《喜福会》英文论文.doc

The Joy Luck Club:Collision and Compatibility Between Chinese and American CultureAbstractThe Joy Luck Club, a masterpiece of Amy Tan,was one of the best-sellers in America in 1989;it is Amy Tans first full-length novel.Amy Tan,American born Chinese,was born in Oakland,USA in 1952.The Joy Luck Club is about misunderstanding, collision and comprehension between the four groups of immigrant mothers and their American daughters.Under the influence of the daughters defiance,the mothers realise chinese cultural marginalization in American cultural environment and confront the chinese cultural identity.At the same time,faced with the mothersintervention, the daughters see the defect and shortage in American culture and accept the chinese culture heritage.The relationship between the mothers and the daughters reflects the collision and compatibility between Chinese and American culture and proclaims the possibility and inevitability in the development of compatibility between Chinese and American culture.Key words: The Joy Luck Club ,mother-daughter collision , mother-daughter compatibility, collision between Chinese and American culture, compatibility between Chinese and American culthre.喜福会中的中美文化的碰撞与融合摘要：喜福会是谭恩美的一部杰作，它是她的第一部真正意义上的小说，是美国在1989年畅销书之一。关于谭恩美，她是一个美籍华裔作家，1952年她出生在美国的奥克兰。谭恩美的小说喜福会描写了四位中国母亲和她们的美国女儿从误解，冲突到理解的故事。最终母亲在女儿的反叛中看到了中国文化在美国文化环境中的边缘性并勇敢面对自己的中国文化身份；而女儿也在母亲的干预中看到了美国文化的缺陷和不足，进而接受了自己的中国文化血统。小说通过母女关系表现了中美两种文化之间的碰撞和融合，也揭示了中美文化融合的可能性和必然性。关键词：喜福会，母女碰撞，母女融合，中美文化碰撞，中美文化融合.AcknowledgementsOn the completion of this paper, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to my supervisor Mr. Liu This paper is accomplished under his inspiration and enlightenment. I am greatly indebted to him for his valuable suggestion, incisive comments, insightful feedback and his generosity in spending his precious time revising the drafts of this paper. Without his great help and tireless guidance, this paper would never have been completed. I also wish to express my thanks to my friends, Guo changrong ,Zheng tianwu,Wu qiulin,Zhan dinghong,who encouraged and helped me a lot in the process of my work on this thesis. Finally, a deep sense of gratitude goes to my beloved parents, who always give me support and constant inspiration.Abstract1喜福会中的中美文化的碰撞与融合1Acknowledgements2Chapter 1 Introduction51.1Brief introduction about Amy Tan51.2Brief introdution about The Joy Luck Club51.3 Introduction about about the thesis6Chapter2 Conflict between Chinese &Amerian culture62.1The overview of conflict between Chinese &Amerian culture72.1.1Conflict between two family values72.1.2 Conflict between two languages82.1.3Conflict between two views of marriage9Chapter3 Compatibility between Chinese &American culture103.1The mothers gradually accept the American culture113.2 The daughters understand their mothers much better than before123.3The rise of China promotes the reconcile of the Chinese and the American culture.12Chapter 4 Conclusion14Chapter5 References14Chapter 1 Introduction1.1Brief introduction about Amy TanAmy Tan(born February 19, 1952) is anAmericanwriter whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work isThe Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages. In 1993, the book was adapted into a commerciallysuccessful film. Tan has written several other bestselling novels, includingThe Kitchen Gods Wife,The Hundred Secret Senses,The Bonesetters Daughterand Saving Fish from Drowning. She also wrote a collection of non-fiction essays entitledThe Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings.Her most recent novelSaving Fish from Drowningexplores the tribulations experienced by a group of people who disappear while on an expedition in the jungles ofBurma. In addition to these, Tan has written two childrens books:The Moon Lady(1992) andSagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat(1994), which was turned into an animated series which aired on PBS. She also appeared on PBS in a short spot encouraging children to write. Tan is also in a band with several other well-known writers, the Rock Bottom Remainders.William Wei has said: “she is one of the famous women writers who has broken through the Asian American ethnic literature.”(1993,P.88.)1.2Brief introdution about The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club is a well-known American-Chinese writer Amy Tans representative works. Alice Walker has said that: “the novel is honest,moving,and beautiful courageous.Amy Tan shows us China,Chinese-American women and their families,and the mysrery of the mother-daughter bond in ways that we have not experienced before.”(1989,P1.)In the novel,she presented to the reader four Chinese immigrant mothers and their daughters .Although living in America,the immigrant mothers cling to Chinese traditional culture.They organize the Joy Luck Club regularly,a weekly meeting of best Chinese friends. Four mothers with their own view of the world, their world view is based on their experiences of life in China. However,the girls from their mothers can not understand the Chinese culture because the are America-born. So there are conflicts that have been vividly described in this book.The novel is composed of four sections,each of which contains four separate narratives.In the first four stories of the book,the mothers,speaking in turn,recall with astonishing clarity their relationships with their own mothers ,and they worry that their daughtersrecollections of them will never possess the same intensity.In the second section,these daughters relate their recollections of their childhood relationships with their mothers;the great lucidity and force with which they tell their stories proves their mothersfears at least partially unfounded.In the third group of stories,the four daughters narrate their adult dilemmas-troubles in marriage and with their careers.Although they believe that their mothersantiquated ideas do not pertain to their