Stereotype
bodawei
January 01, 2010, 04:05 PM posted in I Have a QuestionHow do you say 'stereotype' - as in the following sentence:
'It is unwise to rely on stereotypes to judge people from a different culture to your own.'
Dictionary definitions I have found seem to convey the sense of 'outmoded or old-fashioned ideas', which is not an accurate translation of the English.
changye
January 02, 2010, 04:11 AMI would just use "成见" or "偏见" for "stereotype" depending on the situation.
bodawei
January 02, 2010, 04:30 AMThanks Changye - appreciate you coming to the rescue. 成见 and 偏见 are both probably okay for what I am trying to say.
They just do not completely cover the meaning conveyed by the English word - general characteristics attributed automatically to something or someone, not just 'prejudices'. Eg. in the case of 'national' stereotypes, that a German is methodical, an American is loud, and a person from Holland is stubborn. But associating this idea with 'prejudice' is useful because I am trying to convey the message that stereotypes should be avoided.
awesomechueng
January 02, 2010, 04:30 AM"成見" 或 "偏見" i think its alittle slipped away from its real meaning. they are derogated in some way. But stereotype is a more a neutral word in my opinion..
"旧有的想法"或 "根深蒂固的想法"is more appropriate.
bodawei
January 02, 2010, 04:46 AM@awesomecheung
Thanks for your advice too! 旧有的想法 is the one that I think misses the English meaning, because it refers to 'old-fashioned' ideas; a 'stereotype' does not have to be old-fashioned. But 根深蒂固的想法 gēnshēndìgùdexiǎngfǎ does seem to catch the meaning I am after. You are right that this does have less of a derogatory sense than the ones that describe these ideas as prejudice. In fact stereotypes are a kind of prejudice when used to describe whole cultures.
Thanks again.
changye
January 02, 2010, 04:49 AMHi guys
What about "模式化的形象/思想/观念" ? Incidentally, my understanding is that the English word "stereogype" itself carries a negative connotation, even if it's "a German is methodical". Am I right?
bodawei
January 02, 2010, 04:58 AMI think that the word 'stereotype' (when applied to whole cultures) has a negative connotation for many people these days, because we have learnt how unreliable and dangerous they can be. Having said that, it seems that the majority of people still need these stereotypes beaten out of them. :-)
Thanks also for your additional suggestions.
bodawei
January 02, 2010, 04:04 AMTrying to answer my own question.. (from Microsoft Word):
名词 （Noun）. 1.【印刷】铅版；铅版制版法，铅板印刷。2.旧框框；陈规老套，旧习，成规，定型。
形容词 （Adjective）. 1.铅板(印刷)的。2.固定不变的，定型的；陈规旧套的。
及物动词 （Transitive verb） 1.把...浇成铅板。2.用铅版印刷；使固定。3.使符合成规旧习，使僵化。The practice has been stereotyped into a tradition. 这种作法已经定型成了个传统了