英语文化毕业论文

中国英语在文学作品中的文化传播价值英语专业学生：唐佳 指导教师：石松摘要：中国英语是英语在中国使用时的一种行为变体。它也是中西跨文化交际的产物。中国英语是有关中国文化的英语，中国需要中国英语来实现它的全球化。国内突出的用中国英语写作的是林语堂，张爱玲，国外突出的作家是赛珍珠。美籍华裔作家在中国英语的写作上主要是以谭恩美和汤亭亭为主。中国古典小说红楼梦的英文著作也是中国英语传播到海外的里程碑。关键字：中国英语，跨文化交际，中国英语作品，华裔文学China Englishs Value of Cultural Dissemination in Literature WorksStudent majoring in English Tang JiaTutor Shi SongAbstract: China English is a performance variety of the English language in the process of English being used in China. Learning the China English in literature works is the most important way to conduct cross-cultural communication and advocate Chinese culture. The representative China English writers in China are LinYutang, Eileen Chang and the typical writer outside China is Pearl Buck. Their main China English works are The Moment in Peking, The Golden Cangue and The Good Earth. Additionally, several Chinese American writers like Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingstons China English works also act critical roles in the cultural dissemination of China English. The translation of Chinese classics leading by Red Chamber Dream is introduced overseas in the last century. Key words: China English, China English writers, cross-cultural communication, China English works and Chinese-American literature 1. Introduction1.1 The definition of China English China English is a language that absorbs and assimilates a certain cultural element of the Chinese language, and it is the nativization of English language in China. It contains the components of the Chinese language, and Chinese culture. It is used by the Chinese people in the local community; it is expressed in Standard English. China English also expresses the Chinese socio-cultural areas of specific things; but it is not influenced and distracted by the mother tongue. China English enters into the English communicative world through transliteration, translation, semantic regeneration and other various means. China English is lexical, syntactic and discourse with Chinese characteristics.1.2 The characteristics of China English.1. China English is a language phenomenon arising from the process of cultural exchange between Chinese language and English language.2. China English does not belong to English used by the English nation. It expressed the specific things and Chinese characteristics dominated in the Chinese society. 3. China English can enter into the English communicative world based on Standard English. It is not interfered by the mother tongue.4. China English is useful to spread Chinese culture. As the China Englishs popularity and the formation of Chinese characteristics gradually expanded, China English is to enrich and develop the English world culture. 5. China English is different from Chinese-style English.6. China English belongs to the extended English (the expanding circle English).1.3 The importance of China English in literature works in cross-cultural communication China English in literature works is the product of cross-cultural communication, articulating various types of Chinese culture emblems, and it can be recognized to serve as a bridge between Chinese culture and western culture. The China English in literature works is the nativization of English language in China. It is the best channel for the overseas to know more about China. With great prospects of application and practical value, it has become an essential medium for China to contact the outside world and it has its rationality of existence from the perspective of cross-cultural communication. 2. Literature Review2.1 China English Masterpieces in China 2.1.1 Lin Yutangs China English works and their culture dissemination Quite a number of China-English writers contribute to the culture dissemination of China English. An ideal China English writer must possess three qualities: firstly, the ability to express in bilingual language and the ability to quickly shift language; secondly, being familiar with the backgrounds of two languages; thirdly, being adept at cross-cultural communication. The first China English work originates from Lin Yutang. Lin Yutang calls himself as” a person who stepped in both the eastern and western culture.” As early as 1928, Lin Yutang began writing for the newspapers and translating some Chinese classics. He once said: If one study the Chinese culture, the Americans will get profundity, the Englishmen will get scope, the Germans will get simplicity. ( Lin Yutang, 1928) In 1935, his masterpiece My Country and My People arouses a sensation in the western world. In this book, Lin Yutang directly adopts English categories, syntactic and figures of speech to describe Chinese culture, for example, the tea culture, the wine culture, the bird watching culture and the traditional philosophical minds. Lins success attributes to his elaborate narration. He narrates the Chinese traditional culture in a modern way; he explains the Chinese wisdom to the western people