Foreword
Chapter 1 Views about America, Americans and Their Culture
1.1 Views of Westerners
1.1.1 A Free Nation and a Slave Nation
1.1.2 Enlightened People and Outlandish People
1.2 Views of East Asians
1.2.1 Japanese: From Learner to Megalomaniac to Follower
1.2.2 Chinese: From Naive Fantast to Estranger-Antagonist to Rival-Partner
1.3 Exploration of American Culture
1.3.1 Characteristics of American Culture
1.3.2 Five Symbols of American Culture
1.3.3 Ten Pieces of Advice for Exploring American Culture
Chapter 2 Facts about Americans and Their Country
2.1 Favorable Natural-Historical Geography
2.1.1 Exceptional Natural Geography
2.1.2 Ambitious Colonization
2.2 Unique Cultural Heritages
2.2.1 Do Americans Have No Tradition?
2.2.2 Where Does the American Spirit Come from?
Chapter 3 Americans and Their Values
3.1 Basic Values
3.1.1 Individual Freedom,Self-Reliance and Privacy
3.1.2 Equality,Opporuniff and Competition
3.1.3 Material Wealth,Hard Work and Play
3.2 Foundations of the Values
3.2.1 Heritages from Europe
3.2.2 Individual Freedom,Self-Improvement and “Vocation” from Protestantism
3.2.3 Rugged Individualism,Equality and Effort-Optimism from the Frontier Heritage
3.2.4 Diligence,Competition and Material Wealth from Abundant Resources and Commercialization
Chapter 4 American Perception,Thinking and Verbal and Non.Verbal Behaviors
4.1 American Perception
4.2 American Thinking
4.2.1 Origin
4.2.2 Characteristics of American Thinking
4.3 American Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviors
4.3.1 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and American English
4.3.2 Comparison between American English and British English
4.3.3 American Non-Verbal Behavior
Chapter 5 Patterns of Sodal Relations and Behavior of Americans
5.1 Social Identity and Interpersonal Relationships
5.1.1 Social Identity and Sense of Equality
5.1.2 Interpersonal Relationships and Rules
5.1.3 Friendships and live Affairs
5.2 Problem-Solving and Cooperation in Competition
5.2.1 Facing Up to the Music
5.2.2 Cooperation in Competition
5.3 Time and Space Orientations
5.3.1 Sense of Time
5.3.2 Sense of Space and Tactility
Chapter 6 Selfhood, American Dream and Materialism
6.1 Selfhood
6.1.1 Concept of Self
6.1.2 Individuality and Changeability
6.2 American Dream and Materialism
6.2.1 American Dream
6.2.2 American Materialism
Bibliography
General Index