跨文化交际,思维方式

Differences of Thinking Pattern in ArtAbstract: The art in China and the West has had different characteristic by the influence of respective cultural tradition and thinking pattern. The Chinese people are concerned more with their own bodies in expressing emotions, so intuition thinking is the main feature of their mode of thought, for which people study objects as a whole and emphasize entirety.Key words:Differences,Thinking PatternI. Introduction:In the English thinking pattern, individualism is greatly emphasized. The English people link their own emotion to planetary influence and the natural elements, so they prefer analytical logic thinking.Through the perspectives of communication, art and food, the author of the thesis expects to Draw the conclusion: firstly, Chinese are deeply influenced by the traditional Confucianism, so they communicate with each other in a more casual and friendly way. Usually they reject others’request mildly and treasure a lifelong friendship. Nevertheless, the Westerners are relatively reserved in greeting and refuse others more directly. Secondly, the differences are also reflected in art. Chinese look for unity: a unity of harmony which is mirrored in the drama, the painting, and the word characters. However, the Westerners stress individual whose thinking patterns are straight lined. Thirdly, the food embodies these differences as well. From the concept to the production process and the manner of food, Chinese seek for a unity of vision and taste. But the Westerners pay more attention to nutrition because they eat for health.II Differences of Thinking Pattern in Art2.1 Differences in DramaIn the aspect of art, the author of the thesis first talks about some differences of thinking pattern in drama.Concerned with the name of the drama, there exists a difference. The Chinese call it the traditional opera, while the Westerners call it drama or play. The traditional opera can be divided into many kinds of local operas, such as the Hebei opera; the Chuan opera; the Y u opera… among all the operas, the Peking opera is the most famous. And The Western dramatic tradition has itsorigins in ancient Greece. The precise evolution of its main divisions—tragedy, comedy, and satire —is not definitely knownThe form of the Chinese opera is complex. Peking opera, as an example, is a kind of synthetic art, which is full of gongs and cymbals, shouting and leaping, that it makes the spectator’s heads swim and is quite unsuited for a theatre; but if performed in the open and watched from a distance, it has its charm. The characters in Peking opera are not only the performers themselves but a works of art. The audiences have already known who the character is before his operatic vocal music and spoken parts by his makeup which is cal led “Ban Xiang” in Chinese and half of the successOn the contrary, the form of the Westerners beloved drama and play is simple. There is not a dance in an opera, and similarly, there is not a song in a dance drama. Generally, the plays emphasize on the chorus. In the plays, the chorus serves to underscore the personalities and situations of the characters and to provide ethical comment on the action. The increase in the number of actors resulted in less concern with communal problems and beliefs and more w ith dramatic conflict between individuals. Besides, the dialogue and monologue are very popular forms in drama, which emphasis on individuals’ interaction. A popular play presented by music and lively entertainment between the acts of classical imitations. The native taste for music and theatricality led to the emergence of the opera form.Then, it comes to the subject of the drama. In the eyes of westerners, the play and drama is an elegant and noble art, which can be appreciated by the aristocrat or the rich. People who are poor have no chance to see the drama and play. In contrasted with the Western drama, the Chinese Opera has its own merits. The purpose of the Chinese Opera is entertainment and to satisfy all kinds of people and spectator. Every year during the great festivals such as the National Day, the Spring Festival, there will act operas, together with other programs, presenting the peaceful and happy atmosphere. People in this time will look forward to the future prospects for the next generation.2.2 Differences in PaintingNational painting art, one of the treasures of Chinese culture, is also a strong support to prove that the Chinese have synthetic thinking patterns. In one