to cater to their tastes. At the same time, he tries to seek for a living style. He is eager to melt the modern industrial civilization into the Chinese traditional philosophy of life. Actually, this book contributes a lot to the cross-cultural communication. At that time in America, there is no book that can have a fair presentation about China. Most impressions about Chinese culture on westerners are negative. When they think of China, “opium, tea, chopsticks, pig tail men, foot-binding women, poverty, pestilence, brutish warlords and so on will occur to them. It is the first time that a book has a fair and overall view of Chinese culture in the western market. Lin Yutang always makes a comparison between the Chinese cultures with the western culture when he composes the works. Most of his arguments coordinate with the opinions of the contemporary western scholars. The most prominent characteristic of Lins work is that he is trying his best to highlight the good qualities of the Chinese culture which appeals and interests the western people to the grandeur Chinese culture. Lin makes positive comments on the long standing Chinese culture, he once said that the ethnic thoughts of the Chinese people totally differs from the western people. China has been isolated from the western world for thousand years. Chinese culture has its advantages and disadvantages, so is the western culture. Lin spoke highly of the positive materials which is beneficial to the modern world from the Confucianism and Taoism. His responsibility is to disseminate all the positive Chinese culture overseas. He has also mastered the essence and inner characters of the western culture. In the aspect of the novel creation, Lins another distinguished work is The Moment in Peking. Many people regard this book as a romance story, vice versa; the book aims to eulogize the millions of soldiers who sacrificed in the Anti-Japanese War. Lin finished this book when he was in America. Instead of killing time, he writes this book for the courageous Chinese soldiers. Lin once said numerous foreign journalists have reported and remarked the Anti-Japanese War in China, but there are few broadcasts that can truly impress the western readers. They have little understanding of the moving and impressive stories and spirits of the Chinese soldiers. In order to make a stir in the western world, Lin decides to compose a novel for the Chinese soldiers. Apart from the perseverance and infirmity of the Chinese spirits, this novel also incarnates the traditional Chinese spirits, including the Taoism. The great success of Moment in Peking is attributed to his using modern English to reveal long-standing Chinese traditional culture. Using modern English as a carrier, this great book extensively describe the histories of Chinese custom, portrays a number of vivid figures and especially portrays female figures as Chinese traditional charming heroines. As a classic in the history of China English works, Moment in Peking functions as a milestone. In the west, it is highly praised as another Red Chamber Dream in China.2.1.2 Eileen Changs China English works and their culture dissemination Apart from Lin Yutang, another female writer also describes the traditional Chinese culture in English in a more sensitive way. She is Eileen Chang. Since 1943 in Shanghai, Eileen Chang began to publish some essays and film reviews in English. They are Chinese Life and Fashions, Wife; Vamp ;Child, Still Alive, The Opium War, Song of Autumn, Mother and DaughtersinLaw, China: Education of The Family, Demons and Fairies. After she went to Hong Kong, Eileen Chang began to write full-length novel in English. Her works includes The Rice Sprout Song, The Naked Earth, and Stale Mates and The Rouge of the North. Most of the Changs works are about the desire and humanity of all the living things in the atmosphere of Chinese traditional culture. The psychological mind of Chinese people is conveyed to the westerners in a most incisive way. With regards to Elieen Chang, we have to come up with some opinions about her China English novel“The Golden Cangue”. The novel has a profound analysis of Chinese human nature，psychological traits and Chinese traditional draffy culture. It makes a perfect analysis of the darkness and gloominess of Chinese humanity. It was a big heat in the 1920s in China. Afterwards, Elieen Chang translated this novel and published it in America. However, this China English novel has not triggered an influential response from the overseas. It was a failure in the cross-cultural communication. “The Golden Cangue” has a clear picture of the traditional big family in China. The complex relationships and Chinese psychologies in the novel bewilder the western readers which in a deep sense becomes barrier to cultural understanding. For the China English writers, the readers reading ability should be prioritized. Additionally, the western people are