從本族中心主義角度解讀《愛的牽絆》中龐女士與美國孩子之間的交流障礙

Abstract: In intercultural communication， conflicts will often arise when people with distinct cultural backgrounds communicate with each other. In Pangs of Love， pangs existing between Mrs. Pang and the American-born children are vividly depicted. The unharmonious phenomena are prevalent throughout the short story. Both Mrs. Pang and the American-born children find it not comfortable to interact with each other. This paper argues that it is their ethnocentrism that results in their pangs when they communicate with each other. But pangs can be eliminated if people actively understand the other culture and accept it.

摘 要：在跨文化交際里，當具有不同文化背景的人們在進行交流時，沖突會經常出現。在《愛的牽絆》這一篇短篇小說里，生動的描述了存在在龐女士和她美國出生的孩子們之間交流時的痛苦折磨。在整個故事情節里面，這種不和諧的現象一直存在著。龐女士和美國出生的孩子們在彼此交流時都會有一種不適感。筆者認為是本民族中心主義導致了他們之間交流的障礙，同時認為如果人們能夠積極地去理解另一種文化并且試圖接受它，那么這種痛苦和牽絆就會大大減少。

Key Words: pangs; ethnocentrism; Pangs of Love

關鍵詞：折磨，本民族中心主義，《愛的牽絆》

作者簡介：周葉函，云南大學2010級英語語言文學碩士研究生。

[中圖分類號]：I206 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-15-0019-02

Pangs of Love written by the Chinese-American writer David Wong Louie mainly describes the Chinese mother Mrs. Pang’s tortuous relationship with the American-born children. Pangs existing between them are prevalent throughout the short story. Mrs. Pang， as an elder Chinese immigrant in America， holds on to the traditional Chinese values， whereas the American-born children were brought up in America and know little about the Chinese traditions. Thus， Mrs. Pang is more often than not confronted with the unsmooth communication with the American-born children. This paper argues that it is ethnocentrism that leads to pangs among people with different cultural backgrounds.

Ethnocentrism is one barrier to effective intercultural communication， and it refers to negatively judging aspects of another culture by the standards of one’s own culture; for people with ethnocentrism， they tend to regard their own culture as the center of the world， and the other culture is accordingly inferior to the one they hold(Xu 2004，291). In Pangs of Love， ethnocentrism plays a dominant role in creating Mrs. Pang and children’s pangs.

Influenced by ethnocentrism， Mrs. Pang lives an isolated life with pangs in America. Although she has lived in America for 40 years， she manages not to learn English. It is her seemingly obstinate attitude toward preserving her own language that results in her constant pains in the sequential events. When Mrs. Pang intends to participate in the children’s conversation， no one shows interest in taking with her because of her poor English. She often confines herself to watching the wrestling game on TV， for this program does not demand any mastery of language. In Mrs. Pang’s mind， Chinese girls are the perfect choice for the daughters-in-law. Therefore， she spares no efforts to urge her sons to seek wives in Hong Kong. The sons despise this idea， which greatly disheartens Mrs. Pang. Even though Mrs. Pang has been in America for 40 years， she still holds on to the Chinese traditional values tightly and ignores the American culture. It is this attitude， ethnocentrism， that causes her numerous pangs when she gets along with the American-born children.

Brought up in the United States， the narrator and his brother Billy are Americanized in a way. They consider all the stuff in America as best ones. Thus， their mother’s manners bewilder them in most cases. As for traditions their mother maintains， they show little respect for it. When the narrator drives his mother and Deborah to Billy’s house， he holds his mother in contempt. “ She seems out of place in a car， near machines， a woman from another culture， of another time， at ease with needle land thread， around pigs and horses” (Louie 1991，259). It can be noticed that the narrator feels ashamed of his own mother due to her different cultural background. When Billy learned that Mrs. Pang had brought the Chinese food to him， he had a fit. Moreover， Billy intentionally turns off the set that Mrs. Pang is currently watching. “ He doesn’t want his friends to know he dropped from the womb of one who lives something as low as wrestling”(Louie 1991，271). He fails to understand why his mother has been a wrestling fan for ages. He only cares about whether he is likely to be looked down upon by his friends owing to his mother’s poor taste. Because of their disdain for their mother’s odd Chinese manners， they also suffer from living an uneasy life.

Being a native American， Deborah is indifferent to Mrs. Pang on many occasions.She subconsciously supposes Mrs. Pang is inferior. She greets Mrs. Pang in an impolite fashion. After Mrs. Pang asks how Deborah is， Deborah offers no answer. “Won’t waste her breath on someone who can’t take the conversation the next step”(Louie 1991，257). She even ridicules Mrs. Pang’s poor English occasionally when Mrs. Pang couldn’t understand what she is talking about. Mrs. Pang’s talking manners even gets on her nerves. Both Mrs. Pang and Deborah cling to their own ways of doing things and do not try to make way for each other， and that’s why their relationship is increasingly tense.

However， conflicts and the sequential pangs can be avoided. A prime example of this is Mandy. She does her utmost to relate to Mrs. Pang. There is no ethnocentrism in Mandy’s mind. In order to interact with Mrs. Pang better， Mandy learns to speak Cantonese and celebrates the Chinese festivals with Mrs. Pang.

Conflicts will always arise when people with different cultural backgrounds communicate with one another， thus the sequential pangs emerge. Through the analysis， it is their ethnocentrism that plays a key part in creating the pangs. But pangs can be averted if people try to understand the culture and accept it sincerely， and Mandy’s successful communication is a case in point.

References:

[1]、Cutter， Martha J.2005.Lost and Found in Translation:Contemporary Ethnic American Writing and the Politics.Chapel Hill:University of North Carolina Press.

[2]、Louie， David Wong. 1991. Pangs of Love. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

[3]、許力生. 2004. Intercultural Communication in English.上海：上海外語教育出版社.