own very American lifestyles,their search for solution inevitably brings them back to their relationships with the older generation.In the final group of stories,the mothers struggle to offer solutions and support to their daughters,in the process learning more about themselves.It reveals cultural conflicts between the East and the West as manifested by the conflicts between the two generations of Chinese Americans with the description of psychological estrangements and emotional conflicts between mothers and their daughters.American scholar Payant thinks “ the novel is always stripping off the layers of the skin in order to touch the mothers and daughters mutual bone”(1993,P71.)After a series of misunderstanding and conflicts,mothers and their daughters are in harmony with their efforts of love,communication and understanding,which also stands for the compatibility between Chinese and American cultures.It brings hope that we can reconcile the opposition in our lives between past and present,between generation and between cultures.1.3 Introduction about about the thesisThe thesis is the discussion about the mother-daughter collision and compatibility between Chinese and American culture,entirely sepertated by four major parts: Introduction, Conflict between Chinese &American culture, Compatibility between Chinese & American culture,and Conclusion.In addition,the paper argues the different living environment,different culture heritage as well as different value which are the main causes of mother-daughter conflict in the novel.More importantly, after a series of misunderstandings,the two generations are in harmony which means cultural compatibility between China and America.It brings hope that contradiction or oppositions in our lives between past and present,between generation and between culture can be possibly even well reconciled.Chapter2 Conflict between Chinese &Amerian culture2.1The overview of conflict between Chinese &Amerian culture In China,the central value outlook of Chinese culture is collectivism.Individuals must regard collective as the most important and follow collective interest.According to the principles of collectivism,it is mothers duty to educate children.And in Chinese culture,daughters are thought to be parts of their mothers and they must obey their mothers arrangements,The immigrant mothers follow the culture,interfere in dayghtersaffairs and even run things all by themselves without consulting daughters.In Chinese families,achieving success is not a persons business,but an important duty to support a whole family.A persons success is not the realization of his or her value,but a link of a familys prosperity.However,American culture is founded on the ideals of freedom,democracy and equality.It emphasizes equal rights,free competition and self-achievement.As a result,the American central value outlook is individualism.In the novel ,Amy Ling once said: “ the relationship between the mothers and the daughters is painful,it is the open war of two well-matched strenghs.”(1990,P139.)Daughters are deeply influenced by individualism so they always try to be out of control of their mother in order to live freely in American ways.They dream of being real Americans,speaking American English,wearing American clothes and having American food.In their opinions,success is the result of ones effort.It has little relationship with others.Owing to different value outlooks,when mothers want to control daughters or make expectations,daughters are against strongly.There are many kinds of contradictions and conflicts between the first American immigrants and their children,the conflicts between Chinese mothers expectations and American daughtersright and the unavoidable conflicts between Chinese and American culture.2.1.1Conflict between two family valuesFrom the opinions of Francis, “In the chinese cultural tradition,family does not only stand for the parentspower of their children,but also means the mutual dependant relation between the mothers and the daughters.The genetic relation is the necessary connection with spirit and social life,in American culture,it emphasizes the awareness of self-realization and independence,stimulates freedom and individualiam,the parents in America pretend to cut off the association with their children.”(1987.P77andP225.)In China,under the deeply influence of Confucianism,chinese highly praise this kind of cuitufal system,which takes family ethic as its central element.The extremely strong family values develop into an aggregate type of behavior pattern,The Joy Luck Club mothers has been strongly influenced by the idea of Chung Hsiao,loyalty to the emperor and filial piety to parents and by the Confucian doctrine of three obediences and four virtues.The three obediences were to be obedient ones father when unmarried,to ones husband when married and to ones son when widowed.However, “America stimulates the freedom and individualiam,so their behavior pattern is discrete type.”(2004,P1.) Liu xiaohong once said: “.In America, a mans natural right country,the daughters regard the patriarchal system as infringing act.”(1989,P40-45.)For example,Lindo believed that a mother and her daughter were inseparable and a daughters success also belonged to her mother.When Waverly practiced playing chess,Lindo liked to give her some suggestion.When Waverly won a competition,Lindo would show off in front of others,Waverly told her mother that she should shut up and should not show off since she did not know anything about chess.The conflict between mother and daughter became open when the latter angrily shouted at her mother in the street: “Why do you have to use me to show off?If you want to show off,why do not you learn to play chess?”(1989,P45.)The conflicts between the two family values ,to a certain extent ,reflect the different values between Chinese and American culture.From the novel,Yang jing once said: “the conflicts of Lindo and Waverly reflect the conflicts of the Chinese collectivism and the American individualism.”