耶鲁北大宣传片跨文化角度案例分析

第1页共7页ACasestudyofPromosofYaleUniversityandPekingUniversityfromCulturalPerspectiveAbstract:sincethepromosofYaleUniversityandPekingUniversitywereopentothepublic,ahitdiscussionhavebeenarousehomeandabroad.ThecontrastimpressiononthetwovideosimplythetwosamplesofChineseandAmericanculture.Thispapertendstoexplorethemaindifferencesandthereasonsreflectedinthetwovideosfromculturalperspective.1.IntroductionsincethepromosofYaleUniversityandPekingUniversityopenedtothepublic,ahitdiscussionhavebeenarouseontheWechatandBlog.SomeradicalpeoplecriticizethesilencepresentedinthepromoofPekingUniversity,regardingitasasleepyoldbuildingswithoutlittlelife.OthersspeaklowofthepromoofYaleUniversity,consideringitasacommercial,shortofculturalatmosphere.However,Ikeepapositiveattitudetobothofthem.Whatinterestedmemostiswhatarethedifferencesandwhatarereasonsforthedifferences?Althoughtherearehotdebatesonthetwopromos,AccordingtoE.B.Tylor,Cultureorcivilization,takeninitswideethnographicsense,isthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,custom,andanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredmymanasamemberofsociety.(E.B.Tylor1871).Hence,thedifferencesarecloselyrelatedtotheirdifferentkindofculture.Untilnow,however,thereisnostudyofpromosofYaleUniversityandPekingUniversityfromCulturalPerspective.Therefore,thisessaytendstoexplorethedifferencesandthereasonsresultedinsuchadifferencefromculturalperspective.2.MaterialsTwopromovideosofYaleUniversityandPekingUniversityarefoundandinvestigatedindetailtoseekforthedifferences,thetextbooksoninterculturalcommunicationandtheofficialPressinformationaboutthepromos.75ChinesestudentsofShanghaiUniversitiesofFinanceandEconomicsweregiventhelinksoftwovideosanddraftedquestionnairesonthetwovideoswerecollected.Thestudentswereinvitedtowatchthevideosandanswer第2页共7页thequestionnaire.Thequestionnairesweredesignedtoasktheparticipantstoanswer“whichonedoyouthinkismoreattractive”and“whatarethedifferences?”onthetwovideos.3.ResultsandDiscussions3.1ThemainfeedbackofthetwovideosThebrieffeedbacksofthetwovideoshasbeenshowninGraph1InGraph1.WefoundmostoftheparticipantsarefavorofthepromoofYaleUniversity(promoofYU),whichisconsistentwiththeresultsofthepollinvestigationonline.So,whatonearthmakethepromoofYUmoreattractive?toanswerthequestionweneedtoknowwhatarethedifferencesfirst.ThemaindifferenceshavebeencategorizedasTable2,whichisbasedonthequestionaries.第3页共7页Themaindifferencesandthepossiblereasonswillbeexploredinthefollowing.3.2thedifferentstylesofpresentationsandthepossiblereasonsfordifferencesfromculturalperspectiveThepromoofPekingUniversity,lastingfor11minutesand32seconds,beginswithamatchlightingancientoillamp,theroomwasilluminated.However,YaleUniversity’spromostartswithaYaleinformationsessionpresidedbyablackprofessorandvariousquestions.Thedifferentbeginningsshowacontrastinformationofthetwotopuniversities.PekingUniversitypresentstheuniquelandscapethroughlightandshadowandmusic,whichtintstheuniversitieswithamysteriouspower.Thereisnodialogueorconversationinthepromo.thetypicalattractionssuchasBoYaToweltheWeimingLakehasbeenshowclearly.Nevertheless,YaleUniversityshowusadynamicstorythroughactivitiesandrapswithaguidedtour.Then,itgoeswithastory:“WhenIwasaseniorinhighschool,collegescalledoutmyname.EverydayI'ddebatewheretomatriculate,buteveryplaceseemedthesame.YetafterIwentthroughtheoptions,onlyonechoiceremained.IwantedhailfromacollegecalledYale.Now第4页共7页letmeexplain…”Asforthethedifferentstylesofpresentation,thedistinctcultureenvironmentshouldberesponsibleforit.ItisuniversallybelievedthatChinaisatypicalcountryinhigh-contextculture.AccordingtoEdwardHall,highcontextreferstosocietiesorgroupswherepeoplehavecloseconnectionsoveralongperiodoftime.Manyaspectsofculturalbehaviorarenotmadeexplicitbecausemostmembersknowwhattodoandwhattothinkfromyearsofinteractionwitheachother.Thecharacteristicofhighcontextcultureis:indirectandimplicitinformation,contextispriority.Consistentwiththehighcontextculture,PekingUniversityutilizethesilentaestheticlandscapetoshowusthehistoryandthehumanity.Thelightimpliestheknowledgeandtheeducatorsthatwillguidethestudentstoheadforthejourneyoflife.Theshadowindicatesthehistoryandtheabundantculturebackgroundwhichwillshedlightonthefuture.However,Americaistypicalcountryinlow-contextculture.Lowcontextreferstosocietieswherepeopletendtohavemanyconnectionsbutofshorterdurationorforsomespecificreason.Inthesesocieties,culturalbehaviorandbeliefsmayneedtobespelledoutexplicitlysothatthosecomingintotheculturalenvironmentknowhowtobehave.thecharacteristicsoflowcontextcultureis:directandexplicitInformation,verbalmessageispriority.Thus,thestyleofpresentationinYaleUniversityisrappinganddialogizing,Therefore,wecanobservetheprofessorrapping“Everycollegehasadininghallwithasaladbarandgrillandorganicoptionsforeverymeal.Iamgoingtoeatmyfill.Eachonehasacommonroom,whichwecouldnotlivewithouttostudyortomeetingroupsorsimplytohangout.Andwhenthedininghallsareclosedthereisbutteries…”3.3thedifferentpurposesandfocusesandthepossiblereasonsfordifferencefromculturalperspec