The aim of the paper is to present the results of an analysis of the “Chinese Soup” comic sketch performed by the Polish “Ani Mru Mru” comedy group. The text shows in a very condensed way the (auto-, hetero- and meta-) stereotypes dealing with the culture perce- ived as the most distant one. The oppositions between Asian and European cultures be- long to the most often debated issues in a period when the cultures have morę opportuni- ties than ever to melt and meet. The appearance of new characters in the discussed genre is only a reflection of larger changes and a growing interest in oriental cultures.The theoretical framework is based on the concept of cultural dimensions (Kluckhohn, Strodtbeck 1961; Hofstede 2000; Trompenaars, Hampden-Tumer 2002) and language and cultural relations (Duszak 1998; Kramsch 1998; Wierzbicka 1999). The study of humor was conducted with the use of tools proposed in the semantic theory of humor (Raskin 1985) and in the generał theory of verbal humor (Attardo 1994).The major features present in the humorous text may be divided into three groups. The first one is connected with the language which is perceived as very difficult and incom- prehensible, and totally different from the Polish language or any other European language. The second focuses on differences in manners - especialły food habits. The third ca- tegory pinpoints visual differences and strangeness.
The aim of the paper is to show the relationship between different aspects of time and the way they are built in the construction of a narrator’s identity. To highlight the cultural specific dimension of identity a book describing life in ninetieth century China has been chosen. The main heroine ofLisa Sees’s novel Snów Flower and the Secret Fan Lily is telling her life story and presents in a detailed way certain roles she has taken and the things she has had to suffer from (among them the painful footbinding) before she became who she is. The relationship between her and her laotong ‘the same’ is the core of the novel and is also vital for Lily’s self-identification. The ways in which the identity is con- structed out of cultural bound details is shown altogether with the features that make it universal no matter which culture representative they concem. The ąuestion of various types of womanhood is also vital for the paper. The elementary units proposed by Wierzbicka in relation to time are taken into consideration to describe the portrait of the novel’s heroine. The results of the analysis show that the category of NOW is of the greatest im- portance as far as identity issues are concemed.
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