A Study Of The Politics Of Home In Pearl Buck’s Works

Pearl S.Buck(1892-1973)is a prolific American woman writer.She completed more than 100 works in her life,including novels,biographies,children’s literature,short stories,plays,etc.Her works have not only won the Nobel Prize for literature,Pulitzer Prize and other top honors,but also been translated into more than 100 languages and sold well all over the world.Because of her special growing up experience,she has two hometowns of “America” and “China” at the same time.She is both American and Chinese,but it can also be said that she is not from any country.As a writer,she uses her own experience and unique language to show the readers of the world a real image of China,and in this way,she writes about her feelings towards home.In this dissertation,based on the works of Pearl S.Buck’s three novels,three children’s literary works,three biographies and her story of “Welcome House” as the research objects,starting from the “the politics of home”,the author analyses Pearl S.Buck and the different politics of home reflected in her works,elaborates Pearl S.Buck and her characters’ different ways of home construction and the multiple interpretations of the deep connotation of home.On this basis,it points out that Pearl S.Buck,as a “culturally marginal person”,writes about the feelings of the characters in her works,which is actually her own,not only having a fixed geographical space,but also the imaginary home in her memory.In addition to the writing of home in her works,Pearl S.Buck devoted much energy to the work of “Welcome House” in the latter half of her life.In decades,she tried to find adoption families for more than5000 orphans and mixed race children.This is Pearl S.Buck’s specific practice of her homesickness,seeking for home and rebuilding home.Pearl S.Buck’s position of“the politics of home” has cleared up the estrangement of different nationalities and boundaries of different cultures.The concept of “home” in her works is not only a community of shared future,but also a spiritual community,an emotional community,and a community of life.Her home is the embodiment of the national common prosperity and cultural integration,and also has been transformed from homelessness in her life to home everywhere.This dissertation consists of six parts: introduction,four chapters as the main body and conclusion.In the introduction,firstly,it summarizes the reason for choosing the topic “homeland”,the concept and connotation of “the politics of home”.Secondly,it makes a survey of the main achievements of Pearl Buck’s research at home and abroad in the past 90 years and the breakthroughs made since the new century.Thirdly,the dissertation expounds the research ideas,framework and the theory and research methods to be used.The first chapter of the dissertation focuses on three novels of Pearl S.Buck,which are classified from three aspects of “home,country and future”.By using the method of textual analysis and theoretical interpretation,this chapter talks about the return to the land of Wang Yuan—— the third generation of Wang’s family in the House Divided of The Good Earth Trilogy.And secondly this chapter praises the Chinese people represented by Lin Tan’s family in Dragon Seed,they defend and resist the invasion of the land,thirdly this chapter foucus on the overseas Chinese represented by James Liang in Kinfolk,and their investments in the construction of the motherland and their future plans.Among these three works,“home” is endowed with three levels of connotation: land,nation and future.In the second chapter,in addition to the textual analysis and theoretical interpretation,it will also discuss the different levels of “home” in the three children’s literary works from three aspects,namely “loyalty,filial piety and forgiveness” of Chinese Confucianism,combining with the creation of children’s literature,community research and Japanese cultural theory.In Yu Lan: Flying Boy of China,it tells the loyalty of children to the homeland security of the motherland.The Beech Tree shows the traditional filial piety of the younger generation in the family to the older one.The Big Wave shows the courage and strength to forgive the intimidating nature and rebuild the home with hope in the face of disaster.In the third chapter,the author adopts the theories of biographical literature and cultural semiotics,it follows the timeline of three biographies of The Exile,Fighting Angel and My Several Worlds,respectively from the three levels of mother’s regional home,father’s spiritual home and Pearl Buck’s own philosophical home.This chapter also reflects on the spiritual journey of two generations of people wandering in different places.It analyzes and points out that “re-Rooting in a new place” is a wise choice for the settlement of the spiritual home of the alien groups.The fourth chapter uses the sociological theory,starting with Pearl S.Buck’s wish of “all men are brothers”,combining with the story of “Welcome House”,focusing on the concern of mixed blood orphans and disabled orphans,analyzes the social value and realistic significance of Pearl S.Buck’s humanitarian cause,and realizes the further explanation of the theme of “the politics of home”.The meaning of “home” is not only the physical space,but also the spiritual space.In this limited space,a family’s love can be sublimated into a big love for the world,breaking through the limitations of space,so as to reach the realm of universal love in the world.The conclusion of the dissertation comprehensively summarizes and reviews Pearl S.Buck’s view on home and the significance of diversified interpretation,and points out that Pearl S.Buck’s special identity as a “culturally marginal person”determines her special writing perspective,as well as her lifelong yearning for home,seeking for home and rebuilding home.It is also because of this that Pearl S.Buck strives to promote the dialogue,integration and exchange between her two homelands,and turns the regret of homelessness into the vision of “home everywhere”.