prone to sense the beautiful and good things from the Chinese culture.2.1.3The translation China English works from Chinese classics and its cultural dissemination in China Except for the original English works written by the Chinese writers, the translation of the Chinese classics also needs to be popularized overseas. The famous translation works cited are the poems of Tu Fu in Tang Dynasty. The language is the medium and carrier for the cultural dissemination. The poems are the essence of the language and the crystallization of culture. The translation of Chinese classical poems aims to introduce the specific ancient artistic forms to the exotic culture. Although the culture mixing between eastern and western culture is advocated around the world, the Euro-centric culture still dominates the whole world. The dissemination of Chinese ancient poems is critical to spread the Chinese ancient crystallization overseas. Tang Dynasty is the most prosperous and flourishing time period in the worlds history and Du Fu is the most representative poet in Tang Dynasty. Du Fu is the great realist poet in Tang Dynasty, the aesthetic features of his poetry can be summarized into the following four aspects: the image-intensiveness, formal breaking off to highlight coherence, gloomy tone and rhythmic melody, the strong sense of the times. The translation of Du Fus poems show to the western world that the Chinese ancient culture deserves the worlds attention and Chinese culture also once dominated the world.Referring to classic translation, Lin Yutang translated and edited The Wisdom of Confucianism in 1938. Differing from the previous books about Confucianism, this book is a popular reading. It is easier for the westerners to comprehend the Confucianism. In 1942, he published the classic The Wisdom of China and India. In his book The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Sung Tangpo, he endeavored to describe the history and culture of Su Tangpo times explicitly. In the Chinese readers eye, these descriptions seem a little lengthy; however, as for the western people who know little about China, such kind of narration is indispensable. Lin is adept at catching hold of the readers interests; he also knows what the western people need.Another prestigious translation masterpiece is The Red Chamber Dream. According to some researchers claims, The Red Chamber Dreams crucial role in China is like the Shakespeares plays in England and its popularity in China is like the Bible in the western world. The Red Chamber Dream depicts a vivid description of the system of feudalism in China. The novels significance in the cross-cultural communication lies in its distinct comparative research between eastern and western culture in four aspects, that is, Individualism and Collectivilism, High-uncertainty avoidance and low-uncertainty avoidance, High power distance and Low power distance, Masculinity and Femininity. In the western world, individual is the key factor of a society and every one is encouraged to seek for the personal initiative and the individual success. However, China advocates Collectivilism and the Chinese are divided into different groups. Every persons emotion, values and choices are dependent on the group he belongs to. As for the second factor, Chinese society belongs to the low-uncertainty avoidance. Compared with the western worlds strict legislature body, Chinese society are prone to tolerate others from the moral angle. Chinese society also put emphasis on the high power distance and masculinity. The red Chamber Dream displays an image of the aristocratic family falling into ruin from honor in Qing Dynasty. The vivid and comprehensive description of the complicated relationships among various characters is just a fine embodiment of the four aspects. It could be regarded as the best Chinese novel to study the cultural differences. 2.2 China English Masterpieces out of China 2.2.1 Pearls Bucks China English works and their culture dissemination Pearls Buck, a prestigious American writer, was born in America and dwelled in China for more than 40 years. Pearls Buck is the first foreign writer who presents the real living status of Chinese people to the world. Before she set her pen to China, most westerners have a negative impression on the Chinese society and Chinese culture. What Chinese people imprints on them are the distorted images living in the Manchukuo like Pu Yi( the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the emperor of Manchukuo). The Chinese people and Chinese society are quite mysterious to them. She wants to have a real talk with the westerners on the standing viewpoint as a foreigner. Unlike Lin Yutang and Elieen Chang, her special identity makes it easier for the westerners to believe the reality in China. She extorts to cross out the biases against China. Instead of the pagans in the westerners eye, Chinese people are the common human beings who also