《中英语言与文化比较》课程论文

题目课程期末论文

课程名称中英语言与文化比较姓名学号

专业

所在学院

A Contrastive Analysis of Chinese and English advertising and

Their Deep Cultural Connotations

Abstract: Advertising is something that we are all exposed to and it is specialized in the pragmatic field for the language it uses. As a product of culture, advertising can reveal the relationship between language and culture.This paper aims to make a comparative study of the cultural values reflected in Chinese and English advertising. It is focused on the following three aspects: 1) the “passive acceptance”of fate by seeking harmony with nature in traditional Chinese ideology versus the “active mastery” in the person-nature relationship in western ideology; 2) traditional Chinese culture weights heavily collective value whereas western culture values the individual personality; 3) traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the worship of authority while western culture places primary faith in rationalism. These national cultural differences, as the paper support, may produce positive or negative effects on the persuasive functions of the advertisements.

Key words: Advertising; Cultural comparison; Ideology; Language

中英广告对比分析及其深沉文化内涵

摘要：广告语言已成为我们每天都有接触到的一门应用语言，有其独特之处。广告作为一种文化产物，在一定程度上揭露了文化与语言的深沉联系。本文主要对中英广告中体现的文化价值进行对比研究，主要涉及以下三个方面：（1）传统中国意识形态中对命运“被动接受”，寻求人与自然的和谐，而西方思想强调“积极掌握”人与自然的关系；（2）传统中国文化十分重视集体价值，而西方文化重视个人人格发展；（3）中国人强调对权威的绝对崇拜，而西方文化崇尚理智与事实。本文认为，这些文化差异，可能对广告功能带来正面的或负面的影响。

关键词：广告；文化比较；意识形态；语言

With the continuous development of global economy, transnational companies

based in western countries are expanding their markets in China. Advertising is a form of communication for marketing and is a cultural product as well. When the East meets the West without a conjoining point, the marketing costs borne by advertisers could be expectedly exorbitant. This paper visits the heart of the issue: the role of cultural values in Chinese and English advertising. Specially, it examines the three dimensions: human-nature relationship, individualism-collectivism and power distance.

1.Human-nature Relationship

Chinese culture regards human life as part of nature and so that the only way for us to survive is to live in harmony with nature. The fundamental significance of civilization lies in the creation of a peaceful world, which avoids conflict between humans and nature. Chinese also believe that heaven and humans mutually complementary and emphasize the unity of heaven and human-beings. This orientation is absolutely inflected in Chinese commercials:

天上彩虹，人间长虹。（长虹彩电）

善饮者为仙，善酿者为神。（小酒神酒业）

谷物天然，健康之源。（福临门调和油）

草原好奶造好糖。（金丝猴奶糖）

亲近阳光，新鲜自然。（阳光牧场乳品）

The preceding advertisements indicate that Chinese tend to believe that nature means good and in this vein, Chinese advertisers always associate their products with nature or heaven. On the contrary, when the English advertisements refer to nature, they usually encourage the ambition of conquering and remarking nature. For example:

Why grow old gradually? Fight it. (Olay lotion)

Take Toshiba, take the world. (Toshiba PC)

Engineered to move the human spirit. (Mercedes-Benz)

Ask for more. (Pepsi Cola)

Just do it. (Nike)

Western culture is adventurous and exploration based. The idea is reflected in