CultureShock

1、CultureShockUNIT 6 ： Culture Shock| 文化沖擊 |Kalervo ObergWe might almost call culture shock an occupational disease of people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad. Like most ailments it has its own cause, symptoms, and cure.1 我們不如把文化沖擊稱為忽然置身外國的人們所得的職業(yè)病。和大多數(shù)疾病同樣，這類病有其獨到的因由、癥狀和療法。Culture shock is

2、precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life:when to shake hands and what to say when wemeet people, when and how to gi

3、ve tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and whento refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not. These cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are a

4、s much a part ofour culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues.2 文化沖擊是由于我們失掉熟習的社會交往標記和符號而產(chǎn)生的憂慮所促成。這些標記或示意包含我們對付平時生活各樣情境時使用的諸多方式方法：與人見面時何時握手、該說些什么；在什么時間、以什么方式付小費；如何囑咐傭 人；如何購物；何時該接受、何時該拒絕他人的邀請；他人說的話，何時應

5、當真，何時不該當真。這些示意能夠是語 言、手勢、面部表情、民俗習慣或社會行為標準。我們在成長的過程中獲取了這些示意，就像我們的語言和我們所接受的崇奉同樣，它們已經(jīng)成為我們文化的一部分。我們?nèi)康娜硕家揽砍汕先f個這樣的示意才能擁有安靜的心境，過上高效率的生活。Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is likea fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded you may

6、be,a series of props have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety. People react to the frustration in much the same way. First they reject the environment which causes the discomfort: a?The ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad.a? When A

7、mericans or other foreigners in a strange land get together to complain about the host country andits people a? ” you can be sure they are suffering from culture shock. Another phase of culture shock is regression.The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance. To an American everythi

8、ng American becomes irrationally glorified. All the difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.3 當你走進一種陌生的文化，你所熟習的全部或大多數(shù)文化示意也就隨之消逝。此時的你猶如一條走開水的魚。不論你的氣度多么寬闊，你賴以生計的支柱此時都已坍毀，挫折感和憂慮感油但是生。人們對此種挫折的反響特

9、別相像：他們第一排擠令他們不適的環(huán)境：“我們所到之國的生活方式很不好，讓我們感覺很糟糕。 ”當美國人或其余的外國人到達一個陌生的國家，聚在一同訴苦所到之國及其人民時 能夠一定，他們正深受文化沖擊之苦。文化沖擊的此外一個階段是回歸。故土的一草一木忽然變得極為重要。一個美國人會不合理地美化美國的全部事物。在自己國家所經(jīng)歷的困難和問題都拋在了腦后，只記得故土美好的事物。往常要歸國一趟方可回到現(xiàn)實中In an effort to get over culture shock, there is some value in knowing something about the nature of cu

10、lture and its relationship to the individual. In addition to living in a physical environment, an individual lives in a cultural environment consisting of man-made physical objects, social institutions, and ideas and beliefs. An individual is not born with culture but only with the capacity to learn

11、 it and use it. There is nothing in a new born child which dictates that it should eventually speak Portuguese, English, or French; nor that he should eat with a fork in his left hand rather than in the right or use chopsticks.All these things the child has to learn. Nor are the parents responsible

12、for the culture which they transmit totheir young. The culture of any people is the product of history and is built up over time largely through processeswhich are beyond his awareness. It is by means of culturethat the young learn to adapt themselves to the physical environment and to the people wi

13、th whom they associate. Andas we know, children and adolescents often experiencedifficulties in this process of learning and adjustment.But once learned, culture becomes a way of life.4 要戰(zhàn)勝文化沖擊的心理，認識文化的性質(zhì)及其與個人的關(guān)系會有所裨益。除了賴以生計的自然環(huán)境，一個人還生活在由人造的有形物體、社會民俗、觀點和崇奉組成的文化環(huán)境中。一個人并不是天生就有文化，而是生來就具備學習和使用文化的能力。重生嬰兒

14、的身上不存在一種只許他最后說葡萄牙語、英語或法語的東西，也不存在一種只許他用左手而不是右手執(zhí)叉或只許他用筷子吃飯的東西。這些東西都是要孩子去學習的。文化也不是由父親母親負責傳達給孩子的。任何一個民族的文化都是歷史的產(chǎn)物，經(jīng)過漫長的、本民族意識不到的過程才得以累積形成。孩子經(jīng)過文化學會適應四周的物質(zhì)環(huán)境，學會和四周的人打交道。盡人皆知，青少年在學習和適應的過程中常常碰到困難?？墒牵幕坏W會了，就會成為一種生活方式。as both theis perfectlyPeople have a way of accepting their culturebest and the only way o

