Abstract:

We can find humor in nearly every part of our lives. It brings us laugh. Though researches on humor either in our country or abroad are abundant, most of them are researching from the aspect of the styles of writing, lexicology or semiotics, and very few are through cultural differences. In the first part of this paper, there is a brief introduction to the definitions, classifications and characteristics of humor. The second section compares Chinese and western humors in many fields which shows their differences. That includes the different origins of humor in the two different areas, different concepts towards humor, different topics discussed， occasions when humors happen and the diverse purposes of telling jokes. In the third section, this study analyses why Chinese and Western humors are different from the aspects of culture. Those aspects contain like country’s development process, religion belief, custom and value. The last part is conclusion. Although culture differences have a great effect on understanding humor, the barriers are not completely impossible to pass.

Keywords: cultural differences； humor； constructive study

摘  要:

幽默在我们生活中几乎无处不在，她能带给我们欢笑。虽然中外对幽默的研究很多，但大多是从文体学、词汇学或符号学角度，而从文化差异方面比较研究的却很少。本文第一部分首先简要介绍幽默的定义，分类及特点。第二部分对比分析中西方幽默的不同之处。其中包括研究幽默在两个不同地域的起源，对待幽默的不同观念，讨论的不同话题，发生的场合，以及人们幽默的目的。第三部分从文化的各个方面来分析中西方幽默不同的原因。这些方面包括如国家的发展历程不同，宗教信仰不同，生活的习俗不同， 价值观也不同。最后一部分为总结，文化虽然对幽默的理解影响很大，但是并非无法逾越。

关键词：文化差异；幽默；对比研究