外语专业毕业设计（论文）--从电影《喜宴》看中西婚姻 观的差异.doc

太原科技大学毕 业 设 计（论 文）设计(论文)题目：从电影喜宴看中西婚姻观的差异Different Marital Views Between China and the West Reflected in Film XiYan姓 名_ _张帆_学院（系）_外国语学院_专 业_英语_年 级_大学四年级_指导教师_李丽丽老师_2015年 5 月 1 日Different Marital Views Between China and the West Reflected in Film XiYanZhangFanA thesis submitted to school of Foreign Language in partial fulfillment of the requirementfor the degree of Bachelor of ArtsUnder the supervision ofLecturer LiLiliTaiyuan University of Science and TechnologyJune 2015AcknowledgementsForemost among those to whom I remain deeply indebted is my supervisor, Lilili, without whose inspiring instructions, kind support and constant encouragement this paper would have been impossible. I thank her for her respectable strict attitude towards study, which deeply impressed me during the supervision of this paper and will go on influencing me in my future study, work and life. I especially appreciate her assistance in my selection of the topic of the thesis, sorting of thoughts, searching for references and revising my thesis.I thank the teachers in the Foreign Languages Department for their instruction and devotion, which made my staying here fruitful and rewarding. My thanks also goes to all the authors, editors and contributors of the reference articles, books and websites cited in my thesis, without whose efforts this thesis wouldnt be complete.And at this moment, I want to thank my parents who always provide me encouragement all these years. I am deeply indebted to them for their whole-hearted support during my writing this paper.ContentsAbstract摘要1. Introduction2 . Different Marital Views Between China and the West Reflected in XiYan2.1 Different Purpose of Getting Married2.2 Different Relationship between Husband and Wife in Marriage2.3 Different Wedding Ceremony 3. The Factors Contributing to Those Differences3.1 Values3.2 Cultural patterns3.3 Individualism versus Collectivism3.4 Religion3.5 Economic Way and Living Environment4 . Inspirations for Cross-cultural Communication 4.1 Understanding Cultural Differences 4.2 Respecting the Difference in Custom 4.3 Integrating with Cultural Advantage 5 Conclusion6 References Abstract: The film XiYan was shot by Li An in 1993, describing the Chinese deal with the marital problems with their own view of marriage. Based on the subtitles in the film, this paper compares the different material views between Chinese and the Western people from the perspective of purpose of getting married, the relationship between husband and wife and wedding ceremony and analyzes the factors contributing to the differences, in the hope of offering some suggestions for the effective cross-cultural communication.Key words: XiYan; Marriage; Differences; Reasons; Inspirations摘 要：喜宴是由李安在1993年导演的影片，讲述了中国人用特有的婚姻观念来处理婚姻问题的故事。文章以电影喜宴的字幕及旁白为文本，从结婚目的，夫妻间关系及婚礼仪式几个方面来论述中国与西方在对待婚姻的问题上的不同。并阐述了导致这些差异的原因。希望能够为实现不同文化背景下的有效交流提供借鉴。关键词：喜宴；婚姻观；差异；原因；启示1 IntroductionThe film XiYan is directed by Li An in 1993. Its popular in that year. In this film, Chinese people view the issue of gay with their unique perspective. Different attitudes to marriage between China and the West are reflected vividly and incisively in this film. There are several characters in this film. They have different opinions about marriage and leave a deep impression on us. In the film, the heros father is a traditional Chinese man. In his view, his son must choose a girl to get married for the whole family. The leading role is GaoWeitong, he is not only a successful man but also a gay. His boyfriend is Simon, therefore, he always look for excuses to push blind date. To traditional Chinese culture, gay is not accepted by people including his parents. That puzzles him. On the one hand, he should shoulder the sons responsibility; On the other hand, he is afraid that his parents couldnt accept the fact. (Liu,1998). In this film, Weitongs legitimate wife is WeiWei. She has an opposite view to marriage, because she began to learn drawing in America when she was a young girl and influenced by Western culture. She thinks homosexual is normal. Firstly, she can accept homosexual. Whats more, she would like to marry with GaoWeitong for getting green card. Simon is a gymnasium coach and gay, who pursues the most simple and pure love in the world. The main content is GaoWeitong want to fend off long-distance nagging from his mother agreed to get married with WeiWei. His parents fly over from Taiwan so that they can attend the wedding. Not only do they stay in the lovers apartment, but also plan a full-blown wedding banquet to them. Marriage is also called matrimony or wedlock. It is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between lovers. (Ou,2002)It establishes rights and obligations between lovers and their children. It means that two lovers who have experienced wind and rain step into marriage