painting, there must be pictures, poems,calligraphy and the painter’s autograph. The four parts makes up one painting, and if any part is vacant, it won’t be called the painting.The traditional painting and calligraphy of China share the same source, and both of them use lines to convey feeling and thoughts. Moreover, most of the Chinese ancient painters are scholars, so they gradually form their unique style, a style of connecting with pictures, poems, calligraphy and autograph in one painting. Thus the Chinese painting’s special characters come into being.The content of Chinese painting usually concern with natural scenery, most of which are hills, water, flowers and birds. All of these will remind you of beautiful things. As if you had gone into a Fairland where the painter and scholar was using the Chinese pen to draw something. All the things will brash your mind in a moment, and this is Chinese painting’s another character.On the contrary, paintings in western culture just express the art of drawing. Only a few painters would like to write their names on their painting. The aim of western painting is to describe things as they are. It usually focuses on one figure, someone who has a particular type of character and appearance, or who is important to convey one theme in a particular way. So the western painting pays highly attention to realistic. But when deal with the oil painting, with dark ink and heavy color; it will present another picture of beauty.2.3 Differences in Word CharactersThe differences between Chinese and Western patterns of thought are shown in word characters. The word is a key component part of culture. It reflects culture. The concreteness in Chinese Hanzi corresponds to Chinese concrete pattern of thought and the abstractness in English words to Western abstract.The figurative words in Hanzi vividly express the close relationship of object and subject, of vividness and abstract. By this way of thinking, our ancient ancestors have developed Hanzi. And in return, thousands of years of using Hanzi strengthen our way of thinking.Advocating harmony is the expression of the Chinese synthetic thinking pattern. Symmetry and harmony make the Chinese feel the beautiful sense of vision and hearing. And also make them satisfied both in spirit and mind. The Chinese words and phrases just like a mirror, which reflect clearly this kind of psychological characters of the Chinese. For instance, modern idiomatic phrases are almost four-word phrase, which are complementary to each other in speech sound, and are identical with, relative or opposite to each other in semantics. The Chinese like to compareconcrete thing to abstract material, to use things to express feeling. For example “As timid as a mouse”( 胆小如鼠), “Lure the tiger out of the mountains”( 调虎离山), “Have a down- to-earth manner” ( 脚踏实地), “Get a new lease of life” ( 枯木逢春). However, the Westerners tend to compare abstract things to concrete things.As a variety of British English, American English, especially American words reflect American culture, including their custom, their view of value, their character traits. Being a melting pot, American words melt a lot of loanwords. Monosyllabic Function Words of American English, such as articles (e.g. the, a), pronouns (him, them) and conjunctions (a nd, or), are notorious for their pronunciation variability in continuous speech. The Western ers also pay attention to the balance and parallel in language, in order to make the langu age more beautiful. Though beautiful, it can not catch up with the Chinese words.Conclusion: The reason why the Chinese and English word characters are so different is that the westerners lay stress on logical thinking and this kind of thinking pattern can be seen from the function of English words. Each English word can be regarded as a sign, a mark, so English is symbolic; each word serves as a symbol in relation to a specific meaning.BibliographyClark, A. Language and Thought [M]. New Y ork: Cambridge University Press, 1998.Lucy, J. Language Diversity and Thought [M]. New Y ork: Cambridge University Press, 1992. McDowell, J. Mind and Word [M]. New Y ork: MIT Press, 1994.Whitehead, Alfred North, Modes of Thought [M]. New York: Macmillan, 1938.刘慧. 论思维方式的文化构成[MA]. 东北师范大学, 2004, (7).向世陵. 中国哲学智慧[M]. 北京：中国人民大学出版社, 2000.殷珍泉. 礼仪有学问[M]. 北京：北京台海出版社, 2002.张法. 中西美学与文化精神[M]. 北京：北京大学出版社, 1994.张志伟,欧阳谦. 西方哲学智慧[M]. 北京：中国人民大学出版社, 2000.张鑫. 中西古典绘画美学比较研究[J]. 山东大学学报, 2011,(201).郑晓辉. 论中西方文化背景与思维方式的差异[J]. 高等教育与学术研究, 2007, (5).。