A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN SUPERHERO ANDCHINESE SWORDSMAN

文婷++亢連連

【摘要】本論文從傳統與當下角度為美國英雄及中國俠客定義，并從不同角度分析美國英雄和中國俠客的人物特征，系統對比了中美兩國英雄情結的相似及不同之處并剖析其所形成的原因。旨在通過對兩種人物的對比分析為中美兩國跨文化交際做出微末貢獻。

【關鍵詞】美國英雄 中國俠客 情結

【Abstract】The thesis introduces the definition of superhero and Chinese swordsman， portrays American and Chinese hero traits from various angles， compares the similarities， differences and analyzes the reasons for hero complex in Chinese and American aiming to make contributions to studying the cross-cultural communication between two nations.

【Key words】American superhero； Chinese swordsmen； complex

Ⅰ. Introduction

Lu Zaorong and Wang Xiu point out “It is the responsibility and goal for every culture to create their own hero to keep its essential and inner parts of culture and protect it from going collapse.”

There are many superheroes in American， such as Superman， Batman， Spider Man， Captain America and so on. In Wikipedia superhero is “In modern popular fiction， a superhero is a type of heroic character who possesses extraordinary talents， supernatural phenomena， or superhuman powers and who is dedicated to a moral goal or protecting the public.” As a superhero， they carry out justice by fighting against unfair things， and not only stand for unique heroic phenomenon but also represent that American wants to show the most powerful nation image to the whole world.

Princeton's Word Net defines Chinese chivalrous swordsman “Skilled at fencing and ingrained in thoughts with tremendous dignity and fortitude out of a sense of patriotism， with skilled martial arts to beckon the harmonious justice to help the weak.” The classical image of swordsman is a righteous person who has the moral sense， acts courteously， highly valued on friends and loyal to country. As time goes by， the definition of Chinese swordsman also has been enlarged. Swordsman becomes common man and led a common life， greatness exists in ordinariness.

Two different countries definitely have different styles of hero influenced by social values and culture background. They are the product of society.

II. The Characteristic of American and Chinese Hero Figures

American superheroes usually display the following traits： they are with an extraordinary power and they use the related high-tech equipment， making them invulnerable and invincible. For example， Batman has superpower but prefers to use detective skill and high-tech equipment， just like a lonely dark knight to save others. Then， they are more recognizable to public by distinctive costumes and powerful weapons. Varied costumes reflect different superheros personal style， and stands for a unique meaning. The last but not least， they have double identity and have full willingness to protect public. One is used to cover his or her secret justice identity and another is used to carry out the justice for public.

The characteristic of Chinese swordsman can be summarized as below points： First， It refers to someone who is trying to pursue his dream life and chase his life-prompting values. Second， it seems that every swordsman has their own unique weapon， such as a sword， spear， shield and so on. Third， they are willing to fight for others， faithfulness， justices and country. Lastly， deeply influenced by Confucian culture， some good skilled swordsman likes to live in some mountains to hide fame， and pay more attention on how to improve inner quality. It could be summed up imagination of swordsman as patriotism， loyalty， righteous， sacrifice and friendship.

III. A Contrastive Analysis of American Superhero and Chinese Swordsman

3.1 Differences and similarities between two hero figures

The great reformer Chen Duxiu was pointed： “western nation lays emphasis on individualism and fighting， by contrast， the security of country and family peace is in the top priority of Oriental nation.” It is an important element to understand two nations different cultural background. Chinese swordsman differs from American superhero in three general points： collectivism versus individualism， loyalty versus freedom， sacrifices versus honor. Concretely speaking， American superhero prefers to pay more attention to individual identity and freedom， servicing others and saving the weak， with great honor and remarkable courage to fight against failure. Compared with American individualism， Chinese swordsman prefers to display the responsibility on their family， friend and community. Every swordsman extent high loyalty to their country more than his own life， they emphasized responsibility to his nation. To them， it is necessary that the interests of the individual must be subordinated to the interest of the collective.

Talking about the similarities between American Superhero and Chinese swordsman， it can be summarized at the following points： tolerance， loving-kindness and self-control of superhero and swordsman. Both of them are independent， self-confident and have a strong will to chase their goals and cherish the values they believe. And always act in line with current social value system and matched with citizen pursuit of inner heart.

3.2 Reasons for the formation of American superhero and Chinese swordsman

Declaration of Independence were written that “we hold these truths to be self-evident， that all men are created equal， that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights and that among these are Life， Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So superhero represents the individualism complex in their behaviors. American have been through two World Wars， cold war and “911 events”， especially the Vietnam War. As national crisis had produced some insecurity feelings in US， citizens need to find spiritual comfort to fulfill fear and nervousness. Coincidentally， the newly emerged superhero image is satisfied with their lack of spiritual security. As for cultural reason， we cant ignore the unique immigration culture of United States. The universally cultural tendency of this country reflects modern people are free of thinking. The dominant religion in USA is Christianity. What is advocated is not the obligation and responsibility to society members but human rights and humanitarianism in America.

In ancient times of China， people lives a very strict hierarchical crucial society， with so many rules and principles， the folks longs for freedom and hopes for a messiah to save some helpless people， so that is the one reason for the rise of swordsman. Chinese history broke down into warring states， political background is deadly serious. For that particular period， swordsman has some social reality meaning that guarantee the survival to create a relatively fair environment to protect own and others. And the swordsmen image was influenced by Confucianism， Taoism and Buddhism. Confucian culture had most profound effect on the generation of Chinese swordsman. That is why swordsman performs like a gentle man with a strong sense of justice and obedient to emperor.

IV. Conclusion

This paper briefly reviews the definition and development of American superhero and Chinese swordsman， analyzes the characteristic of both hero figures， and compares both similarities and differences. According to a contrastive analysis of American superhero and Chinese swordsman， the reader could easily understand what the reasons for the formation of two hero figures， and what can we deeply views two cultures difference. These hero figures are shaped by their unique society environment and history background， in which two culture soil have the special atmosphere to influence personal idea and behavior pattern. After reading， the reader could better minimize the culture shock between two nations， to strength the understanding of cultural differences between western and Chinese.

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