What is American culture?

Early immigrants brought European culture to America. Soon, these cultures spread all over America. Today, the United States has become one of the mainstream of world culture. Many American artists have made great contributions to the development of new styles, new ways of self-expression and even new cultural models.

Chinese name

American culture

Foreign name

The fall of Americans

catalogue

1 literature

2 painting

3 architecture

4 sculpture

5 Dance

6 Opera

7 movies

8 music

9 language

10 summary

literature

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American literature has been translated into various languages in the world. As early as the early days of American history, the United States produced many outstanding writers. The earliest Cooper james fenimore cooper, Hawthorne and Irving Washington described a young and developing America. Later, herman melville of Melville wrote novels about the ocean to discuss moral issues. Mark Twain showed the interest and humor of life on the Mississippi River. Seven Americans won the Nobel Prize in Literature: playwright Eugene O 'Neill and novelist Saul Bellow, Pearl Buck, Faulkner, Hemingway, sinclair lewis and Steinbeck.

draw

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19 13 A modern art exhibition was held in new york Ordnance Building. This ordnance architectural exhibition has greatly changed American art, and a group of realistic painters opened this exhibition to protest against conservative galleries that refused to show their works. At the same time, this exhibition also shows the works of European artists. These abstract works are very attractive, and the masses think that modern European art is understandable or scary enough. On the other hand, American artists find them exciting. So many American painters began to adopt the European style. Some painters in 1930s, such as grant wood, were localists who only described their hometown. However, in the 1940s, many painters such as Harpy edward hopper were realistic painters. Abstract art only established its position in the fifties. Today, American painters are still trying new styles. For example, pop art (meaning popular or because it looks like a poster or uses comic lines) first appeared in the 1950s. In the 1960 s, it was the optical illusion picture-OP art that attracted people's attention.

build

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In the early history of the United States, architecture has always presented American style. At the end of 19, Sullivan louis sullivan designed the skyscraper. And Wright Frank Lloyd Wright's imagination also influenced architects all over the world. Today, more American architects use steel, glass and concrete to design magnificent and excellent buildings.

carve

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American sculpture was always influenced by European style before the 20th century. Saint Gordon Augustus Saint-Gaudens is an American sculptor in the19th century. He can show real imagination in his works. Today, American sculpture is a personal expression, which appears in various forms and contains various materials. For example, Davidson jo davidson is famous for his lifelike bronze statues of celebrities. Richard Stankiewicz of Stanchwitz created amazing abstract works by welding sculptures made of metal raw materials.

dance

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American dance reflects Americans' constant desire for change and love for novelty. Some famous dancers, such as Sean and Dennis, constantly introduce new life and new forms into traditional dance, thus helping to create modern dance. By emphasizing natural dance steps and movements, Americans also express classical ballet in new ways.

opera

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Most of them are adapted from folk literature, legends and history. For example, The Ballad of Little Dodds by Douglas Moore tells the story of the rise and fall of a Colorado silver king. The first successful American opera was Gershwin's great folk opera Bogey and Bess, which was staged in new york on 1935.

film

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In the silent film era, Americans first regarded movies as an artistic expression. Since then, movies have become the best entertainment for millions of people all over the world. Since the silent film era, film actors have always been international celebrities, and silent films are the classics of comedy.

music

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At the beginning of the 20th century, American composers began to develop American musical styles. They quickly gained the recognition of the world. Conductor, composer Bernstein, leonard bernstein and pianist Edward Andre Watts are the leading figures in American music today. Jazz was invented by Americans. Famous artists in this field include jazz musician Giles Dizzy Gillospie and others.

language

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Language is a special part of culture. American English is a variety formed under the influence of multiculturalism and constant innovation in American society. Due to the strong influence of American culture, more and more American English words and expressions appear in British life and work. British English began to change from a traditional "exporter" to an "importer". A recent analysis by Oxford University Press shows that British children use American English more and more, and more American English expressions begin to appear in their compositions. There are many reasons for this result. American English used by celebrities in literary and art circles has contributed a lot to this. For example, simon cowell, a British TV talent show producer who is very popular on both sides of the Atlantic, often speaks American English on TV. In addition, American literary works and film and television works also played a certain role. For example, The Twilight by the famous woman writer Stephenie Meyer is very popular in Britain, which makes more children express themselves in American English. At present, many young people in Britain are learning to use simplified American English in order to communicate with Americans better in the future.

In Japan, before World War II, English teaching in Japan was always based on British English because of the advocacy of Harold Palmer, a famous English foreign language educator. The influence of the United States quickly changed this situation after the war, and American English gradually became the mainstream of English teaching and use in Japan. Some countries that used to only teach British English, such as Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Indonesia and Algeria, have now changed to teach American English. It is worth noting that in recent years, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, India, Singapore and Malaysia and other Commonwealth countries have set off an "American English learning craze". Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, recently thought that it would be the general trend to teach students American English. As a cultural export model in America, American English has spread to every corner of the world. British English is like the British Empire, where it originated.

Some scholars predict that the differences between British English and American English will become bigger and bigger; They are worried that British and Americans may not understand each other's English in the future. In fact, this kind of worry is unnecessary, because the basic elements of these two English varieties are almost the same, and they both maintain the common core of English. As Professor Zhou Haizhong, a famous scholar in China, once pointed out: although there are some differences between American English and British English in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, their similarities are far greater than their differences, so they will not affect the standardization of English expression; Therefore, these differences will not hinder the communication and exchange of ideas between British and American people. [ 1]

summary

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The main content of American culture is to emphasize personal value, pursue democracy and freedom, advocate pioneering and competition, and stress rationality and practicality. Its core is individualism: the individual is supreme, pursuing personal interests, and emphasizing the ultimate realization of personal value through personal struggle and personal self-design. This kind of individualism, which deliberately shapes itself and pursues individuality, has its positive significance. It mobilizes the enthusiasm of individuals and enables many people to give full play to their wisdom and potential, thus promoting the rejuvenation and development of the whole nation and country.

The American public pays attention to achievements and worships heroes, and has a deep psychological accumulation of achievement worship and hero worship. Personal achievement is one of the most valued values among all American values. Americans have a strong sense of accomplishment. Success is the pursuit of all Americans, an attractive prospect and a driving force for progress. They firmly believe that a person's value is equal to his achievements in his career. Some successful entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and various stars have become heroes of the new era. The process and results of their personal struggle have become the reference system of social and cultural value orientation and the living teaching materials for parents to educate their children.

America is a highly mobile society. This kind of mobility is reflected in two aspects: regional mobility and social mobility. The relatively open, free, developed transportation and adventurous traditions in the United States have made many Americans flow from the countryside to the cities and from the city center to the suburbs. It flows from the north to the south sunshine zone and from one city to another. The social stratum in the United States is not as fixed as that in European countries, and the popularization of public education makes it possible for the social ladder to move upward. Many people living in the United States, whether native Americans or foreign immigrants who came to the United States across the ocean, have a dream, that is, to change their destiny through their own efforts and realize their dreams of life. This is what people often call the "American Dream".