Unit-1English-and-American-Concepts-of-Space(1).doc

Unit 1
English and American Concepts of Space
It has been said that the English and the Americans are two great people separated by one language. The difference for which language gets blamed may not be due so much to words as to communications on other levels beginning with English intonation (which sounds affected to many Americans) and continuing to ego-linked ways of handling time, space, and materials. If there ever were two cultures in which differences of the proxemic details are marked it is in the educated (public school) English and the middle-class Americans. One of the basic reasons for this wide disparity is that in the United States we use space as a way of classifying people and activities, whereas in England it is the social system that determines who you are .In the Untied States, your address is an important cue to status (this apply not only to one's home but to the business address as well.) The JonesesRefers to the general people
from Brooklyn and Miami are not as "inFashionable
" as the Joneses from Newport and Palm Beach. Greenwich and Cape Cod are worlds apart from Newark and Miami. Businesses located on Madison and Park avenues have more tone than those on Seventh and Eighth avenues. A corner office is more prestigious that one next to the elevator or at the end of a long hall. The Englishman, however, is born and brought up in a social system. He is still Lord---no matter where you find him, even if it is behind the counter in a fishmonger's stall. In addition to class distinctions, there are differences between the English and ourselves in how space is allotted.
人们说，英国和美国是两个伟大的民族被一种语言所分离。而造成这一分离现象的原因并非因为词汇，其中还包括交流过程中的许多层面，从开始英语的音调（这一点听上去影响了许多美国人），再到用自我意识来处理时间、空间、和物质。倘若英美两种文化真的有一些细节上存在差异，那么他们分别就是受公共教育的英国人与中产阶级的美国人。造成这一巨大差异的基本原因之一就是在美国，我们把人与活动以空间来划分，而在英国，社会制度决定了你的身份。在美国，你的住址是一条表明你地位的重要线索。（这不仅适用于你家庭住址，同样还包括你的工作地址。）住在布鲁克林和迈阿密的人就没有住在新港和棕榈滩的人那样时髦。格林威治与科德角是和纽瓦克与迈阿密天壤之别的地方。在麦迪森和公园大道的开业比在第七、第八大道更高调。坐落在路口的办公室比起坐落在电梯旁或长廊尽头的办公室更显眼。然而，英国人出生和成长都受到社会制度的影响。无论你在那里碰到他，哪怕他在卖鱼，他仍是一个贵族。除了在划分阶级上的差别，英国人和我们美国人如何分配空间上也有许多差异。
The middle-class American growing up in the United States feels he has a right to have his own room, or at least part of a room. My American subjects, when asked to draw an ideal room or office, invariably drew it for themselves and no one else. When asked to draw their present room or office, they drew only their own part of a shared room and then drew a line down the middle .Both male and female subjects identified the kitchen and the master bedroom as belonging to the mother or the wife, whereas Father's territory was a study or a den, if one was available, otherwise, it was the " the shop," " the basement", or sometimes only a workbench or the garage. American women who want to be alone can go to the bedroom and close the door. The closed door is the sign meaning "Do not disturb" or “I’m angry." An American is available if his door is open at home or at his office. He is expected not to shut himself off but to maintain himself in a state of constant readiness to answer the demands of others. Closed doors are for conferences, private conversations, and business, work that requires concentration, study, resting, sleeping, dressing, and sex.
在美国成长的中产阶级认为他们自己有拥有一间房间的权利，或者说至少房间一部分的权利。当我让我的实验观察对象们画一张他们理想的房间或是办公室的时候，他们总是画仅属于他们自己（房间），没有他人的一席之地。当让他们画出他们现在居住的房间或是使用的办公室时，他们会画出和他人公用房间里属于自己的那部分，并在当中画一条界线。不论是男性对象还是女性对象，他们都一致认为厨房和主卧是属于母亲或者妻子的，而属于父亲的“地盘”也就是一间书房或是小房间，当然，前提是它们存在，否则，车间，地下室，有时仅仅是一张工作台或是车库属于他了。想独自待一会儿的美国妇女，只要走进卧室，关起房门即可。关上的房门就意味着“请勿打扰”或“我在生气”。如果美国人的房门或是办公室的门开着，这就意味着他现在有空。别人就会认为他没有外界隔离，相反他随时准备满足他人的要求。门只会为了会议、私聊、公事，以及那些需要注意力集中的工作、学习、休息、小睡、换装以及性爱而关闭。
The middle-and-upper-class Englishman, on the other hand, is brought up in a nursery shared with brothers and sisters. The oldest occupies a room by himself which he vacates when he leaves for boarding school, possibly even at the age of nine or ten. The difference between a room of one's own and early conditioning to shared space, while seeming inconsequential, has an important effect on the Englishman's attitude toward his own space. He may never have a permanent “room of his own” and seldom expects one or feels he is entitled to one. Even Members of Parliament have no offices and often conduct their business on the terrace overlooking the Thames. As a consequence, the English are puzzled by the American need for a secure place in which to work, an office. Americans working in England may become annoyed if they are not provided with what they consider appropriate enclosed work space. In regard to the need for walls as a screen for the ego, this places the Americans somewhere between the Germans and the English.
