American culture! shorter

American culture is rooted in the British colonial period and has developed into an independent and unique culture with the local environment, including Spanish-Mexican cowboy culture and the strong influence of several waves of colonization-including Europe, Africa and Asia. Generally speaking, the most significant influence of American culture comes from northern Europe, especially Germany, England and Ireland [93], and later from the cultural influence of Jews in Italy, Greece and Central Europe. African-Americans who are slaves have also preserved some cultures brought from West Africa. American place names often reflect the comprehensive historical elements of England, Holland, France, Spain and Native Americans.

A model for describing American culture is a "melting pot": immigrants bring their own cultural contributions, blend into American culture, and finally form a unified American culture. Recently, the commonly used model is the "salad bowl": the culture brought by immigrants will retain some of their own independent cultural characteristics, rather than being fully integrated into the American native culture, and the culture they bring will also become a part of American culture [94]. Modern sociologists' recognition of American cultural goals tends to be multicultural, not a melting pot, and largely gives up the concept of melting pot [95].

Before the 20th century, American culture gradually developed from imitating Europe (especially Britain) to having its own characteristics. After World War II, with the economic, military and political strength of the United States, its culture has had a great impact on the whole world, especially Europe. Today, American pop music resounds all over the world, while American movies and TV are broadcast all over the world.

In view of the objective phenomenon that American culture "invades" the world, there are endless criticisms. Many Europeans think that American culture is naive, and countries led by France have always resolutely resisted the entry of American culture. However, the cultural traditions of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East are quite different from those of the United States. Japan and other countries are deeply influenced by it, while some Islamic countries have strong resistance to it. At the same time, many Canadians and Australians are very worried about the assimilation of American culture. The global status of American culture has greatly promoted the spread of English, making it almost a "world language", while France and other places intend to resist the influence of English culture within their own influence.

[Editor] Music

Main projects: American music

Louis armstrong is a representative figure of American jazz.

The types and styles of American music reflect the characteristics of American cultural salad plates. World-famous music types such as rock music, rhythm and blues, jazz and country music all originated in the United States. At the beginning of the 20th century, recorded and copied record pop music from America gradually spread to the whole world, and some American pop music could be heard almost all over the world [96].

The history of American music can be traced back to the traditional religious music of early Native Americans. With the arrival of a large number of immigrants from European countries, American music has been added with the color of Christian chorus and music score. Since then, every wave of immigration has brought music with different regions, cultures and characteristics. A large number of African-Americans also brought traditional music with African characteristics. /kloc-American pop music, which began to appear in the late 9th century, largely originated from these African-American blues and gospel music which began to develop in the 1920s. African-American music has become the basis of American pop music, and it has blended European and local musical elements. The United States also has a lot of folk music and music from immigrants such as Ukraine, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Mexico and Jews. Many American towns have also developed independent local music. Detroit, new york, Chicago, Los Angeles and countless small cities have developed their own musical styles.

Literature [editor]

Major projects: American literature

Mark Twain, 1907.

Like all other countries, American literature is shaped by its unique development history. In the early days, the United States was composed of a series of British colonies on the east coast, so the tradition of American literature was closer to that of English literature. However, with the development of history and the influx of immigrants, the characteristics and breadth of American literature have gone beyond the scope of English literature.

In the earliest colonial period, the main theme of American literature was to praise the benefits brought by the New World to the colonists and the European motherland. The controversy of religious belief is also one of the themes. With the outbreak of the War of Independence and the independence of the United States, the political works of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine had a great influence on literature and politics, and also gave birth to the independent consciousness of the new country. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and later became the president of the United States. He was also considered as one of the most talented writers in early America. With the war of 18 12 and the desire for independent literary characteristics, more new writers with American characteristics, such as Allan Poe, gradually emerged. The conflict of slavery and the ensuing civil war also had a far-reaching impact on American literature. By the end of 19, due to the progress of industrialization and the end of the land development period, American literature broke away from the original frontier literature, and Mark Twain became the first major writer who was not born on the east coast, which opened the precedent of American native literature. Mao Mu, a British writer, thinks Melville's Moby Dick is one of the top ten literary masterpieces in the world, and its status is even higher than that of Mark Twain and others.

In the 20th century, the social transformation brought by industrialization made American literature more diverse and complex. Hemingway reflected people's aversion to the First World War. The biography of the tycoon published by Fitzgerald 1925 represents the dream of Americans before the great economic panic in the 1920s. Black literature, southern literature and modern literature also rose at the same time. After the Second World War, the new generation, new races, regions and social features are very different from previous generations, and a large number of immigrant literature and emerging feminist literature have also become part of American literature.

[Editor] Film and Television and Drama

The birth and development of film originated in America. Eadweard, an English-American photographer, shot the first film "Running Horse" in human history. Since then, the American film industry has developed at a high speed, and Hollywood in California has become an important town for film development. Most of the innovation and development of film technology originated here, and Hollywood films have also become one of the main representatives of American culture. In the1920s, the United States produced an average of 800 regular films every year. Charlie Chaplin's comedies Gone with the Wind and Superman were adapted from the novel Gone with the Wind, which spread to almost every continent and country and became household names in the United States. The export of these films has also brought huge commercial profits to the United States.