hand in hand. Chinese and Western have different attitudes toward marriage. In China, home is regarded as the safe heaven. A warm family is ones pursuit. Most people follow parents suggestions for marriage. However, western people think marriage is a personal affair. Marriage is not a moral issue. Whats more, one has the right to choose his/her favorite lover to live together. Once founding the existing marriage is wrong, he/she will choose to leave. In their view, forcing two people to live is cruel. In their eyes, love is simple.2 . Differences2.1 Different Purposes of getting marriedIn the film, GaoWeitongs mother said, “ It has been long a time before I wrote to you, because my shoulder is aching. Your dad and I are old. You have grown up. When did you get married? ” From the sentence we can easily see that Weitongs mother is looking forward to seeing her son get married and settle down. “ Your dad came to Taiwan alone. He has only one son. Its you. This is a traditional Chinese family. The parents expect to look for a perfect wife for Weitong. In China, marriage is part of family responsibility. In ancient time, marriage is the bond of two families based on mutual interests. When Gaos parents get off the plane, they asked WeiWei, what do you parents do? Weitong said：“Her father is working in hospital and mother is teaching art in the school”. From this dialogue, its easy to know that Chinese parents care about girls family status. Therefore, most lovers get married on the material basis, like house, car and deposit. Generally, to man and woman, marriage is just to meet the needs of survival. The purpose of getting married is to look for a reliance in life. With the development of Chinese and Western cultural communication, the purpose of traditional marriage is heavily influenced by the west, people choose lovers for love. However, in the west, love is the root of marriage. In film, Weitong said:“I love Simon. Its not easy for gay to live together. Loving is my happiness. If you dont come, I would live a happy life.” In their opinion, without love, marriage is immoral and it is a low-quality of love. An American woman once said, marriage is not significant and it is just a kind of form. If the love has disappeared, its a stress to them. Therefore, from the investigation, we can absolutely see that true love is the most important factor for getting married to most Americans. It makes no sense to continue marriage without love. The purpose of  marriage reflects the differences between Chinese and western Culture. In the west, love is first. More and more people get married for love. In other words, they would abandon anything for love. To westerners, getting married is to find a long- term partner in the world. They want to look for an opposite sex life partner for a long time so that they can be satisfied in physiological , psychological and social aspect. The individualism is popular in western society. Marriage is just the combination of two individuals. The foundation of marriage is love. Therefore, there is golden and silver wedding. In their opinion, if they dont love each other, the marriage is immoral and it is a low quality of love. Therefore, the pursuit of true love has became a dream to Americans.2.2 Different Relationship between Husband and Wife in MarriageHusband-wife relationship is the most important in marriage. In China, the husband has the right in the decision while the wife is just in a subordinate position. This structure is decided by Chinese culture. Husband is the head of family and bears the main economic responsibility of family life. His wifes mission is to manage the housework and serves mother-in law. As is known to us, westerners have quite different opinion from us. They think husband and wife are equal and enjoy the same right at home. Both of them can work outside .In other words, they shoulder the responsibility together. (Li, 2004).2.2.1 Different RolesIn the film, When GaoWeitongs parents get off the plane, WeiWei carries the bag and said:“Nice to meet you, uncle Gao and aunt Gao. Ill help you.” In film, Gaos mother said:“ Its a good fortune for you to marry WeiWei. She can cook”. From that we can easily find that Weitongs family is a typical Chinese family. Feudal ethics with Confucianism is core of the cultural roots husband-wife relationship in Chinese family. In the film, WeiWei is always cook and her mother-in law helps her. We can see that women are in the subordinate status. Most wives still need to depend on their husbands. In home, people always look down on them. They just need woman to take care of children. In the film, WeiWei hope to find a perfect husband like Weitong, who can not only help her pay house rent but also take care of her. To her, she just need to do housework at home. Therefore, we can see that wife and husband play different