have emotions and characters living in a different cultural background. By virtue of her sensitiveness in Chinese life, she produced The Good Earth, Imperial Woman, Letter from Peking, Mother and so on. In this novel, she successfully catches the inseparable relationship between Chinese peasants and the land. She has a perfect and real description about the fates and characters of Chinese peasants. Unlike the western farmers, the peasants are the most inferior and exploited class in China and land signifies the peasants life. This novel has a real reflection of a common and typical Chinese person. Through this novel, she shapes a normal and diligent Chinese character and advocates the wisdom of adopting the cross-cultural attitude towards our life. In exploring the value of Chinese culture, she is not arbitrary and self-minded to narrate the Chinese culture but keeps her discreet and modest attitude. In the essay of My Chinese World, Pearls Buck overcome her own prejudices as a foreigner and has a fair depict of the “foot-binding” tradition in China. She states that man sometimes will lose their marbles in order to seek for beauty. What matters is the way the easterners and westerners pursue the beauty in their eyes. The westerners choose to suppress the breast while the easterners prefer binding their feet which both need to be paid off. There is no reason to judge which method is superior. Such kind of stupid behavior is the limitations of the history in one nation. Large numbers of subjects have a rash and hasty evaluation of the Chinese culture because of these blemishes in the history. Therefore, the information and impressions the foreigners have received about China are all negative. Pearls Bucks China English works contribute a lot to the founding of the objective east-west cultural communication bridge. When she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1938, the manager of the Stockholm Astronomical Observatory had a high compliment about her high quality and high aesthetic taste works. He said that Madame Pearls Buck accelerates the western worlds critical part of civilization which is the understanding and emphasis on the Chinese people. Whats more, we are able to see the individual among the mass public through the works. She also displays the vicissitudes of a Chinese family and the oriental country with an ancient civilization. (Thibault Linbrad 1938). She was spoken highly of “the bridge between eastern and western culture” by Clinton. From Pearl Bucks works, western people can easily comprehend the Chinese people, Chinese traditions and Chinese humanitarianism and philosophies. 2.2.2 Chinese-American literature and their culture dissemination Chinese American literature comes into being in the atmosphere of American multi-cultural society. It is a new-born product of the mixture of eastern and western culture. On one hand, the Chinese American writers receive the American education and form their American cognitive style; on the other hand, affected by their forefathers, they have a little awareness of the Chinese culture. Taking advantage of the cultural backgrounds, they begin their own creation eye view and theme implication in a unique Chinese style in English. The intense distinctions and unique style in their works become a topic in the mainstream of American literature. To a large extent, it boosts the Chinese culture in America.The first China-English work in America is written by Lee Yan Phou in the later period of 19th century. His masterpiece is When I was A Boy in China. Pardee Lowee composed his Father and Glorious Descendant in 1943. The first important writer is Jade Snow Wong; her Fifth Chinese Daughter is the typical representative work of Chinese American literature. She was regarded as” the mother of Chinese American Literature”. Maxim Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior: memoirs of girlhood among ghosts is the first Chinese American work that is introduced into the high education class in America. In 1989, Amy Tan relies on her The Joy Club to rise to the fame. In 1999, Han Jin publicizes his Waiting. Among these writers, the distinguished ones are Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, Lillian Jen, Ha Jin, Qiu Xiaolong. The Chinese-American literature is an inseparable part in the China English writings out of China. Referring to the Chinese American literature, we have to discuss about The Joy Club written by Amy Tan. This book can be regarded as the milestone of Chinese American literature in the cultural dissemination. In America, the Chinese group is subordinate to the white race. The dominant culture is the white culture, while the interaction between the two races is considered as cross-cultural communication. In this book, the four daughters stand for the western culture and the mothers symbolize the Chinese culture. At the beginning, the daughters have a terrible relationship with the