差别。本文旨在从《喜福会》中母女之间的矛盾进行分析，并结合霍夫斯坦德的文化维度理论，从跨文化的角度着重探讨《喜福会》所表现出的中美文化中不同的家庭观及其原因。

关键词：《喜福会》；母女冲突；家庭观；文化差异

Abstract

Amy Tan, a celebrated Chinese American woman writer, wrote The Joy Luck Club. The novel concentrates on the mother-daughter relationships and manifests the conflicts between Chinese mothers and daughters who have been nurtured in American culture in the four Chinese American immigrant families. Stories happening in the four families indicate the cultural differences between China and America, especially the differences in family values. The core of Chinese traditional family values is based on filial piety. By contrast, American families attach more importance to freedom and equality. It is the different family values that lead to the different ways for the people from the two countries to deal with their family relationships. In association with Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions, this paper is intended to analyze the cultural causes for the contradictions between mothers and daughters, and focus on the different family values between China and America in The Joy Luck Club from a cross-cultural perspective.

Keywords: The Joy Luck Club; Mother-Daughter Conflicts; Family Values; Culture Difference 

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction to Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club 1

1.2 Introduction to the Paper 1

2 Four Pairs of Mother-Daughter Conflicts Reflected in The Joy Luck Club 2

2.1 Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong 2

2.2 Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei “June” Woo 3

2.3 An-mei Hsu and Rose Hsu Jordan 3

2.4 Ying-ying St. Clair and Lena St. Clair 3

3 Hofstede’s Theory of Cultural Dimensions 4

3.1 Individualism and Collectivism 4

3.2 Uncertainty Avoidance 4

3.3 Power Distance 5

3.4 Masculinity and Femininity 5

3.5 Long-Term Orientation and Short-Term Orientation 5

4 Comparative Study of the Family Values between China and America 5

4.1 Comparison between Chinese and American Family Concept 6

4.2 Comparison between Chinese and American Family Education 7

4.3 Comparison between Chinese and American Marriage View 8

5 Causes of the Differences between Chinese and American Family Values 10

5.1 The Causes for the Different Family Concept 10

5.2 The Causes for the Different Family Education 12

5.3 The Causes for the Different Marriage View 13

5.3.1 Purpose of Marriage 13

5.3.2 Relationship between Couple 13

5.3.3 Attitude to Divorce 14

Conclusion 15

Bibliography 17