中外文化对比研究英文论文

一、引言文化，这两种孕育自不同半球的文化，由于历史、地理环境、生产制度等方面的原因，有着极大的差异，截然不同的特色。这两种文化差异，一直备受关注。随着全球化的到来，全世界各民族间商业交流往来的日益频繁，了解中西方文化价值差异可以更好促进民族间经济、文化交流与沟通，从而避免所引起的不必要的误会和麻烦，导致的文化休克（culture shock）或交际失败（communication failure）。而语言是文化的载体，是文化的一部分，很大程度上反映了文化。谚语作为“民族文化之明镜”，来自于生活，更深刻地反映了民族文化特色，体现了人们的生产生活、思想观念、文化取向，具有持久的生命力、广泛的通俗性、生动的口语化的特点。英国著名学者培根曾说过：“The genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”（一个民族的天才、智慧和精神，都可以在其谚语中发现。）本文将从汉英谚语入手谈谈中西文化在地理环境、宗教信仰、历史、文学传统、民族性格、思想观念等方面的差异。二、 地理环境文化是在一定的自然环境里生发出来的。人们所生存的不同环境势必影响人们的生活、生产方式，影响人们对客观外界的观察与思考。人们以通俗形象的语言来讲述自己的生活体验，描述自然现象，总结生产实践，概括生产经验。这些语言口口相传，千锤百炼，成为大家喜闻乐诵的谚语。这些谚语必然反映出自然环境的不同特征，带有鲜明的地域文化和生态文化的色彩。英国是个岛国，四面环海，海岸线曲折多变，港湾楔入，岛屿众多。这样的自然环境给英国人提供了舟楫之便。人们在长期的航运渔业生活中，创造出数以百计的英语谚语，反映他们对生活及大自然的体验和观察。如：There’s as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it.有了大海，还怕没鱼。No fishing like fishing in the sea.捕鱼要到大海。Who will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock.船离舵，要闯祸。A dog in the morning,sailors take warning; a dog in the night is the sailors’ delight.朝虹出天际，水手心事重，夜间见彩虹，水手乐哈哈。He goes a great voyage that goes to bottom of the sea.到达海底的人，才算做了一次远航。特殊的地理环境形成了特有的岛国气候。英国气候潮湿，天气变化大，岛上晴天少，雨天多，且多阵雨，因此，英国人出门常带把雨伞。由于英国天气变化无常的缘故，英国人非常关心天气，也喜欢谈论天气，并因此而产生了许多关于天气的谚语[1](P85)：April weather, rain and shine both together.一边日出一边雨，晴雨无常四月天。An English summer, three(or two)hot days and a thunderstorm.英国的一个夏季，三（两）个热天一阵大雷雨。A misty morning may have a fine day.早晨有雾露，可能是晴天。When the wind’s in the west, the weather’s at the best.风从西方起，天气最佳丽。而处于另一个半球的中国则有着不同的地理自然风貌，中华文明发源于长江黄河流域，中国自古是典型的农耕社会，人们过着自给自足的农耕生活，农业是国民经济的重要支柱，农业在历代政府中都受到极大的重视。因此产生了许多与农业相关的谚语。如：庄稼百样巧，地是无价宝。 人勤地不懒，勤奋谷仓满。 田里无神无鬼，全靠肥料土水。 庄稼老汉不知闲，放下锄头拿扁担。 农夫不种田，城里断炊烟。 田像一块铁，在于人来打。[2]（P240-241）我国的天气谚语，从量上、质上，以及悠久的历史传统上，值得称道。如“灶烟往下埋，不久雨就来”、“春天孩儿脸，一日变三变”、“太阳颜色黄，明日大风狂”、“久晴大雾必阴，久雨大雾必晴”、“夜里星光明，明朝仍旧晴”等等。[1]（P85）三、 特定历史每个民族都以不同的方式在人类历史的画卷中写着自己特定的历史。从谚语中可以一窥历史风云变化。英国从十六世纪开始发展资本主义，经济迅速发展并逐渐开始迅速向海外扩张，掠夺资本主义原料，进行资本主义的原始积累。Shoe-maker’s wife goes bare feet.这句谚语正是出自于十六世纪资本主义新兴时期，小资本家拼命发家致富，属于手工业者的鞋匠们为积攒钱财，竟然连给妻子买鞋穿的钱都不舍得花。十七世纪起英国在东印度扩张，十八世纪中叶建立殖民统治。He came safe from the East –India, and was drowned in the Thames.他从东印度安然归来，却淹死于泰晤士河。[3]（P79）英国历史上曾遭到多次其他国家的入侵。罗马统治期间，社会生活罗马化，拉丁语是官方、法律、商业和法律用语。丹麦人侵占期间，丹麦语也传入英国。1066年法国诺曼底登陆后，英国为法国所征服。 法语很长时期成为英国的官方语言，贵族、朝臣、地主和上流社会都使用法语，如当时的英国国王爱德华是完全不会说英语的国王，因此有英谚云：Jack would be a gentleman if he could speak French.要是杰克能讲法语，那他就是个绅士了。而三种语言交配混合到英语中，充实了英语语言，也带来了许多拉丁语、法语谚语。[1]（P84）Anger is a short madness .愤怒是短暂的疯狂。（拉丁语）Art is long, life is short. 艺术是无限，生命是有限的。（拉丁语）All roads leads to Rome. 条条大路通罗马。（法语）He that is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. 怕问者耻于学。（丹麦语）而在中国的历史长河中，秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国，从此中国进入了漫长的封建社会。广大劳动人民深受压迫和剥削，生活于水深火热之中，而统治阶级却过着穷奢极欲的生活。[4]（P50）有许多汉谚就反映了这一点。

Chinese and Western Culture Comparison What are the major differences between chinese and western culture? I'll list down a few differences: West: 1. Western culture is based on individualism rather than on mass (collectivism). For instance, in the US, you always talk about individual rights, instead of placing the whole society above your own self. This is clearly different in China where a country, society or family are placed above your own self. 2. Western culture is adventurous and exploration based. Westerners like to discover new things, invention and expand outwards. For instance, bungee jumping is considered adventurous and common in western culture, but you will probably find no-one doing such a thing in China. 3. Western culture is based on science, which attempts to resolve people and nature's relationship. 4. West uses law to resolve people and people's relationship. You can never find 'law' well-established in China. For 2000 years, China is a land that's based on human relationship rather than law. 5. West uses 'god' and religion to resolve human and spiritualism relationship. In case of problems with your own self, you just pray to god. 6. A culture that expands and develop outwards. Chinese Culture: 1. A culture based on masses (collectivism). People placed country and family above your own self. 2. A culture that is based on humanism and people 3. To resolve the relationship betwen man and nature, the chinese attempts to fuse the human and 'heaven' as one. (天人和一) 4. To resolve people and people's relationship, chinese uses ethics and tolerance (中恕之道) 5. To resolve human and spiritualism, chinese emphasizes internal cultivation (修身养性) 6. A focus on balance and mean. By 'mean', it means 'middle way'. You don't go into extremism. Peace is always honoured.