The United States is also one of the countries with the earliest development and popularization of TV technology in the world. Today, there are thousands of TV stations in America. Television is a part of American culture and life, and watching TV is one of the few characteristics of most Americans. Americans know the news and current events at home and abroad through TV, and watch movies, competitions, cartoons and soap operas. 99% of American families have at least one TV set, and most families also have two.

[edit] movement

Main events: American sports

American football is the most popular spectator sport in America. [97]

Sports is a national leisure activity in the United States, and its popularity is unmatched by other leisure activities. Professional sports is a field with great business opportunities in the United States, and people who choose to become professional athletes also get high returns. Most of the highest-paid sports teams and athletes in the world are in the United States [98]. Known as the "big four" sports fields include baseball, American football, ice hockey and basketball. Other popular sports include car racing and lacrosse-it originated from Native Americans and is the oldest sport in the United States. Although football is also a very popular sport, the most popular sport in Latin America, Italy and Hispanic communities, compared with other countries, the popularity of football in the United States is not high. However, after entering the 2 1 century, more and more American white teenagers choose football as their first choice. According to a survey conducted by the National Advisory Board of the State Council in 2004, nearly160,000 people in the United States often choose to play football. From 1987 to 2006, football was the only sport with a net increase in participants [99], and more and more cities set up clubs to join the increasingly influential MLS (American Professional Rugby League). The American national football team has also achieved good results in recent World Cups. In 2002, the World Cup in Korea and Japan reached the quarterfinals, and the World Cup in South Africa reached the semi-finals in 20 10.

There are also many sports in the United States that originated in Europe and developed widely in the United States, such as horse racing. Rugby is also very popular. Other European sports such as hockey and cricket are not popular, but they also have many die-hard audiences. The United States is also a big country that develops golf, tennis and other sports. The United States is also the development center of boxing and professional wrestling in western countries. Games often attract a large number of people to watch the game, and also attract various sports gambling activities. America has also produced many world-famous boxing champions. Other fighting sports, such as karate from Japan, are also quite popular in the United States and often compete.

College physical education is also quite popular in the United States, and its popularity is almost equal to that of professional fields, especially American football and basketball. Many universities and colleges have trained sports teams and held inter-school competitions regularly. Universities and colleges train a wide range of sports, from track and field to water polo. Similarly, there are various sports activities in American high schools, and sometimes these inter-school competitions will become local headlines, which shows the American people's love and attention to sports.

[Editor] Diet

American cooking has absorbed American cooking methods and ingredients, such as turkey, potatoes, corn and pumpkin, and has become an indispensable part of American culture. Apple pie, pizza and hamburgers were originally from or improved from Europe, but now they are symbols of American fast food culture. Tacos and corn rolls originated in Mexico. Soul food was introduced from Africa by African Americans when they were slaves, and it has also become one of the common family dishes.

Americans also eat three meals a day. Breakfast time is about 7: 00 to 8: 00 in the morning. Breakfast content varies from place to place. Simple breakfast may be simple food, such as juice, milk, cereal, toast and coffee. Breakfast is usually eaten at home, but sometimes it is also used to discuss business and other business activities, which is called "working breakfast". Lunch time is basically 12 from noon to 2 pm. Because the time is short and it is not close to home, students and office workers seldom go home for dinner, but bring meals from home. So relatively speaking, American lunch is the simplest of the three meals, with raw vegetable salad, sandwich, hamburger or stuffing, hot dog and so on. And a drink. Dinner starts from 6: 00 pm to 7: 00 pm, which is generally rich, so dinner in American English also means dinner and big meal. At dinner, we usually have a glass of juice or thick soup first, and then the main course. The main dishes often placed on the dining table are steak, pork chop, roast beef brisket, fried chicken, fried shrimp, ham and roast lamb chop. Most Americans like to eat some sweets after dinner, such as cake, ice cream and chocolate. On weekends or holidays, many families only eat two meals. They call breakfast and lunch brunch together, which is the sum of breakfast and lunch. Generally more formal. Some families don't cook on sundays, and the whole family goes to restaurants for dinner. On some American festivals, American families often hold picnics and outdoor barbecues.

[Editor] American Dream

Main project: American dream

Before the advent of the jet era, the first impression of millions of immigrants who came to the United States by boat was the Statue of Liberty in front of new york Harbor.

The so-called American dream is the ideal that we can achieve a better life in the United States through unremitting efforts, that is, people must strive for prosperity through their own efforts, courage, creativity and determination, rather than relying on the assistance of specific social classes and others. Usually this represents people's economic success or entrepreneurial spirit [100]. Many European immigrants go to America with the ideals of the American dream. But some people criticize the American Dream for overemphasizing the role of material wealth in measuring victory and happiness. Because unlike most other countries, the United States has quite a lot of economic freedom and the role played by the government is quite limited, which makes the social mobility in the United States extremely high. From the independence of the United States to the end of 19, the vast land was uninhabited and owned, and anyone with a heart could occupy, invest and reclaim it. During the industrial revolution, America's huge natural resources and advanced industrial technology made rapid social mobility possible.