a cultural intrpretation of maternal love in the joy luck club.docx
- 文档编号:29929261
- 上传时间:2023-08-03
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:17
- 大小:28.22KB
a cultural intrpretation of maternal love in the joy luck club.docx
《a cultural intrpretation of maternal love in the joy luck club.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《a cultural intrpretation of maternal love in the joy luck club.docx(17页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
aculturalintrpretationofmaternalloveinthejoyluckclub
1.Introduction
1.1Background
AmyTan,Americanfemalenovelist,wasborntoaChineseimmigrantfamilyinOakland,Californiain1952.Herfatherwasanelectricalengineerandhermotherwasavocationalnurse.ShegrewupsurroundedbyinfluencesfrombothChineseandAmericancultures.HerparentsleftChinafortheUnitedStatesin1949,andbothofthemhadunusualbackgroundthatlaterprovidedagreatdealofwritingmaterialforTan'swork.ShehastakenthelivesofAsia-Americanandculturaldifferencesamongthemforhertheme,concentratingonwomen'sexperiences.AmyTanpromotestheinfluentialofChinesecultureinAmerica.Sheisacreativewriterandtillnowshehaswrittenaboutsevenworks.AmongofthemTheJoyLuckClubisthemostsuccessfulone,itisabest-sellingnovel,amasterpieceinChinese-Americanliterature,anewgenreofAsia-Americancross-culturalwork
Publishedin1989,TheJoyLuckClubiswidelyacclaimedbyreadersandcriticsandestablishedherimportantliterarypositioninAmericanLiterature.ThetitileTheJoyLuckClub,asisshownhere,becomesanimportantplaceofcommunicationforthemothers.Theydon'tneedtofeelembarrassedwhentheycommunicatewithpoorEnglish,becausealltheChineseAmericanstalkEnglishinthatway.Theyalsodon'tfeelhurtfortheirmiserablelife,becauseatleasttheyallconqueredthehardship.TheJoyLuckClub,asthenamesuggests,isaclubthatinspiresitsmemberswithheroismandhope.Itisaclubofunityandstrength.Throughit,Tancreatesagroupofstrong,hopefulandwisewomenwhodonotoftenappearinliterature.ChoosingtheconflictsbetweenimmigrantmothersandAmerican-borndaughtersasthesubjectmatter,Tanmakeshernovelabigsuccess.
Thenoveliscomposedoffoursections,eachofwhichcontainsfournarrativestories.Totallyitcontainssixteeninterwovenstoriesaboutthemorassofloveandmisunderstandingbetweenthetwogenerations.Therearefourpairsofmothersanddaughters:
SuyuanWooandJing-meiWoo;Ying-yingSt.ClairandLenaSt.Clair;LindoandWaverly;An-meiandRose.ThemothersareallChineseimmigrantwomenwhilethedaughtersarefullyassimilatedAmerican-bornChinese.ThefourChinesemothershavetheirownviewoftheworldbasedontheirexperiencesinChinaandwanttosharetheirexperienceswiththeirdaughters.TheywanttheirchildrentoactlikeAmericanbutexpectthemtothinklikeChinese.Thedaughters'storiesinvolvehowtheirmothersraisethemandhowitaffectsthem.AllthedaughterswishthattheirmotherscanadopttheAmericanwayoflife,andwishtowintheirmothers'acceptance.Asamother,eachofthemhasalotofproblemswiththeirAmericanborndaughter.Obviously,theconflictsarecausedbygenerationgapsinthetwodifferentculturesandgrowingbackgrounds.ThemothersgrowupinChinawheretherearemanytraditionsandrulestofollow.Incontract,thedaughtersgrowupinSanFranciscoandliveintheAmericanway.EachChinesemotherhasherownmarriagesadness.Whentheirdaughtersgrowup,theyareexpectedtomarrypeoplethattheirmotherswantandagreeto.Whenthedaughtershaveproblemswiththeirmarriage,theirmothershelpthemalot.InthenovelthereseemsahappyendingforJing-meiandhersisterembracetogetherinChinawhiletheotherthreepairsofmothersanddaughtersalsocometounderstandeachother.
Thenovelexploresthetenderandtenaciousrelationshipbetweenfourpairsofmothersanddaughters.Thedaughtersknowonlyonesideoftheirmothersbuttheydon'tknowabouttheirearlynever-spokenlivesinChina.Themotherswantthedaughterstobeobedientbuttheydon'tknowwhytheykeepawayfromthem.Whenthedaughtershaveproblemswithwork,marriageandlove,theirmothersarealwaysbytheirside.Bytheeffortsofbothmothersanddaughters,themothersacceptandunderstandAmericancharactersthatbelongedtotheirdaughtersandthedaughtersadmittheirChineseidentities.Thetwosidesalltaketheresponsibilitytoeliminateculturalconflictandpromoteculturalunderstanding.Therefore,thereconciliationisreachednaturally.
1.2LiteratureReview
AsaprominentrepresentativeworkofChineseAmericanliterature,TheJoyLuckClubhasarousedgreatinterestsbothathomeandabroadamongreadersaswellascritics.
