摘 要

良好的亲子关系对于家庭和睦、社会和谐至关重要，处理好亲子关系这一问题对于年轻一代的培养和社会关系的良性发展有重大意义。如果父母与子女之间关系融洽，交流密切，子女就能在父母的指导下更好解决成长过程中的问题，为社会稳定提供基础。《摩登家庭》和《家有儿女》是展现中美家庭亲子生活的经典情景剧，这两部剧集折射出中美家长与子女之间不同的相处方式，本文将从这两部剧着手，从物质、情感两个层面探讨中美亲子关系间的差异。通过比较分析中美不同的亲子关系，结合亲子关系现存的问题，总结更有利于孩子成长、社会发展的亲子相处方式。

关键词：亲子关系；《摩登家庭》；《家有儿女》；物质关系；情感关系

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Demonstration 3

2.1 Parent-child relationships in Home with Kids 4

2.1.1 Excessive dependence on material conditions in Chinese families 4

2.1.2 Great psychical distance in Chinese families 6

2.2 Parent-child relationships in Modern Family 9

2.2.1 Independent material views in American families 9

2.2.2 Close psychical distance in American families 11

2.3 Comparison of parent-child relationships in Chinese and American families 12

3 Conclusion 14

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………..............16

Bibliography………………………………………………………………….............17

A Comparative Analysis of Parent-child Relationships in Chinese and American Families in Home with Kids and Modern Family

1 Introduction

The parent-child relationship is based on family life. It is shown as a kind of interpersonal relationship with the basic contents of upbringing and support.(Cui Xiaohui, 2015) Generally speaking, parent-child relationships can be divided into five classifications. Firstly, the husband and wife keep close relationships and give equal affection to their children. Secondly, the husband and wife are distant, but closer to their children. Thirdly, the relationship between husband and wife is maintained by children. Fourthly, girls are much closer to their mothers, while boys are closer to their fathers. Finally, girls are closer to their fathers, while boys are closer to their mothers.

Family plays an important role in forming a nation and a country. The relationships among family members, especially the parent-child one, are of great significance to maintain harmonious family atmosphere as well as the growth of children. Thus, how to deal with parent-child relationship is a problem not only relevant to a single family but also relevant to the whole society. If parents can get along well with children, the problems involved in the growth of children will get well handled, then the stable family life will lay the strong foundation for a harmonious society. On the contrary, the strained parent-child relationship will ruin a child and even bring unnecessary problems to the society.

There is no doubt that the parent-child relationships in China and America, two countries with totally different culture backgrounds, have plenty of differences. For example, China is a typical eastern country with a rigid hierarchy. In Chinese culture, great respect should be given to the elder, and children must show filial piety to their parents. Comparatively speaking, America, a country with a shorter history, gives great priority to freedom, equity, and individualism. As Luther once said, individualism is a mature and calm emotion, which enables each member of the group to distinguish himself from other members, to separate his family and friends from others...(Luther S. Luedtke, 1992: 56 ). In American families, the children are often put in the leading position, and regarded as friends by their parents. Despite the differences between American families and Chinese families, each has its own advantages. Chinese families do well in protecting the elder and children from violence and crimes. On the other hand, American families are good for the cultivation of the creative talents. (Cui Xiaohui, 2015)

This thesis will vividly demonstrate the differences of parent-child relationships in Chinese and American Families through some typical segments in Home with Kids and Modern Family, two popular family dramas in China and America. Modern Family is a sitcom launched by ABC network in the fall of 2009. The series revolves around three related American families: jay's stepfamily, Claire's nuclear family and Mitchell's gay family. (Liu Xueting, 2018) Jay is a wealthy businessman over sixty with two children——daughter Claire and son Mitchell. After the divorce, Jay marries Gloria, a young beautiful single mother from Colombia and begins his life with his clever stepson Manny. Claire is a housewife who gave up her job to take care of her three children——Haley, Alex and Luke at home. Her husband Phil is a real estate agent. Mitchell, a lawyer, with his same-sex partner, Cameron, has just adopted daughter Lily from Vietnam. Home with Kids is an immensely popular sitcom released in 2005. This play is surrounded by a stepfamily with three kids of different characters——clever Xiao Xue, naughty Liu Xing and smart Xia Yu. Both the plays not only show the preciousness of family affection, but also reveal the different ways to handle the similar problems related to family life, which reflects the differences in parent-child relationship.