15、f doing things. Thisnormal and understandable.To this attitudewe give thename ethnocentrism, a belief that not only the culture butthe race and the nationform the center of the world.Individuals identify themselves with their own group to theextent that any critical comment is taken as a remark whic

16、h is rude to the individual as well as to the group. If youcriticize my country, you are criticizing me; if you criticize me, you are criticizing my country. Along with this attitude goes the tendency to attribute all individual peculiarities as national characteristics. For instance, ifan American

17、does something odd or anti-social in a foreigncountry which back home would be considered a purely individual act, this is now considered a national trait. He acts that way not because he is Joe Doaks but because he is an American. Instead of being censured as an individual, his country is censured.

18、 It is thus best to recognize that ethnocentrism is a permanent characteristic of national groups. Even if a national criticizes some aspect of his own culture, the foreigner should listen but not enter into the criticism.5 人們常常以為自己的文化是最好的，是生活的獨一方 式。這非常正常，完整能夠理解。我們把這類態(tài)度稱為 “民族優(yōu)勝感 ”，即一種以為自己的文化、種族和國家組成

19、世界中心的想法。個人常常將自己與所處的集體等同起來，所以任何責備的言論在他們看來都是對個人及其集體不敬愛的：假如你責備我的祖國，你就是在責備我； 假如你責備我，你就是在責備我的祖國。抱著這類態(tài)度，人們常常 把個人的怪癖歸納為民族的特色。比如，若是一個美國人在外國做出獨到的或有悖社會公德的事情，在美國國內(nèi)的人們會以為這純屬個人行為，但在外國卻被視為一種民族特征：他那樣做并不是由于他是喬? 多克斯，而是由于他是個美國人。遭到責問的不是他這個個體，而是他的祖國。所以，我們最好把民族優(yōu)勝感當作是民族集體的一個永久的特征。即便一個國家的公民責備了自己文化的某些方面，外國人也只應當聽著，而不該當參加責備。

20、Once you realize that your trouble is due to your own lackof understanding of other peoplea?s cultural backgroundand your own lack of the means of communication rather thanthe hostility of an alien environment, you also realize that you yourself can gain this understanding and these means of communi

21、cation. And the sooner you do this, the sooner culture shock will disappear.6 你一旦意識到面對的問題并不是由于異域的敵意而是由于自己對其余民族的文化背景缺少理解或許缺少與對方交流的方式，你同時就會心識到你自己能夠認識他人的文化，并能夠掌握那些交流的方式。你越早做到這一點，文化沖擊就消逝得越快。The question now arises, what can you do to get over culture shock as quickly as possible? The answer is gettingto

22、 know the people of the host country. But this you cannotdo with any success without knowing the language, for language is the principal symbol system of communication. Now we all know that learning a new language is difficult, particularly to adults. This task alone is quite enough tocause frustrat

23、ion and anxiety, no matter how skillful language teachers are in making it easy for you. But onceyou begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation with your maid, your neighbour, or to go on shopping tripsalone, you not only gain confidence and a feeling of powerbut a whole new world of cultu

24、ral meanings opens up for you.7 接下來的問題是，你如何做才能趕快戰(zhàn)勝文化沖擊？答案是：認識所到之國的公民?？墒?，若是不懂語言，你是沒法成功地實現(xiàn)這一目標的，由于語言是用于交流的主要的符號系統(tǒng)。我們此刻都知道，學習一門新的語言不簡單，對成年人來說，尤其這樣。不論教語言的老師多么善于于減少你學習語言的難度，單單學語言這項任務都足以讓你憂慮不 安、飽受挫折?？墒?，你一旦能夠和女傭、街坊進行友善的談話，能夠獨自出門購物，你就會重獲信心，充滿力量，一個包含各樣文化意義的新世界就向你敞開了大門。You begin to find out what people do, how they do it, andwhat their interests are. People usually express these interests by what they habitually talk about and how they allocate their time and money. Once you know this value orinterest pattern it will be quite easy to get