roles in home. The husband is in leading position at home while the wife is in supporting role. Most wife taking care of children at home rather than working outside. In the west, husband and wife are equal in the family. In the film, Simon always cooked and cleaned the room. He also sent presents to Gaos parents and then invents them to eat in the restaurant. He also gave a telephone to Weitong and said：“Be happy. Look at it, I ll send a present to you”. Westerners believe that husband and wife can be equal partners .They share the familys responsibility and shoulder task together. Its common for man to cook in kitchen. They often enjoy the time with wife at home. 2.2.2 Different Social StatusWith the increasing development of technology, the gap between man and woman doesnt seem so absolute as before. Benefiting from reform policy, woman can work outside. In the film, Gaos father said:“Samon is cooking, I am going to do the wash.” We can see that peoples idea begin to change. In modern Chinese society, women are as important in society as man. Compared with Chinese families, American couples have more personal space and they put great emphasis on their personal privacy. In the west, the husband also shares the responsibility of raising kids with the wife. At the end of the film, WeiWei hoped Simon leave and she said: “We can raise the child together, you must leave”. In the west, the husband should bear the responsibility of raising and educating children. In the film, WeiWeis thought is open, she doesnt mind raising the child alone. In the west, their thinking is open but not willing to violate the privacy of others. Whats more, they respect lover even avoid interrupting others. In their eye, women are independent financially and she can deal with task by herself. In the family, women get the opportunity to make a financial contribution to the home.Therefore, in the west, wife and husband all have right to work outside. Women are independent financially and they dont need to worry about being abandoned by their husbands. 2.3 Different Wedding Ceremony 2.3.1 Different on Focus In the film, the restaurant boss said “Its necessary to prepare the feast.” In China, people regard ceremony as an important thing in marriage. They hold the wedding ceremony and all the friends and relatives attending the ceremony. In the film, GaoWeitongs classmate XiaoLuo said:“GaoWeitong is my classmate and we have been friends for sixteen years, but he didnt tell me until one week ago. From the film, we can see that Weitongs parents are sitting on chair and waiting for offering tea. This is Chinese tradition and custom. GaoWeitongs mother said:“ WeiWei must drink white Lotus seeds soup so that she can give birth to a healthy son . The process is hosted by toastmaster of the ceremony and then the father will give a speech to bless lovers. In the film, Weitongs father tell them that they should love and respect each other. Only in this way can marriage last forever. Therefore, Chinese people value more the form of wedding ceremony. They hope that more people can be attend the wedding. All relatives and the new couples play game together. However, westerners dont value the form. They just hope the wedding ceremony could be quiet and poetic.2.3.2 Different Color of wedding Dress Red is the Chinese favorite color. It means luck and happiness. In China, once a girl agrees to marry a boy, the boys parents will give the jewelry to the girl. In film, Gaos mother presents a dress to WeiWei and she is so excited and moved, which shows the boys family is serious about marriage. Chineses wedding is lively. They hope to have an unforgettable day. China values the ceremony. During the wedding banquet, two lovers will bow to Heaven and Earth, to their parents and to each other, which is called “Three kowtows”. In the film, GaoWeitong and WeiWei bowed to Weitongs parents. At the end of the wedding, the bride and groom were sent to the bridal chamber, where the friends played some tricks with Weitong and WeiWei and wished them a happy life. Therefore, the color of wedding dress is different. Chinese dress red while the Westerners dress white. 2.3.3 Differences on musicIn Western, their wedding process are romantic, Firstly , minister addressed, then, lover vow each other , thirdly, they exchange rings and hold wedding chant ,finally , they sigh engagement written and declare marriage. Whole wedding ceremony is hold in church , it is a big wedding ceremony. Wedding may not be holded in Western country . In this film, at the first of wedding ,WeiWei and Gao WeiTong declared marriage in church , but Gaos mother is crying and said :“We are sorry to you and we cant give you a big Wedding Banquet .”Because China and Western havent same consume, in Westerners eye , they dont care of others but to pay more attention to love . In west, th