从电影《超人》探究美国的个人英雄主义.doc

ContentsChinese Abstract1English Abstract21. Introduction31.1 The Research Background31.2. American Individual Heroism42. Literature Review52.1 Western Research on Individual Heroism52.2 The Research on Individual Heroism in China53. On American Individual Heroism from All Aspects63.1 American Individual Heroism in History63.2 The Reason for the Formation of American Individual Heroism in Movies73.3 The Characteristics of Superman on Individual Heroism114. American Individual Heroism and Chinese Heroism125. Conclusion13References14从电影超人探究美国的个人英雄主义 摘 要经济全球化的不断加快，中国与世界其他国家的联系变得更加密切。尤其是世界经济最发达的国家美国。中国与其在文化上的碰撞也越来越猛烈。虽然两国在文化方面的交流取得了一定的成果，但是由于地域限制，我们对其美国特有的文化精神颇为陌生。电影作为表达社会文化的重要的方式之一，随着时代的发展与人们生活水平的提高,其在人们的日常娱乐生活越来越普及。本文将试从超人系列电影分析美国个人英雄主义存在的原因，深化和发展及其对美国产生的影响，与中国传统的英雄主义比较等方面有一个较为明确的认识。通过本文，希望能给中国人对美国文化更好的理解，增强相互之间的友谊和信任，消除不必要的偏见与误会，促进中美之间的跨文化交流，打造和谐美好世界。关键词：美国；个人主义；英雄主义On American Individual Heroism From SupermanAbstractWith the acceleration of economic globalization, China has become more closely connected with the rest of the world. In particular, the most economically developed country in the world - the United States. Chinas cultural clash with it is also growing more intense. Although the two countries have made some achievements in cultural exchanges but we are quite unfamiliar with the unique American cultural spirit because of the geographical limitations. As one of the important ways to express social culture, film has become more and more popular in peoples daily entertainment life with the development of society and the improvement of peoples living standards.An objective of this thesis is to analyze the reasons for the existence of individual heroism in the United States from the perspective of the Superman series, deepen and develop its influence on the United States, and have a clear understanding of the comparison with the traditional Chinese collectivism. Through this paper, I hope to give Chinese people a better understanding of American culture, enhance mutual friendship and trust, eliminate unnecessary prejudice and misunderstanding, promote cross-cultural communication between China and the United States, and build a harmonious and beautiful world.Key words: America; individualism; heroism1. Introduction 1.1 The Research BackgroundAs a comprehensive art, film should become a “carrier” for building a community of shared future for mankind. Yan Zhaozhu, chairman of the Taihu World Culture Forum, interprets the special value of film as a cultural carrier in the 5th annual meeting of the Taihu World Culture Forum. American movies are also the mirror of American culture on the screen. Many Hollywood movies can be found heroism of profound historical background and cultural accumulation. From the late 1970s to the beginning of this century, Hollywood released five Superman films, which created one box office record after another through massive war scenes and dazzling computer stunts, not only expanded supermans popularity around the world, but also instilled individual heroism all over the world. Scholars mostly study the image construction and cultural expression of superman, while few study the strong American individual heroism contained in superman. The American individual heroism shown in the movie is of inestimable value to our understanding and utilization of American values and American character.1.2. American Individual Heroism Liang Hanping (2006) said that American is a young country and its core value is individualistic heroism that is ingrained in its social history. Compared with European countries, the American heroism culture is as young as the country. As an immigrant country, heroes inevitably have the shadow of the hero culture of the old world, but this young country has been expanding its borders since the first day of the founding of the peoples Republic of China, and its national strength has expanded rapidly. The heroes in America usually have similar characteristics: individualism, aggression and absolute confidence, whether they are Yankees or cowboys and whether they are white settlers in the West or American soldiers on overseas expeditions. Western movies are all the rage and all of them are almost a pattern. A hero conquers the world by himself, and finally leaves when they succeed, and then quietly disappears. The heroes in modern American movies, of course, have different features and backgrounds, but in essence, the “American hero” has only one feature: the American style, but he sometimes wears jeans, sometimes wears a Vietnam War helmet and sometimes dressed as Spider Man or even the appearance of aliens. The United States is a young country, although it does not have a long history, it has its own unique cultural system. Americans have their own unique characteristics, which not only directly affect the American way of doing things, but also deeply affect the United States and even Hollywood movies.The improvement of Individual heroism, as a great work of all nations, and for this work, we must actively overcome contradictions and obstacles, and strive to become the essence of individuals. The heroism and self sacrifice which they show in their personal activities are reflected in the individuals behavior, and make the heroic spirits behavior have great significance. Individual heroism can be traced back to Greek mythology. In western history, it attaches great importance to individualism and emphasizes the highest value of the individual. This ideological system encourages people to cultivate personal development space, and advocates to safeguard personal rights and obtain personal interests through personal efforts in a positive way, which will effectively promote social development and become the western spirit and traditional privilege and hierarchy system. In order to pursue personal achievements, heroes in Greek mythology also seek personal value realization in risks and challenges. For example, Agathius knew that he would die in the battle of Troy, but he still chose risks and honors in order to be immortal.At the same time, individual heroism is also reflected in their contempt for authority. They are against bondage and personal supremacy. When their personal interests are violated, heroes will not hesitate to resist and confront authority. When the gods became the authorities, ordinary people would also defy them. In Greece, there were many stories of human heroes conquering the gods. For example, Diomedes, the Greek hero, stabbed Aphrodite who is the god of beauty, and defeated Ares who is the god of war. Therefore, in Western mythology, human beings can challenge the authority of God, which further reflects the western world view of advocating individual heroism. This is quite different from the supremacy of divinity and absolute rule in other cultures. That is why the heroes in the western movies do not care about the constraints of the supreme power group. They often fight alone, no matter how strong their opponents are. It can be said that personal heroism and superheroes are prevalent in the United States. Americans advocate personal heroism, and personal power can save the world. This is obvious that the United States inherited Western individualism. Since the founding of the United States, in the process of national development, the United States has always paid attention