Abstract The Joy Luck Club is the remarkable novel written by Amy Tan, a famous Chinese-American writer of dazzling talent. It weaves an intricate tapestry detailing the stories of the Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters, describing the morass of love, misunderstandings and mutual understanding between the two generations in two different cultures. Based on the analysis and research of the character features, destinies of two generations and the mother-daughter bonds, the paper is intended to explore the cultural conflicts and concord on marital views, family concepts, personal values and expressing manners. Then the thesis conducts a comprehensive analysis of the reasons hidden behind the cultural conflicts and reconciliation. In the end, it urges readers to develop an open and tolerant attitude towards cultural collision and promote cultural exchange and cooperation actively in the age of globalization. 53672
Keywords: The Joy Luck Club; cultural conflicts; cultural compatibility
摘 要《喜福会》是美国著名华裔女作家谭恩美的处女作,小说描述了四对移民母女之间复杂的情感故事,生动演绎了两代人在中美不同文化背景下由激烈误会冲突到逐渐包容理解的过程。本文基于对小说中主要人物性格、两代人不同的命运以及母女关系的变化的研究,主要从爱情婚姻观,家庭观,个人价值观以及语言表达方式等角度,对比分析中美文化的诸多差异和融合;进一步全面探讨产生文化冲突的原因,号召人们在全球化日益加强的背景下,以开放包容的态度对待中西方文化冲突,积极促进文化交流与融合。
关键词:喜福会;文化冲突;文化融合
Content
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 2
2.1 Previous Research on This Topic 2
2.2 Significance of the Study 3
3. The Cultural Conflicts Between China and America in The Joy Luck Club 3
3.1 Differences in Marital Views 4
3.2 Differences in Expressing Manners 6
3.3 Differences in Family Concepts 8
4. Causes of Cultural Conflicts in The Joy Luck Club 10
4.1 The Environmental Cause 10
4.2 The Cultural Cause 11
5. The Cultural Compatibility Between China and America in The Joy Luck Club 11
5.1 Compatibility of Mothers and Daughters 11
5.2 Compatibility of Cultural Identity 13
6. Conclusion 13
Works Cited 15
1. Introduction
Born in 1952 in Oakland, California, Amy Tan is brought up in a Chinese immigrant family. After the death of her elder brother and father, she moved with her mother to Switzerland at the age of fifteen where she finished her high school. Later she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and linguistics from San José State University. In 1974, she married Louis DeMattei and they lived in New York and San Francisco after marriage. Before she became a renowned Chinese-American writer, she has been engaged in a lot of occupations, such as consultant, literary editor and onscreen writer. The Joy Luck Club, the first book written by Amy Tan, has achieved a huge success after its publication in 1989. It not only won National Book Award, but also remained on New York Times best-seller list for several months and later was translated into nearly 35 languages.