Culture Shock

UNIT 6：Culture Shock|文化冲击|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 我们不妨把文化冲击称为突然置身国外的人们所得的职业病。

和大部分疾病一样，这种病有其独特的起因、症状和疗法。

Culture shock is 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 we meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and when to 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 as much a part of our culture as the language we speak or thebeliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues.2 文化冲击是因为我们失去熟悉的社会交往标记和符号而产生的焦虑所促成。

这些标志或暗示包括我们应付日常生活各种情境时使用的诸多方式方法：与人会面时何时握手、该说些什么；在什么时间、以什么方式付小费；如何吩咐佣人；怎样购物；何时该接受、何时该拒绝他人的邀请；别人说的话，何时该当真，何时不该当真。

这些暗示可以是语言、手势、面部表情、风俗习惯或社会行为标准。

我们在成长的过程中获得了这些暗示，就像我们的语言和我们所接受的信仰一样，它们已经成为我们文化的一部分。

我们所有的人都依赖成百上千个这样的暗示才能拥有宁静的心境，过上高效率的生活。

Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded you may 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 fee l bad.a€? When Americans or other foreigners in a strange land get together to complain about thehost country and its 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 everything 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 当你走进一种陌生的文化，你所熟悉的所有或大部分文化暗示也就随之消失。

此时的你宛如一条离开水的鱼。

无论你的心胸多么开阔，你赖以生存的支柱此时都已倒塌，挫折感和焦虑感油然而生。

人们对此种挫折的反应非常相似：他们首先排斥令他们不适的环境：“我们所到之国的生活方式很不好，让我们感觉很糟糕。

”当美国人或其他的外国人来到一个陌生的国度，聚在一起抱怨所到之国及其人民时——可以肯定，他们正深受文化冲击之苦。

文化冲击的另外一个阶段是回归。

故乡的一草一木突然变得极为重要。

一个美国人会不合理地美化美国的一切事物。

在自己国家所经历的困难和问题都抛在了脑后，只记得故乡美好的事物。

通常要回国一趟方可回到现实中。

In an effort to get over culture shock, there is some value in knowing something about the nature of culture and itsrelationship 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 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 for the culture which they transmit to their young. The culture of any people is the product of history and is built up over time largely through processes which are beyond his awareness. It is by means of culture that the young learn to adapt themselves to the physical environment and to the people with whom they associate. And as we know, children and adolescents often experience difficulties in this process of learning and adjustment. But once learned, culture becomes a way of life.4 要克服文化冲击的心理，了解文化的性质及其与个人的关系会有所裨益。

除了赖以生存的自然环境，一个人还生活在由人造的有形物体、社会风俗、观念和信仰构成的文化环境中。

一个人并非天生就有文化，而是生来就具备学习和使用文化的能力。

新生婴儿的身上不存在一种只许他最终说葡萄牙语、英语或法语的东西，也不存在一种只许他用左手而不是右手执叉或只许他用筷子吃饭的东西。

这些东西都是要孩子去学习的。

文化也不是由父母负责传递给孩子的。

任何一个民族的文化都是历史的产物，经过漫长的、本民族意识不到的过程才得以积累形成。

孩子通过文化学会适应周围的物质环境，学会和周围的人打交道。

众所周知，青少年在学习和适应的过程中经常遇到困难。

但是，文化一旦学会了，就会成为一种生活方式。

People have a way of accepting their culture as both the best and the only way of doing things. This is perfectly normal and understandable. To this attitude we give the name ethnocentrism, a belief that not only the culture but the race and the nation form the center of the world. Individuals identify themselves with their own group to the extent that any critical comment is taken as a remark which is rude to the individual as well as to the group. If you criticize 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, if an American does something odd or anti-social in a foreign country which back home wouldbe 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. 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 人们往往认为自己的文化是最好的，是生活的唯一方式。