在日常会话中，幽默正在起到越来越重要的作用。幽默既是人类语言史上最生动、最有趣、最实用的语言表达艺术，也是一个人智慧、学识、风趣的综合体现，更是乐观积极的处事方式和豁达的人生态度。它把人的生活变得更加多姿多彩，把人际沟通变得更加容易，它能打开初识之际的陌生局面，破解无话可说的尴尬气氛，在交际沟通中进退自如，为家庭生活提升幸福的浓度。很多学者在哲学、美学、心理学、社会学等领域进行了大量的研究并取得很多成果，但遗憾的是在中美幽默在日常会话中的差异研究相对较少。本论文针对中美幽默在日常会话中的差异展开详细的论述，文中介绍了幽默的定义、起源和特点，并通过具体的中美会话实例来分析其幽默中的差异，探究导致差异的原因：包括社会发展水平和文化等方面的因素。对这些差异的分析和研究将有助于中美语言学习者相互了解对方会话幽默，并能够克服这些差异导致的幽默困境，从而使中美跨文化交流更加顺利。M00026
关键词：会话幽默；语言差异；社会结构；文化差异
Differences on Humor between Chinese and American Daily Conversation
Nowadays humor is playing a more and more important role in daily conversation. Humor is one of the most active, interesting and practical language of art in world language history, humor also reflects to one man’s knowledge, wisdom and wit. Humor also represent optimistic manner to deal with affairs and open-minded attitude toward life. Humor makes life more colorful and makes interpersonal communication easier. Humor can break awkward situation between strangers, proceed or step back freely in communication and add a sense of happiness in family life. Some scholars have made researches in philosophy, aesthetics, psychology, sociology and have got great progress. Regretfully, there is little research about differences on humor between Chinese and American daily conversation. This paper will unfold the detailed discuss in the differences of humor between Chinese and American daily conversation. The text will also introduce the definition, origin and category of humor in the paper. What’s more, it will analyze the differences of humor through specific examples of Chinese and American daily conversations to analyze reasons caused these differences, including language difference, social structure difference, and cultural difference. By the analysis, the paper aims to help Chinese and American readers understand each other’s conversation humor and overcome the humor dilemma resulted from these differences. In this way, the communication between Chinese and American can be more smoothly.
Key words: Conversational humor; language difference; social structure; cultural difference
ABSTRACT    iv    查看完整请+Q:351916072获取
TABLE OF CONTENTS    v
Chapter One Introduction    1
Chapter Two Humor    3
2.1 The definition of humor    3
2.2 The origins of humor    4
2.3 The characteristics of humor    5
Chapter Three Differences of Humor as Reflected in Chinese and American Daily Conversation    7
3.1 The differences as reflected in its conversational subjects    7
3.2 The differences as reflected in its social functions    9
3.3 The differences as reflected in its implicitness    10
Chapter Four Reasons for the Differences of Humor in Chinese and American Daily Conversation    12
4.1 Language difference    12
4.2 Social structure difference    13
4.3 Cultural difference    14
Chapter Five Conclusion    15
REFERENCES    16
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS    18
2.1 The definition of humor
In a broad sense, everything which makes people laugh or feel interested in the process of human communication can be called humor, such as verbal and nonverbal language, actions, facial expressions and body language. As Yan Weihua(2001:9193) mentioned that language humor had a lot of different forms, for examples, pure literary humor, conversational joking depending on body behaviors and body language, and so on. In the real world, the meanings of humor are various. In the past 2000 years, the research about humor related to many fields. A lot of researchers had tried to give a definition to “humor” and gave out their reasons. However, it is still blurry with its various definitions. Here are some definitions about humor: “Humor is a kind of ability, it can lead to entertainment or feel entertainment.” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 1974:957). “Humor is a kind of quality which can make some things funny and interesting; or a kind of ability to feel, enjoy or express funny, interesting things.” (American Heritage Dictionary, 1980:854). In Chinese, the general understanding of humor is “By insinuating, satire and pun styles to expose the unfair treatment and incongruity in life.” (Ci Hai, 1980:1657) The wide use of “humor” owes to the British humanist dramatist Jonson, who first used the word “humor” in his Every Man in His Humor which was deep loved by people for its sense of humor. Take Volpone for example, it was the master work of Jonson and got the top of his level. Maybe because of art social function, Jonson’s theory of humor was spread like wildfire. From 1920s, the word “humor” was brought to China and finally attained it Chinese transliteration “幽默”. Before this, many linguists have tried to translate it into Chinese. The translator Li Qingya translated the word as “油滑”, which means slippery and foxy. But Lu Xun thought differently and considered this understanding and translation was not accurate. Finally Lin Yutang combined the voice with meaning and created the Chinese word of humor. Then this word came into use and was widely circulated in China. It may be the best translation in Chinese so far. Since then, Lu Xun and Lin Yutang had created a series of theories related to humor and wrote a lot of famous books. Take The True Story of Ah Q and Talk About Humor for example, they led the fashion of humor. In The True Story of Ah Q, Ah Q is a role who always comforts himself in a humorous but exaggerate way. In Talk About Humor, Lin Yutang first proposed the word “humor”. In addition, he thought that humor was a part of life, with the development of the country, humor literature will develop day by day.
2.2 The origins of humor
In west, the ancestor of humor is the Latin word “humor”. It is a physiological word which means body fluid. The ancient Greece doctor Hippocrates thought that human health and temperament depended on four kinds of body fluids. Besides, Hippocrates thought that these four fluids controlled the health, temperament, personality and appearance of people. This theory was very fashionable in ancient Greece from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance. Until the end of 17th century, someone concluded that “characteristics to make people laugh or happy in action, conversation and articles; the ability to enjoy and express these characteristics.” (Gao Yihong, 2001:26) In China, there are more and more scholars attracted and involved in the research of humor. According to some related research, the first appearance of “humor” in Chinese is in The Songs of Chu, which means silence, and it is different from the “humor” today. The word “humor” we use now is the evolution of the English word “humor”, and it mainly means an understanding smile, not its literal meaning.
2.3 The characteristics of humor
Humor has these characteristics. First, humor can please body and mind. In addition, as Yu Lilei(1999:3639) mentions that humor can even cure of diseases by making people laugh. But if people not achieve fun from humor, then it can not be called humor. Second, humor has wit. There is no doubt that a humorous person is a wise person. Not anything makes people laugh is humor, it may be just a joke or trick. Only the wise words or stories which make people achieve fun and knowledge can be called humor. It does not only mean to reacts the content itself and announce one social contradiction such as purpose and method, inside and surface. Third, humor has reality. Humor should be something real exists, not fictional by the speaker. What’s more, humor must be able to reflect human civilization back. Fourth, humor has the ability to tell people philosophy. That means humor can bring people the true, the good and the beauty.
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