to personal achievements and encouraged their own competition, which has an important relationship with their success. In American superhero movies, American flags can be seen everywhere. People think that how strong a hero is, how responsible they are. They are closely related to their own country. All they do is for this country and its people. This gives superheroes a sense of belonging, and people expect them to win every battle.2. Literature Review 2.1 Western Research on Individual HeroismUnlike our country, America upholds individual heroism. Americans think heroes can be romantic, can drop out of school, can be born with defects, can have a bad time in their lives, can also tear, but the hero will not be knocked down, he will always be invincible (Sciambra, 1998). Ayn Rand was a Russian American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual of the 20th century. Her philosophy and novels emphasized the concept of individualism. Her work, Atlas Shrugged, illustrated the roots of individual heroism in American culture. Napoleon in Emil Ludwigs Complete Memoirs of Napoleon is a mirror of individual heroism. James Kirby Martin, who holds a place as A distinguished university professor in the history department at the university of Houston also wrote A Concise history of America and Its People which contains unique views on American individual heroism.2.2 The Research on Individual Heroism in ChinaThere are 485 researches on personal heroism on HowNet, but only 45 researches on American individual heroism. Chinese understanding of individual heroism is quite different from that of American personal heroism. In The lexicon: 1999 in reduced (sequence) 1 page 668, it mention that the basic characteristics of individual heroism are: exaggerating individual role, being good at showing off, being proud of ones merits, regarding oneself as “hero” or “savior” above the masses, and belittling the strength and wisdom of the masses. In Mao Zedongs Anthology, it is written that personal heroism reverses the relationship between social consciousness and social existence and the relationship between the people and individuals.Zhang Zhihao and Cheng Dianmei have three main characteristics to interpret American values of individual heroism through the American film Iron Man and there is a new trend from individualism towards collectivism. Through further comparison with Chinese collective heroism, it shows that we should treat individual heroism objectively and rationally, carry forward heroism in our new era, and inspire our cultural confidence and national confidence. Superman is the first cartoon superhero in the United States, and its series of films have set off a great mass fervour in the United States and even in the world. Especially in the youth group, Superman has become the hero image they are pursuing. At present, there are 33 researches on Superman series films, most of which are from the aspect of cultural expression and image construction. There is little research on the personal heroism in Superman.3. On American Individual Heroism from Three Aspects3.1 American Individual Heroism in HistoryInfluenced by specific historical, cultural background and value system, the United States has become a country that advocates heroes, and its heroism is concrete rather than abstract. In the book of A Concise History of America and Its People made by James Kirby Martin:The first settlers of America were largely puritans from Europe, and the characters of the founder fathers as well as other first settlers were much more independent and more gallant than other Europeans, and they want to be free from the monarchy system.Their spirits are accepted and appreciated by the people in the North American and then passed on from generations to generations in this country (Martin, 2008: 16).“The earliest settlers came to the North American continent to establish colonies which were free from the controls that existed in European societies. They wanted to escape from the controls placed on many aspects of their lives by kings and governments, priests and churches, noblemen and aristocrats. To a great extent, they succeeded” (Jhonn & Kearny, 2008: 29). In 1620, a group of peasants who lost their land in England, poor workers who were persecuted by religion and Puritans fled to North America on the Mayflower ship, and signed the Mayflower Contract. Britains strict social hierarchy and the oppression of aristocracy made American pioneers pursue equality and personal freedom. The worship of individual power provides fertile soil for the emergence of American individual heroism. The pursuit of freedom, equality and liberation is the soil of American personal heroism. The early Puritans were good at innovation. They were full of confidence in farming and business trade. This fearless spirit laid the foundation for the personal heroism advocated by American society (张文星, 2013). The westward movement encouraged the pioneers to expand their territory. These heroes fighting for freedom and power are legendary American cowboys. Some people say that cowboy spirit is the representative of American spirit and the symbol of enterprise, courage, freedom and American dream. It can be said that Indian cowboy hero is the prototype and core spirit of American personal heroism, which has established the hero image on Hollywood Screen. The birth of American heroism is directly related to religious factors. The first English settlers in America were puritans. Puritans believed in the doctrine of Gods choice and followed strict doctrines. The bible points out that humans often lose themselves and need gods salvation and guidance. And the hero, as gods chosen people, bear the burden of saving the world to protect mankind. Heros values and sense of mission are deeply rooted in the religious elements of the United States. Totally, American individual heroism is closely related to the development of American history. By its origins, America itself is a history of countless individual struggles. At first, the United States came to the wild and primitive new continent of North America with the dream of building a better new homeland. In order to realize democratic independence, it had a long-term struggle with the colonial people.3.1.1 American Individualism in HistoryIndividualism, which originated in Europe, has developed unprecedentedly in the United States. It has even become a symbol of American identity and a core feature of American culture. Before the 18th century, the United States, characterized by localism and autonomy, pursued the value that public interests were higher than personal interests, and did not have a completely individualistic color. After the independence of the United States, individualism in containment began to sprout. In the 19th century, individualism was catalysed by Western movements. In Emersons worship of the sanctity and uniqueness of the individual, American individualism is characterized by spiritual independence. The American spirit is formed in the struggle with others. With the acceleration of the development process, the western novels that show the life of the western frontier and the spirit of the pioneers hard struggle have flourished (周恬, 2016).3.2 The Reason for the Formation of American Individual Heroism in MoviesThe birth of American individual heroi