Western novels in comparison First, Western novels in the history of the development of Western novels are based on myths and legends of its origin. In ancient times, science developed, out of fear of nature, the working people out of the imagination is the key to many of the world "God", describing the personification of God is a myth; who will describe the deified, that is legend. China opened the world's Pan story, the story of San Juan Five Emperors, the West Greek mythology, Roman mythology, Norse mythology, and so on are all typical works. East and West, the original novel, is closely linked with the history, as historical records complement the event. China Pre-Qin prose in the fable, the Han dynasty in the history books, biographies, the Wei and Jin Zhi, Zhi-person novel; the West of ancient Babylon, "the United States and Ji Jia disabilities epic", in ancient Greece, "Homer's epic," "Aesop's Fables "And so on, fall into this category, fiction, novels such novels have been about the characteristics of fiction, it is still not the literary creation, directly from the private collection record, so this type of fiction plot is relatively simple, writing rough comparison. Ban Gu said, "On the Street Lane words, hearsay are made of" is a novel kind of accurate assessment of the image. China's Tang Dynasty, the novel is only from history and literature become a creativity. Tang Dynasty culture has developed, the author's ideas are more open, the legend came into being at this time, Li Zhaowei "Liu Yi Chuan", Po Chu's "Everlasting Regret," Wolf's "Everlasting Regret Chuan" And so on, are made in accordance with the creation of the legend. For the fictional story of the Tang Dynasty more emphasis on imagination and literary talent, not just the history of the nature of things, but as the history of Zhi Zhi who is also the novel did not stop. The Legend of the Song Dynasty to the novel on a gradual decline, which followed the rise of this so that after processing will become a scholar so many novel and Romance novels such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Outlaws of the Marsh", "Journey to the West." The author of such novels is the use of private creative and re-created to describe the circumstances of the touching scenes of brilliant and vivid active in shaping the character known, there are obvious story-telling style of language. Here by the redevelopment, it will become an independent literary creation rather than things to come together with the civil process, the representative of this type is the "Golden Lotus", it was an open and ordinary life on the road, the reality is that literature has come a long way The development of the latter's "A Dream of Red Mansions" in ancient China Geng Shiba realism to the novels of the summit. "54" after the novelist began to learn from China's western fiction writing practices, and gradually out a new path. Western novels, is the "Renaissance" after the rapid development of mature. The development of the Middle Ages novel near-stagnation in the West, 14, the end of the century "Renaissance" to overthrow the literature of the Church of control, 15, appeared in the western end of the century to promote freedom of thought and the liberation of personality in order to describe the reality of life and portray characters from all walks of life for the content of the Humanist novels, is to tie in with this type of novel anti-feudal Europe at the time of arising at the same time it also set the novel in the West to human describing the tone of the main things. Jiaqiu Italy's "Decameron", Spain's Cervantes "Don Quixote" is the kind of representative works of fiction. The resulting novel is a classical, elegant favor of its national language to standardize the writing of this novel in 17th century France's most well-developed. As a note on behalf of Corneille's "Cid" neoclassical story of the rise of Western novels have been a language substantially improved. The beginning of the 18th century to promote popular science knowledge, enlightenment of the public consciousness for the purpose of the Enlightenment novels, of which there are relatively well-known German Goethe's "Faust", the United Kingdom Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and the Swift "Gulliver's Travels" and so on, this type of novel to the emergence of the bourgeois revolution at the time to mold public opinion. In the 19th century, romantic fiction, realistic novels and critical realism novel turn to occupy the leading position in the field of fiction. Romantic novels, such as France Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame de Paris", Goethe's "juvenile Witt of trouble" and so on, imaginative, unusual ideas, language and imaginative, strong feelings. Efforts to reflect the reality of the novel is the essence of life, and depict typical life of a typical phenomenon in the United Kingdom Dickens, France and Germany are of such novels as a representative of the writer. Critical realism novels exposed the efforts of the decadent feudal system and capitalist society, the dark, in-depth criticism of the reality of evil, France Balzac and Maupassant, the United Kingdom of