Chapter 2 Becoming Aware

What is culture?

Simply put, culture is a system of meaning. That is too abstract a definition to really understand, so consider the following images.

Culture is like an iceberg.

Culture is our software.

Culture is like the water a fish swims in.

CULTURE

Culture is the story we tell ourselves.

Culture is the grammar of our behavior.

-- Most part of culture is unconscious

Objective cultureart, literature, history music, dance, customs, language, game, cooking, clothes …

Subjective culturefeelings and attitudes about how things are and how they should be …

Example:称呼不同

西方

中国 非对等式 权势、尊卑 垂直式

价值观不同

称呼类型 文化取向 社会关系

对等式 平等 平行

Culture is the basic operation system that makes us human. We think of our physical selves as the hardware, but we cannot be human when programmed with the software of culture. Culture fades into the background, just know that we can be.

Example:

Like any creature a fish scans its environment to find food, reproduce and protect itself from danger. It notices everything except the water it is swimming in.

Example: A fish in unfamiliar waters

A Chinese studentConfident in her knowledge of American culture

American peopleTake it for granted

Quoting famous people

Out-of –date metaphor

follow the prescribed order

Like to do something unexpected

People tell stories to tell who they are .

小时候，妈妈对我说~

你是哪里哪里船上抱来的。 …………

原来我不是亲生的！

中国古人的官方解释

第一功臣：女娲——“大地之母”(孤独的女神)

女娲造人

某天，她灵机一动：“虽 然，世间各种各样的生物 都有了，可单单没有像自 己一样的生物，那为什么 不创造一种像自己一样的 生物加入到世间。”

以下皆为个人观点：

为什么会有女娲造人 的故事？

1.崇神。女娲是神，地位崇高，人是神造的， 自然不同凡响。 2.早期血缘时代是母系社会，女性占主导 地位。所以是 女娲 造人。

神 的 子 民

Culture

the story of Adam & Eve

Garden of Eden

human beings

revere

dominate

Human beings are created by the Lord God

God

religion

But stories also change to adapt to changing

circumstances.

What is widely acknowledged now is that…… I

Mother

Grandmother

Great-great grand-mother ……

Great-grandmotherchange

The ape(类人猿)Man has evolved from the ape.

有位留学生汉语讲得很好，有一次对一个中国姑娘说 ：“你真漂亮。”姑娘谦虚地说：“哪里哪里。”留 学生一紧张母语就出来了，“every where, every where.”

这则笑话的产生是留学生一方面不懂得“哪里 哪里”的非疑问句法，另一方面是不了解中国 的文化，中国人听到称赞通常会谦虚，不

然就 显得轻浮自大。

People learn their cultural grammar unconsciously and apply them automatically in order to behave appropriately in any society.

cultural grammars are repetitive.中就餐习惯 聚餐围坐，共享一席

西单盘独碟、分而食之

礼仪

相互敬酒、劝菜

自己动手

氛围

和睦、团圆

随意自由