The United States as a Multicultural Society

The United States as a Multicultural Society-口译网

Today I'd like to address the topic of "The United States as a Multicultural Society" as much as I understand it, and in that connection, I'd like to say a few words about the implications of multiculturalism for cross-cultural communication.

今天我想就“多元文化社会的美国”这个题目谈一些自己的看法，我还想借此机会简单谈一下多元文化主义对跨文化交际的影响。

Some people say that the United States is "a melting pot”, while others say it is "a salad platter. " In my view, rather than a melting pot, the United States today may be more accurately described as a multicultural society in which acculturation is defined more in terms of "integration" than "assimilation." In other words, people in the United States today can maintain some original cultural identity and values and participate meaningfully in the larger society.

有些人说美国是“熔炉”，也有些人说美国是“色拉拼盆”。依我所见，今日美国不是一个熔炉；或许较为确切的说法应该是，美国是一个多元文化的社会，在这个社会，文化融合的定义应该是“结合”而非“同化”。换言之，今日美国人可以保持自己原籍的一些文化特性和价值观念，并有意义地参与一个更大的社会群体的活动。

The melting pot myth is never true. The United States has always been a heterogeneous society with cohesion based partly on mutual respect and partly on one group's values dominating

all others. The salad platter analogy suggests that the elements of the salad maintain their own taste or identity but exist together to create the whole.

有关熔炉之说从来就是一种虚构的神话。美国从来就是一个多元化的社会，不同成分之间的凝聚，部分是建筑在相互尊重的基础上，部分是建筑在一个群体的价值观支配着其他群体的价值观的基础上。

Some people argue that multiculturalism has not meant the integration of diverse cultures, but an acceptance by the dominant ethnic category of the "exotic" foods, dress and rituals of

the cultural minorities.

有些人认为，多元文化主义并不意味着各种文化的结合，多元文化主义应该指占主导地位的民族能对文化少数民族的“异族”食物、服饰和礼仪所体现的一种接纳。

I think that the debate over multiculturalism is essentially the debate over whose values will be imposed. In a true multicultural society, individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds exist without socially enforced power differences. But that is not the case, at least, with the United States.

我认为，有关多元文化主义之争实质上是一场关于谁的价值观可以强加于人的争论。在一个真正意义上的多元文化社会里，有着不同文化背景的人们生活在一起，没有社会所强加的权力区别。至少美国不是这样一种多元文化社会。

Perhaps there has never been such a thing as monocultural society. Indeed, each person is of many cultures simultaneously. One has a sexual identity, a racial identity, a religious identity, a class identity, a school identity, an identity from the friends one keeps, a family identity, a geographic identity, and so on. We tend to be relatively unconscious of other cultures, and unfortunately, much hostility is created by our ignorance of other cultures and the failure to recognize their existence.

也许从来就没有什么单一文化社会。确实每个人的身上都同时体现出多种文化标记。一个人有其性别标记、种族标记、宗教标记、阶级标记、教育标记、交友标记、家庭标记、地域标记，等等。我们往往不太注意其他文化的存在；不幸的是，对其他文化的忽视和不认可往往是孳生敌意的土壤。

In many societies there is hierarchy of status and power. The power elites need not be the majority. The power elites are the individuals who have influence within the social, political, legal, economic, and religious institutions. In the United States, the power elite controls both the material resources and goods of the country and the means and manner of production and distribution.

许多社会存在着地位等级制度和权利等级制度。权利精英分子的人数不必是大多数。他们在社会、政治、法律、经济和宗教机构有着影响力。在美国，权利精英分子控制着国家的物质来源以及生产方式和分配方式。

In the United States, when you speak of upper, middle and lower classes you speak not of national origin or ethnicity but of power and control over material resources. Youthful, able-bodied White males today largely hold economic power in the United States. Whites in the United States recognize the existence of a White culture. White culture resulted from a synthesis of ideas, values and beliefs inherited from European ethnic groups in the United States. As the dominant culture in the United States, White culture is the foundation of social norms and organizations.

在美国，当人们谈论上、中、下阶级时，他们指的不是原籍或种族的差别，而是人们对物质来源享有的权利和控制力。今日美国的经济权在很大程度上控制在那些身体健康的年轻白人男子手里。美国白人认识到白人文化的存在。白人文化产生于美国欧裔民族的思想、观念和信仰的综合体。作为美国的主导文化，白人文化是美国社会规范和结构的基础。

In terms of cross-cultural communication, the dominant White culture includes communication patterns of Standard English, direct eye contact, limited physical contact, and controlled emotions. Nondominant groups are supposed to follow that pattern in one way or another.

从跨文化交际的角度来看，占主导地位的白人文化所包含的内容有标准英语的交际模式、眼神的直接交流、有限的身体接触、情绪的控制等。非主导性群体似乎应该以某种方式遵循这种模式。

A multicultural society, therefore, faces the communication challenges presented by multiple

language use, contrasting values, and cultural prejudice.

由此看来，一个多元文化社会面临着许多跨文化交际的间题，这些问题是由多语言的使用、不同的价值观、文化偏见等因素所造成的。