(1999,P106-108.)2.1.2 Conflict between two languages Communication barriers between the two generations, also come from the language.In the novel,Jingmei says: “My mother and I never really understood one another.We translated each others meaning and I seemed hear less than was said,while my mother heard more.”Duncan once said: “social organizations exsit and develop in the communication with symbolic significance signs and the symbolic significance signs are the approach for the cultural acquisition and the cultural diffusion.”(1991,P.176.)We believe that for the mothers,Chinese will always be their mother tongue as China will always be the home for their soul.They can always speak Chinese fluently at any time if they want.For the mothers, “Chinese is not only the tool to resist the culture rule, but also is a way to retain the important significance in American present world.”(1993,P.604.)So the Su insisted to continue The Joy Luck Club.Because it is a habitat of traditional Chinese culture in their heart.They get together regularly a weekly meeting their best Chinese friends,they can put on Chinese tradition clothes,play mahjong, taste Chinese traditional food and talk about their own stories in the past time and their hopes for their daughters with Chinese accent.They can feel spiritual comfort in an atmosphere of intense.They speak in their special language,half in broken English,half in their own Chinese dialect.At the same time,there are many kinds of difficulties in communication with the mothers and the daughters because of lack of the language and culture base.This is not only the problem of genetation gap,but also is the cultural understanding deficiency,which is made by the language system and the psychological expectations.For example,when Lindo Jong speak to Waverly with great pride about Taiyuan,the capital city of Shanxi,her hometown,but Waverly thinks her mother is talking about Taiwan, for the oversea Chinese mother,wherever she goes,she always considers herself as a descendant of the dragon or the scions of Huang Di and Yan Di.They live in Chinatown.Taiyuan is the place where the Chinese mother has been longing for all her life,She feels so sad when she hears her daughter refers it as Taiwan.Chinese peoples loyalty to the motherland is deeply moted in the Chinese traditional mainstream.In traditional Chinese society,the family and the country share the same structure.A family is a minimized country and country is a maximized family.Family members or citizens should keep loyal to the head wherever she or he goes.This example perfectly shows the language has been a great gap between mother and daughter.With the years of growth these second-generation immigrants even completely forgot they are Chinese.They no longer use Chinese,instead of it,they use English to communicate with others.2.1.3Conflict between two views of marriage The value theory is the standard and vade mecum of peoples behaviors and attitudes and it determines the human activity in the specific environment.When we talk about marriage value in The Joy Luck Club,there are many conficts between the mothers and the daughters,the Chinese and American culture.In the chinese tradition, childrens matrimonial affair plays a very important role in daily life,parents hope that their children will lead a happy life,so the parentsinterference for the childrens marriage is meritorious and understandable.Since the children fell in love with others,they have paid much attention them,although the children have got married and had their own family,the parents will still pay attention to their marriage life.However,in American individulism culture, falling in love with others,living together,getting married,getting divorce are all personal freedom and authorities,nobody can not interfere with them.In The Joy Luck Club,the mothers show much solicitude in the daughters mate selection and marriage, which make the conflicts between the mothers and daughters.For example, when Lindo finds her daughter Waverlys first boyfriend is an irresponsible American man,she takes flinty measures to break up them, even uses the shoes to attack them.For me ,Lindo is a kind mother,the way she express love to her daughter is simply,direct ,responsible,however,her daughter does not understand her very well.The daughter who is under much influence of American culture does not get advice from her mother,however,she runs away with her boyfriend in order to resist her mothers interference.When Waverlys first marriage comes to nothing,she even adds the reason of failure to her mother,she thinks that her mother has cursed her marriage.However,faced with the setback of Waverlys marriage,the mother does not look on it indifferently,she uses her life experience to enlighten her daughter in order to get her out of the dilemma.In the novel,Rose is an obedient girl and has a sweet temper,she gets married with an American man.Because the chinese value theory has exerted a subtle influence on her character,after the marriage, Rose has docile humility and never puts forward her opinions,in this way ,she thinks it is the love for her husband.However,in American value theory,as the independence of the individual,nobody will give up his right easily,so will the marriage.The American have a strong realization of right and equality,so in the eye of the husband,Rose is a wife,who loses her own judgement towards life and marriage,so the husband does not want to share happiness and woe with Rose,even he puts forward the divorce.When Rose is in the agony,her mother finds many active ways to give advice to her daughter behind the scenes and encourages Rose to speak out her opinions bravely.When Rose gets advice from her mother and tells her thoughts to her husband,she gets the love from her husband again,to her husbands surprise,he finds his