从《喜福会》中的母女关系分析文化的冲突与互渗_英语论文

On Cultural Conflicts and Integration in The Joy Luck Club from the Mother-Daughter Relationship

摘要

作家的创作从来都不是无水之源，他们的作品往往来自自身的经历。华裔女作家谭恩美基于个人经历写成的作品《喜福会》取得了重大成就。作为美国社会的一个特殊群体，华裔族群需要自己发声的途径，因此，华裔文学应运而生。华裔文学不仅向美国乃至世界人民展示了中国文化与传统，更为外国人眼里的中国人正名。包括《喜福会》在内的华裔文学作品展现了华裔在美国的生活以及在他们身上体现的中西文化的碰撞。

本文主要从两个方面来分析：一是从母女之间的矛盾来展现文化冲突。小说中的母亲代表中国传统文化，在她们身上能看到中国人的特质；女儿则代表美国主流文化，生于此长于此，她们在很大部分程度上已经被美国文化所同化。母女之间矛盾的爆发实质上是她们各自代表的文化互相冲突。然而母女双方都不是纯粹的“文化产物”，她们都或多或少被彼此所代表的文化所影响。作为华裔少数族群的一部分，被主流社会边缘化，她们对自己的文化身份感到迷惘。二是通过母女关系的和解意指文化在相互作用的过程中互相影响，最终“和平相处”。虽然都曾不喜欢对方的文化，母亲和女儿最终选择了尊重彼此，坦诚自己的想法，达到彼此和解。这同时也反映了文化之间不存在必然的冲突，通过相互尊重相互理解也能达到和谐共处。

关键词：母女关系；文化；冲突；和解

Abstract

Literary works are often based on the specific experience of the author, so does Amy Tan. It is her life experience as a Chinese American that makes her first work The Joy Luck Club great success. Chinese Americans are a special group of people who are usually marginalized in America. Unsatisfied with this situation, they try to get themselves noticed. Chinese American literature shows not only Chinese culture and traditions, but also the life of Chinese Americans, especially the cultural collision in it. 

This thesis contains mainly two parts: conflicts and reconciliation between mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club. Mothers in the novel represent Chinese culture and their daughters stand for American mainstream culture. The conflicts between mothers and daughters are actually the conflicts between the cultures they represent respectively. Both mothers and daughters are neither purely Chinese nor American, because to a large extent they have been influenced by each other’s culture. So it is no wonder that they would be confused about their cultural identity as marginalized Chinese Americans. At the end of the each story, they choose to be honest with each other and share their thoughts. Through mutual understanding, they reconcile with each other which indicates that one culture may affect and be affected by other cultures. Conflict is not the only result of culture interaction and being respectful and considerate to other cultures can promote harmonious coexistence.

Keywords: mother-daughter relationship, cultures, conflicts, reconciliation

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 A Brief Introduction to The Joy Luck Club and Its Author Amy Tan 1

1.1.1 Introduction to The Joy Luck Club 1

1.1.2 Introduction to Amy Tan 3

1.2 Literary Review on The Joy Luck Club 3

2. Cultural Conflicts 6

2.1 Factors Leading to the Conflicts 6

2.1.1 Different Views on Marriage and Family 6

2.1.2 Different Role Awareness and Sense of Value 7

2.1.3 Different Ways of Expressions 8

2.2 The Cultural Identity of the Two Generations 9

3. Cultural Integration 11

3.1 Mothers and Daughters’ Mutual Efforts to Reconcile 11

3.2 Cultural Integration 13

4. Conclusion 14

References 15