摘 要

家庭一直是人们从一个世纪到另一个世纪都在谈论的话题。它不仅是经济合作中最小的社会单位，也是人类亲密关系的基本单位。更重要的是，家庭的和谐与稳定会直接影响到社会的和谐稳定。随着全球化的发展，中美跨文化交流日益频繁和重要，同时中美两国之间存在着明显的文化差异。

本文主要通过当代经典影视作品《摩登家庭》及《家有儿女》中体现的中美家庭观念异同现象正确认识现当代中美文化的差异及其成因。从家庭成员关系以及对彼此的态度，婚姻观，教育观，养老观四个方面具体分析中美家庭观念的异同。通过分析存在异同的原因，并根据目前存在的差异及问题提出建议和解决方案，以顺应时代发展大方向，促进中美两国间文化交流，减少因文化差异造成的冲突，从文化交流的层次推进双方其他方面的交流。

关键词：当代影视作品；中美文化；家庭观念；文化差异

Abstract

Family has always been a topic people talked about from century to century. It is not only the smallest social unit but also the basic unit of human intimacy that satisfies economic cooperation. More importantly, the harmony and stability of the family have a direct impact on those of the society. As globalization develops, Sino-US cross-cultural communication has become more frequent and more important. At the same time, there do exist significant cultural differences between America and China.

This paper mainly compares the similarities and differences between Chinese and American family concepts substantiated in the contemporary classic film and television work Modern Family and Home With Kids, and analyses the causes of the differences so as to have a correct understanding. The paper analyzes the similarities and differences between Chinese and American family concepts from four aspects: family memberships and attitudes towards each other, marital value , education value and attitudes toward the maintenance of parents. By analyzing the reasons for similarities and differences, and proposing suggestions and solutions based on existing differences and problems in order to follow the direction of the times, promote cultural exchanges between China and the United States, and reduce conflicts caused by cultural differences, boost exchanges between each other from the level of culture to other aspects.

Key Words: Contemporary film and television works;Chinese and American cultures;Family concepts;Cultural differences

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 background and motivation 1

1.2 Literature review 1

1.3 objectives 2

2 Similarities and Differences on Family concepts in Sino-US Culture 4

2.1 Attitudes to family members and their relationships 4

2.1.1 different relationship between parents and child 4

2.1.2 Similarities about family members and their relationships 5

2.2 Marital value 6

2.2.1 the ethic differences about Marriage 6

2.2.2 similarities about Marriage 8

2.3 Education value 8

2.3.1 parenting differences about education 8

2.3.2 Similarities about education value 9

2.4 attitudes toward maintenance of the elder parents 10

2.4.1 different mode of supporting the aged parents 10

2.4.2 Similarities about maintenance of elders 11

3 Roots of Sino-American Cultural Similarities and Differences on Family Concepts 11

3.1 Historical Aspect 11

3.2 Economical and Political Aspect 12

3.3 Ideology Aspect 12

4 Suggestions and Solutions 14

5 Conclusion 15

References 16

Appendix 17

Acknowledgements 18

On the Cultural Differences and Similarities in Family Concepts between China and America from Contemporary Film and Television Works

1 Introduction

1.1 background and motivation

Family has always been a topic people talked about from century to century. It is not only the smallest social unit but also the basic unit of human intimacy that satisfies economic cooperation. The harmony and stability of the family have a direct impact on those of the society. As globalization develops, Sino-US cross-cultural communication has become more frequent and more important.

Due to differences in geographical environment, cultural traditions, educational methods, living habits, and ethnicity, different family views have been formed in China and America. As one of the most developed countries in the world, America has its unique culture and values that influence us in various ways, such as television work and literature. At the same time, with the implementation of open-up and reform policy, social structures are undergoing great changes in China. Therefore, some traditional family concepts cannot adapt to the current Chinese development and we should remove old-fashioned family conceptions and absorb the advanced values of America so as to form better family values with Chinese characteristics and benefit the cultivation of later generations. The research can help Chinese people and American people to have a further understanding with each other and their family values without doubt. It can also avoid the unnecessary conflict caused by the misinterpretation in cross-cultural communication.

1.2 Literature review

Over the years, some Chinese scholars have studied different family views of China and America.

Zeng Zhilan（2006）compared the differences of family education between the two countries from angles of the relationship among family members, education concepts and education mode. Bu Dezhen and Sun Aixue（2008）argued that the main reasons for attributing for the differences of the family education were different cultural traditions, ideology, life mode and social customs between China and America. Huang Xiaoyong and Huang Caifang（2009）advocated an updated education concepts, making much attachment to Children’s comprehensive development and cultivating children’s independent competence in order to promote Chinese family education level after comparing Chinese family education with American family education.

In the area of marriage, Chen Shuo（2011）set out to analyze the differences of marriage ethic and attitudes towards divorce between Chinese and American. The author viewed that the couple relationship as the main part of the marriage ethic. In China, males and females believed that an intimate relation between each other was indispensable, while American males and females preferred to maintain their personal independence. Besides, in China, people are more likely to retain the marriage when problems occur in the marriage, while the Americans tends to end the marriage.

In other angles, in The Cultural Differences between Chinese and American Family Views, Li Yuyan and Li Jing compared the differences between modern families in China and the United States in terms of the modern family system, the relationship between modern family members, and the functions of modern families.Then they analyzed the mutual influence of the family system and social and cultural systems.

1.3 objectives

This thesis will focus on the study of differences between temporary families in China and the United States in terms of family values from the perspective of film and television works. Family value, including education value, marital values, and relationship value, is an organism to transmit one culture’s core value and it plays an important role in shaping personalities. This article will take Modern Family as an example to explore the emotions, family education, interpersonal relationships, attitudes toward marriage and cultural conflicts involved, thus establishing a basic understanding of American family culture concepts. At the same time, the paper will compare the Chinese and American family culture concepts and find similarities and differences, so as to help Chinese people and American people to have a further understanding about each other and their family values and to avoid the unnecessary conflict caused by the misunderstanding and mistakes in cross-cultural communication.

To be more specific, the thesis will discuss the differences and similarities of family concepts between America and China in four aspects: the attitudes to the family members and their relationships, marital value, education value and attitudes toward the maintenance of parents. Firstly, the dissertation introduces studying background and status quo and reviews pieces of literature related to this field. Secondly, it compares differences and similarities of family concepts between America and China. Thirdly, it analyses the reasons. Finally, it makes a conclusion and proposes advice.

2 Similarities and Differences on Family concepts in Sino-US Culture

2.1 Attitudes to family members and their relationships

2.1.1 different relationship between parents and child

In discussing the differences between individualism and collectivism, what should be taken into consideration is “equality”. According to Triandis, hierarchy is regarded mainly as a collectivist attribute.