而另一方面,对于中上层的英国人而言,他们从小就和他们的兄弟姐妹共享一间育儿房长大。家里最大的孩子拥有属于自己的房间，哪怕他上寄宿制学校，他也会把房间空着（不让其他人住），甚至到他9、10岁的时候，这种情况仍会发生。拥有自己的房间以及早期对共享房间的适应，这两者之间的差别，尽管看上去微不足道，但是这在英国人对属于自己的空间这一问题的态度产生重要影响。他将会永远没有一个“属于自己的房间”，也会很少期望拥有，甚至也不会有“他有权拥有房间”这样的想法。即使是国会的成员也没有办公室，他们经常坐在阳台上，俯瞰着泰晤士河，讨论他们的议题。所以，英国人会对美国人所提出的，要求拥有一个安全的地方，即办公室，来工作而感到困惑。如果在英国工作的美国人没有一个在他们看来是合适的封闭式的工作环境，他们也会感到很恼火。至于需要墙壁，并将其视若自尊的屏障这一点上，美国人居于德国人和英国人之间。
The contrasting English and American patterns have some remarkable implications, particularly if we assume that man, like other animals, has a built-in need to shut himself off from others from time to time. An English student in one of my seminars typified what happens when hidden patterns clash. He was quite obviously experiencing strain in his relationships with Americans. Nothing seemed to go right and it was quite clear from his remarks that we did not know how to behave. An analysis of his complaints showed that a major source of irritation was that no American seemed to be able to pick up the subtle clues that there were times when he didn't want his thoughts intruded on. As he stated it, "I'm walking around the apartment and it seems that whenever I want to be alone my roommate starts talking to me. Pretty soon he's asking "What's the matter?" and wants to know if I'm angry. By then I am angry and say something."
美国人和英国人的生活模式之间的有些差异有着惊人的含义，尤其是当我们假设人类，像其他动物一样，拥有固定的需求，即时不时地将自己与外界隔离起来时，这个差异更为惊人。在我研讨会上的一个英国学生，当隐藏的生活模式发生碰撞时，他的表现十分典型。很明显，他在与美国人生活交往的时候，受到很大的压力。对他而言，一切都不对劲儿，从他的言语中可以明显地得知我们的行为不端。对他的一些抱怨的分析表明，令他恼怒的最主要的因素在于，美国人看上去拎不清他有些时候不想受到打扰。正如他宣称的那样：“好像每次我在房里挪步，想独处一会的时候，我的室友总会和我搭话。过一会儿，他又会问：“怎么了？”，并问我是不是在生气。那时我会真的生气，并且我会说些令他不快的话。”
It took some time but finally we were able to identify most of the contrasting features of the American and British problems that were in conflict in this case.“区分大多数美国和英国的问题的明显特征，而这些问题在这件事中是由冲突的”中文怎么处理？
When the American wants to be alone he goes into a room and shuts the door--- he depends on architectural features for screening. For an American to refuse to talk to someone else present in the same room, to give them the "silent treatment," is the ultimate form of rejection and a sure sign of great displeasure. The English, on the other hand, lacking rooms of their own since childhood, never developed the practice of using space as a refuge from others. They have in effect internalized a set of barriers, which they erect and which others are supposed to recognize. Therefore, the more the Englishman shuts himself off when he is with an American the more likely the American is to break in to assure himself that all is well. Tension lasts until the two get to know each other. The important point is that the spatial and architectural needs of each are not the same at all.
我们花了些时间，终于弄明白在这件冲突事件上，美国人和英国人生活模式发生冲突的一些显著特点。当美国人想独处时，他会一个人呆在屋里，并把房门关上，这表明美国人依赖建筑的封闭性来保护自己。如果他和其他人共处一屋的时候，最终的拒绝交谈手段就是“沉默处理”，同时这也明确表现出他的不愉。相反，由于英国人从小就缺少属于自己的空间，所以他们从不把空间作为逃避他人的手段。实际上，他们在心里构建了一座心墙，而他人应该意识到它的存在。因此，和美国人相处时，英国人越是把自己与外界隔离起来，前者就越是要闯进后者的世界，以确保一切安好。直到双方彼此了解，他们之间紧张的气氛才会得以舒解。重要的一点就是，双方的空间需求和建筑上的需求完全不同。