ANALYSIS OF THE DISCOURSE STYLE OF THE MOVIE “PUSHING HANDS” FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Abstract

The film Pushing Hands tells a story between an elderly Chinese Mr. Zhu and his American daughter-in-law Martha with the storyline of cultural differences between China and America. They have huge conflicts and gaps with each other due to cultural differences between East and West. Eventually, they understand each other after experiencing a series of clashes presented by their conversations. This paper analyzes their characteristics of speech style from the angle of social linguistics, studies deep meaning implied and conveyed by their words and summarizes sociopsychological factors of communication failures. The author focuses on the differences in the style of discourse caused by the conflict between Eastern and Western cultures: different attitudes towards Eastern and Western cuisine, different views on “family” and “filial piety”, different attitudes towards the education of future generations and different ways of expressing emotions. The article also reveals differences in discourse style caused by gender differences, including differences in the volume of speech between men and women, differences between men and women in the way in which discourse is expressed, the relevance of discourse, and the different responses of men and women to anger. The author concludes that linguistic differences are a concrete manifestation of social and cultural differences. Only by continually improving language skills and deepening understanding of cultural backgrounds and ways of communication will people be able to better understand the social norms and linguistic etiquette of other countries.