1、UNIT 6：Culture Shock|文化沖擊| Kalervo Oberg We 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 我們不妨把文化沖擊稱為突然置身國外的人們所得的職業病。和大部分疾病一樣，這種病有其獨特的起因、癥狀和療法。Culture shock is precipitated

2、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, ho

3、w 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 p

4、art of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues.2文化沖擊是因為我們失去熟悉的社會交往標記和符號而產生的焦慮所促成。這些標志或暗示包括我們應付日常生活各種情境時使用的諸多方式方法：與人會面時何時握手、該說些什么；在什么時間、以什么方式付小費；如何吩咐傭 人；怎樣購物；何時該接受、何時該拒絕他人的邀請；別人說的話，何時該當真，何時不該當真。

5、這些暗示可以是語 言、手勢、面部表情、風俗習慣或社會行為標準。我們在成長的過程中獲得了這些暗示，就像我們的語言和我們所接受的信仰一樣，它們已經成為我們文化的一部分。我們所有的人都依賴成百上千個這樣的暗示才能擁有寧靜的心境，過上高效率的生活。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 ser

6、ies 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 feel bad.a? When Americans

7、 or other foreigners in a strange land get together to complain about the host 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 Ameri

8、can 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當你走進一種陌生的文化，你所熟悉的所有或大部分文化暗示也就隨之消失。此時的你宛如一條離開水的魚。無論你的心胸多么開闊，你賴以生存的支柱此時都已倒塌，挫折感和焦慮感油然而生。人們對此種挫折的反應非常相似：他們首先

9、排斥令他們不適的環境：“我們所到之國的生活方式很不好，讓我們感覺很糟糕。”當美國人或其他的外國人來到一個陌生的國度，聚在一起抱怨所到之國及其人民時 可以肯定，他們正深受文化沖擊之苦。文化沖擊的另外一個階段是回歸。故鄉的一草一木突然變得極為重要。一個美國人會不合理地美化美國的一切事物。在自己國家所經歷的困難和問題都拋在了腦后，只記得故鄉美好的事物。通常要回國一趟方可回到現實中。In an effort to get over culture shock, there is some value in knowing something about the nature of culture an

10、d its relationship 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

11、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

12、 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 w

13、hom 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要克服文化沖擊的心理，了解文化的性質及其與個人的關系會有所裨益。除了賴以生存的自然環境，一個人還生活在由人造的有形物體、社會風俗、觀念和信仰構成的文化環境中。一個人并非天生就有文化，而是生來就具備學習和使用文化的能力。新生嬰兒的身

14、上不存在一種只許他最終說葡萄牙語、英語或法語的東西，也不存在一種只許他用左手而不是右手執叉或只許他用筷子吃飯的東西。這些東西都是要孩子去學習的。文化也不是由父母負責傳遞給孩子的。任何一個民族的文化都是歷史的產物，經過漫長的、本民族意識不到的過程才得以積累形成。孩子通過文化學會適應周圍的物質環境，學會和周圍的人打交道。眾所周知，青少年在學習和適應的過程中經常遇到困難。但是，文化一旦學會了，就會成為一種生活方式。 People have a way of accepting their culture as both the best and the only way of doing thing

15、s. 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 rem

16、ark 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

17、 American does something odd or anti-social in a foreign country which back home would be 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 i

18、s 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人們往往認為自己的文化是最好的，是生活的唯一方 式。這非常正常，完全可以理解。我們把這種態度稱為“民族優越感”，即一種認為自己的文

19、化、種族和國家構成世界中心的想法。個人往往將自己與所處的群體等同起來，因此任何批評的言論在他們看來都是對個人及其群體不尊敬的：如果你批評我的祖國，你就是在批評我；如果你批評我，你就是在批評我的祖國。抱著這種態度，人們往往把個人的怪癖歸結為民族的特點。例如，倘若一個美國人在國外做出怪異的或有悖社會公德的事情，在美國國內的人們會認為這純屬個人行為，但在國外卻被視為一種民族特性：他那樣做并非因為他是喬?多克斯，而是因為他是個美國人。遭受責難的不是他這個個體，而是他的祖國。因此，我們最好把民族優越感看成是民族群體的一個永恒的特性。即使一個國家的公民批評了自己文化的某些方面，外國人也只應當聽著，而不應該

20、參與批評。Once you realize that your trouble is due to your own lack of understanding of other peoplea?s cultural background and your own lack of the means of communication rather than the hostility of an alien environment, you also realize that you yourself can gain this understanding and these means of

21、 communication. And the sooner you do this, the sooner culture shock will disappear.6你一旦意識到面臨的問題并非因為異域的敵意而是因為自己對其他民族的文化背景缺乏理解或者缺乏與對方溝通的方式，你同時就會意識到你本身能夠了解他人的文化，并能夠掌握那些交流的方式。你越早做到這一點，文化沖擊就消失得越快。The question now arises, what can you do to get over culture shock as quickly as possible? The answer is get

22、ting to know the people of the host country. But this you cannot do with any success without knowing the language, for language is the principal symbol system of communication. Now we all know that learning a new language is difficult, particularly to adults. This task alone is quite enough to cause

23、 frustration and anxiety, no matter how skillful language teachers are in making it easy for you. But once you begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation with your maid, your neighbour, or to go on shopping trips alone, you not only gain confidence and a feeling of power but a whole new wo

24、rld of cultural meanings opens up for you.7接下來的問題是，你怎樣做才能盡快克服文化沖擊？答案是：了解所到之國的國民。但是，倘若不懂語言，你是無法成功地實現這一目標的，因為語言是用于交流的主要的符號系統。我們現在都知道，學習一門新的語言不容易，對成年人來說，尤為如此。無論教語言的老師多么擅長于減輕你學習語言的難度，單單學語言這項任務都足以讓你焦慮不 安、飽受挫折。不過，你一旦能夠和女傭、鄰居進行友好的交談，能夠單獨出門購物，你就會重獲信心，充滿力量，一個蘊含各種文化意義的新世界就向你敞開了大門。You begin to find out what people do, how they do it, and what their interests are. People usually express these interests by what they habitually talk about and how they allocate their time and money. Once you know this value or interest pattern it will be quite easy to get people to