美国文化是如何影响世界的(英文版)

How Does American Culture Influence the World
After the World War 2, the structure of the world changed dramatically. Original
powerful countries in Europe had to confess they already give their dominated position to the
emerging country called United States of America.
During the following decades, America tries it best to become the individual overload in
the world including carrying out the Marshall Plan or establishing NATO which is short for
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However, the ambitious country cannot avoid the truth
that every powerful empire in the history would conquer others through culture at last, while
America itself just existed about 200 years as an independent nation which means the country
didn't have enough historical accumulation to shake others.
Another postwar keyword is globalization. The innovative technology tied every
country together in the trend of globalization. It is a process of global integration arising from
the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.①Humans have
interacted over long distances for thousands of years. The overland Silk Road that connected
Asia, Africa, and Europe is a good example of the transformation power of trans local
exchange that existed in the
communication among different cultures were prepared well in the process. It is a great
opportunity for the government to transport its innovative culture to other countries
especially ones falling behind the times suffering from the pain of poverty and struggle to solve
many social issues.
As a country with 200 years' history, culture of the United States is primarily Western,
but is influenced by Native American, African, Asian, Polynesian, and Latin American cultures

including both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness,
political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite
certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism, egalitarianism, and faith in
freedom and democracy), American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical
scale and demographic diversity.②
So why does American culture become the mainstream in the world now? Basically
there are two aspects to be considered. One is an internal cause as said that American culture a
hotpot mixing different cultures. As a result, no matter the immigrants or aborigines can find
their own values in the culture. Besides, without the hard time passing of feudal society, it is
not a tough task for its people to accept modern thought, which actually attracts more people
who yearned for freedom. As we know, culture shock would never happen if there is one side
willing to break. The other side is the scarred world after the war. Unlike American which
didn't suffer the war on the homeland, people from other countries suffer the war-torn. They
struggled to build a new country post the war but everything seemed in vain. By the end of
the war, the European economy had collapsed with 70% of the industrial infrastructure
destroyed ③ world people were confused helpless as they didn't know how where they
could go with huge disappointment on the government. So the emerging America became
their emulation target.
No matter in the nervous world pattern after war or nowadays complex pattern, the
American culture influencing the world is touchable and visible. Mainly it happened on the
language, films, food and sport.
First the language affection:A constant stream of American TV, films, songs, computer

games and websites have spread American words and expressions far beyond its borders.
Perhaps the most obvious example is the expression “OK”, used by languages everywhere. It
is the young who are particularly likely to pick up American slang through songs, films and TV.
And not everyone is happy about this. American English and culture provide a common
channel of communication and point of reference for people all over the world. An estimated
2 billion speak some form of English, and most of those have the American variety as their
model.④
The movie and TV series industry of Hollywood and New York promote the culture
spread. For example, it will be easy for us to understand 'opportunity equality' after we see the
movie 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. Not only we will be touched by the hardworking of the
father but also impressed by the equal job environment which the society creates for the
citizens. Once we speak of Hollywood, the other similar movie making industry located in the
east of the world called Bollywood may be rising in our mind. The truth is the quantity of
movie producing of Bollywood is higher than the western one, but obviously the influence of
Indian movie just remains in the stage of musical film. One of what India short is just the
cultural ideology which inserted in the entertainment product.
Besides, American culture has transformed the way people eat. With the introduction of
pre-packaged boxed meals such as Hamburger Helper and Rice-A- Reni, it is now more
convenient for families to eat together. The prevalence of a fast-food culture has contributed
to the rise of childhood obesity.
Whether you admit or not, American culture is changing every part of our lives. To the
newly emerging country like China, it is a daunting challenge. One can deny the long history

and the splendid culture which China has. Nevertheless, some civilizations which had a longer
history than China just declined under the culture invading. We can see there are no aborigines
in Egypt, instead its people just conformed the Arabic traditions, not to mention Maya. What
matters is not neglect the influence which America culture has on china, nor defend our own
culture by refusing any foreign things, but the reality we need to understand is that the world
is becoming an entirety which means we must directly face the cultural conflict.









① [Definitions of Globalization: A Comprehensive Overview and a Proposed
Definition]Al-Rodhan, R.F. Nayef and Gérard Stoudmann. (2006).
② [Interplay:Communication, Memory, and Media in the United States].McDonald, James
(2010) Goettingen: Cuvillier, p. 120
③ [Who benefits from global violence and war: uncovering a destructive system] Marc
Pilisuk, Jennifer AchordRountree (2008). Greenwood Publishing Group. p.136
④ [The African American Odyssey.]Hine, Darlene; William C. Hine, Stanley Harrold (2006).
Boston, MA: Pearson.