Therearealotofcriticismsaboutthisnovel.Ontheonehand,themajorityofcriticismsarepositive.IntheprefaceofthenovelTheJoyLuckClub,TheSanDiegoUnioncalledthenovel"subtleanddelicate",describingitas"anintimateglimpseintoawayoflifeandacultureseldomexploredbywesternculture".ThePittsburghPressthoughtTheJoyLuckClubwill"delightreadersofanygenerationorbackgroundwithitscarefullywrongstoriesofthephysicalandliteraloceans,geographical,cultural,generational,thatbothdivideandunionus".Ontheotherhand,somepeoplethinknegativelythatitisthecommonthemeofTheJoyLuckClubattractingreaders."Whatattractsreadersofthenovelisthegenerationgap,theconflicts,thecontradictionbetweentraditionalimmigrantculturesandAmericancultures"(Ho140)."ItisaChinesestorycateredtoAmericanpeople,andacakeofworkwhoselanguageishumourous,thenarrationissimple,andtheattitudeissarcastic"(Dong125).
Somealsothink"thesuccessofTheJoyLuckClubisthatitistheancient,mysterious,andromantictoneofthestrangeeasternwhichsatisfiedthewesternreaders'curiosity.ItisthewesternimaginativeOriental"stereotypes"totheEastern"(Ling1990).Stillothersthinkthenovelhas"fakingtraditionalcultureandOrientalism",andthetechniquesof"femalenarrationsatisfiedtheAmericanmiddleclassfemalereaders'curiositytominorityfamilyandwomennovel"(Zhang2002)."ItisthebestevidenceofOrientalismforever"(Huang135).OrvilleSchellpraisesAmyTanforhavinga"wonderfuleyeforwhatistelling,afineearfordialogue,adeepempathyforhersubjectmatter,andaguilelesslystraightforwardwayofwriting"(Schell4).
TheJoyLuckClubshowsatableauinwhichtheinterconnectionsintherelationshipbetweenChinesemothersanddaughtersaremosteye-catching.Intermsofsubjectmatter,moststudiesonthisnovelconcentrateonthemother-daughterrelationship.Forexample,ShiPingpingdiscussesthethemeofmother-daughterrelationshipthroughadetailedanalysisoftheconflictandfinalreconciliationofthemothersanddaughters.
"Themother-daughterrelationshipoccupiesacentralpositioninTan's
TheJoyLuckClub.Withhernovelisticlanguageandimagination,Tan
movestheexperiencesofChinesemothersanddaughtersfromthe
marginstothecenterofattention.Tansucceedsinopeningthereader's
eyestothesignificanceofculture,race,andgenderinshapingthecontext
inwhichthemother-daughterrelationshipoccursandcomesintofull
play"(Shi160162).
QuiteafewcriticsadvancethatitisaculturaltextwhichcentersontheconfrontationbetweenWesterncultureandEasterncultureinthenovel.Forexample,CuiWangshengascribestheconflictsbetweenmothersanddaughterstothedifferenceandmisunderstandingbetweenWesternandEasternculture."TancontributestotheestablishmentofamatrilinealAsianAmericantradition,whichhasemergedasanewandtransformativeforceinrelationtothedominantAnglo-Americantraditionofmatrilinealdiscourse"(Wong176,179).AndinJennieWang’sbookComparativeandTransnationalStudiesinChineseAmericanLiteraturewhichsaysthat"inTheJoyLuckClub,thecompromiseofthecontradictionbetweenthemotheranddaughter,whichmeansthegradualcombinationofChineseandwesterncultures"(56).
Stillsomeothercriticsfocusonidentityseekingissuesrepresentedinthenovel.Forexample,GuanHefeng,discussestheChineseAmericanwomenstruggletoestablishadistinctidentityunderthedoublebackground.YetinSeekingIdentityBetweenWorld:
AStudyofChineseAmericanWomen’sLiteratureHefengGuanpointsoutthat"theidentity-seekingisthemostimportantmissiontofinishfortheAsianAmericansintheWesterncountriesastheyarewanderinginthemarginofdominantculture"(42).
Also,somepeoplesayitisthesubtlestructurewhichhasmadethebookasuccess."Thearrangementofthestructureofthenovelisveryclever.Thisstructureandthesymbolicdetailsindicatethetheme,thatisthedaughters'inheritancetotheirmothers'tradition"(Li105).
Therearetwelvechaptersdividedintofoursections.Weseefourpairsofconflictsbetweenthefourpairsofmothersanddaughters.AsCollinspointsout,the"archetypalwhite,middle-classnuclearfamily"tobetheuniversalmodeoffamily(46).Suchmultiplepairingsofmother-daughterstoriesarenotwithoutpurposeandsignificance.InainterviewwithDonnaSeaman,AmyTansays,"Andwhenyoutalkto100differentpeopletogettheirstoriesonasituation,that'swhatthetruthis.Soit'sreallyamultiplestory"(quotedinHo329).Thatistosay,insteadoffocusingonasinglepairandcharacterizingtwo,Tancallsattentiontoandputsemphasisonthemultiplicityanddiversityofmother-daughterbonds.Indoingso,Tanseekstogenerateuniversaltheoriesregardlessofspecificpersonalandnationalcontexts.Tan'sinterest,itseems,isnotjustinpresentingagrouppictureofChineseAmericanmothersanddaughters.
Inthisthesis,thematernallovewillbethethemeanditwillbeinterpretedfromaculturalpointofview.Structurally,thisthesiswillbedevelopedinfiveparts.Thefirstpartisanintroductorypart.AfterageneralsurveyofAmyTanandherTheJoyLuckClub,someexistin
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- cultural intrpretation of maternal love in the joy luck club
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/29929261.html