Abstract

A Native of Beijing in New York, as one of the typical works reflecting the phenomenon of the immigration boom in the 1990s, vividly tells the story of a group of Beijingers struggling and surviving in New York when China was in a relatively open situation. This thesis analyzes social values in this TV series through Wang Qiming, who is the most important protagonist and has remarkable transformations of social values from the beginning when he came to America for the first time to the end when he still struggled in New York. Generally speaking, there are three stages of Wang’s social values, which can roughly reflect the whole process of the transformation of his social values. Focusing on the protagonist Wang Qiming, questions need to be explored is why Wang Qiming’s social values change. Moreover, this thesis further explores the primary causes of the transformations of social values and provides some suggestions in dealing with culture shock and culture conflict. 

Keywords: social values; A Native of Beijing in New York; culture shock

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The Background and Brief Introduction of A Native of Beijing in New York-1

1.2 Literature Review-1

1.2.1 The Perspective of Culture-2

1.2.2 The Perspective of Society-2

1.2.3 The Perspective of Characters-3

1.2.4 Summary-4

1.3 Significance of the Study-4

1.4 Outline of the Thesis-4

2. Research Method-6

2.1 Research Questions-6

2.2 Data Collection-6

2.3 Data Analysis-13

2.4 Summary-13

3. The Transformation of Wang Qiming’s Values-14

3.1 The Traditional Chinese Value: Wang’s Values at the Beginning of the TV Series-14

3.2 The Influence of American Value: Wang’s Values in the Middle of the TV Series-14

3.3 The American Value: Wang’s Values at the End of the TV Series-15

4. Conclusion-16

4.1 Review of Main Findings-16

4.2 Implications for Culture Shock-17

4.3 Limitations of the Study-18

4.4 Suggestions for Further Study-18

References-19