Charlotte, Bronte,. Russia's Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, the United States of a large number of writers such as Mark Twain's works belong to this category. Value today, the three novels in the West is still the most important of the three types of literary fiction. East-West novel on the history of the development of more or less the case. Second, the characteristics of the novel in the West In addition to the basic characteristics of the novel, the story of the West also have their own characteristics are as follows: 1, the traditional Chinese novel attention to the characters, language and the details of the description, in contradiction to the conflict to display the images, but the character of a single, small changes in the absence of the main flu. Western novels are more people pay attention to the psychological description, stressed that mining figure in the subconscious mind, good at writing full, the changes in the strong sense of the main characters. Again, "coach Lin Feng Snow Mountain Temple" in the figure is only through dialogue and action leads to contradictions and conflicts, but Anna Karenina Wogui before a series of conflicts only with his description of the psychological will be able to express their clear; for poetry in Lin In the performance of her literary talent, and Paul with his inner monologue of the ideal; Zhang Zhong-Yong has only the character, but Jane Eyre's character is the brave, strong, warm, kind-hearted, and so many of the character and rubbing and Cheng's. In short, people in the area described in the West has its own unique features. 2, China compared with Western fiction novel plot twists and turns more and more complete story. Plot twists and turns, the story is complete fiction China's unique traditional arts. The Wei and Jin Zhi Zhi people on the novel twists and turns with vivid characteristics. Tang legend in the layout of many of the famous, magnificent anomaly, rigorous and clever, dramatic plot development. The contents of the Ming and Qing Dynasties novels scattered irregular, undulating waves, Cuoluoyouzhi, careful structure, an integral whole. "A Dream of Red Mansions", everywhere She Fu, Hui turning point, the story of Jia's best writing. Western plot in respect of the outstanding works, although there are many, but it can not be compared with the Chinese novel. 3, concise and lively Chinese language novel, rich in content and rich Western novels. Chinese folk artists absorbed the novel language, at the same time inherited the fine traditions of ancient prose, often a few words will be able to outline the incident or the people. Western novels in the author includes a broad range of knowledge, involve the community in many ways, so rich in content and rich people can gain knowledge in many areas. Engels said he was in Balzac's novel about 19th century France's domestic situation than he received any reports are more. Western novels have different characteristics, and also in the West different aesthetic concepts to a certain extent related. 4, Western novels have been the rule of the feudal culture of oppression destroyed. Chinese feudal culture makes the development of the novel is extremely difficult, Ming and Qing Dynasties more people to write stories for shame, so many great writers living, creating the conditions are not covered, many of the great works of authors who do not know. Western novels in the feudal culture makes almost the whole of the Middle Ages in the development of extremely slow, and many talented writers were forced to church services, wrote some of the religious nature of the article dry hole. Third, Western novels in the future prospects for the development of End of the Qing Dynasty, China and the West have begun to understand the other side of the system, the advantages of the novel in the West have been constantly learn from each other. Of course, due to historical reasons, the Chinese side of the draw a little more. To this day, the novelist in the West efforts are still two researchers in the novel's artistic charm, although the different languages of each other's appreciation of the arts to a certain extent, but the United States are interlinked. We have every reason to believe that in the near future, the novel art in the West will ultimately learn from each other and integrate, develop and reach new artistic heights. References: "Foreign Literature" Shanghai Translation Publishing House Zhou Xu Liang "Contemporary Literature election," Zhang Zhong, such as Beijing University Publishing House "Chinese literature history of the development of" Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House Liu Jie "Literary History of Europe" People's Literature Publishing House Yangzhou Han Wu Da-yuan Zhao Rui radish "Three high school language textbook used by the five dates of the" People's Education Press仅供参考，请自借鉴。希望对您有帮助。