A Study Of Cultural Stereotype In Intercultural Communlcation From The Perspective Of Prototype Theory

The prototype theory is an important viewpoint which is put forward in cognitivelinguistics. It is a theory of categorization on the basis of human cognition which is alsocalled the modern categorization theory. According to this theory, categorization is the basiccognitive way that human beings use to make sense of the world and different categories arethe outcomes and products of this process. Category members share common attributespartially, namely the family resemblance. Different attributes and members of a categoryexhibit different degree of status. Category boundaries are fuzzy. The prototype is thereference point people use to categorize the world which is context-dependent.In intercultural communication, stereotype is a kind of thinking mode researchers set upto help people to acquire different cultures. It refers to the beliefs people hold about membersfrom other cultures based on the generalization of group commonality. People mentally usestereotypes to organize their experiences and guide their behaviors towards certain group ofpeople. Nowadays, as the rapid advancement of globalization and development of science andtechnology different nations contact with each other much more frequently and widely thanbefore and the era of cultural globalization is coming. In the process of contact and collisiondifferent cultures are bound to influence and infiltrate into each other, which certainly willfacilitate the variability and development of cultural stereotype. Analyzing the changeabilityof cultural stereotype and its influence in intercultural communication from the perspective ofprototype theory will be helpful for people to pay attention to dynamic culture andcommunication, to make use of stereotype properly and avoid its negative effects in concretecontexts, to use language appropriately, and finally achieve successful communication.According to the prototypical analysis, we find that cultural stereotype is a kind ofcategorization and also the prototype in the process of knowing people from different cultures.Just like objects in the same category, people from the same culture also share similar featuresor family resemblance. Like prototypes of cognitive categories, stereotypes are also not frozenbut depend on the environment. The change of political background, the frequency of contact,the focus of the media, and also the state of mind will account for this phenomenon.The thesis consists of seven chapters including introduction and conclusion. Chapter 1 mainly introduces the research background and significance of this thesis. In chapter 2, thefoundation of the study is delineated. Such important related concepts as culture,communication, and intercultural communication are reviewed. In chapter 3, the prototypecategory theory is elaborated as a central theory of cognitive linguistics, which will lay thesolid foundation for this thesis. In chapter 4, important aspects of cultural stereotype aredisplayed; including the definition, classification, characteristics, sources, and its influences inintercultural communication. Chapter 5 is devoted to the prototypical analysis of culturalstereotypes. And in chapter 6, suggestions and implications are given in order to avoid thenegative effects of stereotype and achieve successful communication. Finally, chapter 7 is theconclusion of the whole thesis.