The Bonesetter's Daughter, "the Cultural Motif Research

Amy Tan is one of the most famous Chinese American writers. She successfullyportrays stories about the Chinese mothers and American-born daughters, in which thevivid descriptions moved many readers. Most of Tan’s works start with depicting themother-daughter relationship, and reflects the mental process of the Chinese Americansand how they seek identity between the two worlds. There are many repeatedelements, themes and images in Tan’s works, these elements are actually the motifs ofher works. These motifs are closely interrelated with culture, which reveal the culturalintension of Chinese Americans during the long term of development; therefore thesemotifs are cultural motifs.This thesis aims to analyze the cultural motifs in Tan’s fourth novel, TheBonesetter’s Daughter. These cultural motifs are: dialogue of different cultures, culturalcommunication and cultural ferment, seeking for self-identity and Chinese culture.The thesis consists of five parts: the first part states the necessity of culturalcriticism and the literature review on Tan’s works from home and abroad; the secondpart gives a brief introduction to the history of Chinese American literature, theimplication of motif and cultural motif, introduction of The Bonesetter’s Daughter; thethird and the fourth parts analyze the cultural motifs in this novel by using theories ofdialogue, cultural identity and close-reading, aiming at unearth the cultural depth of TheBonesetter’s Daughter; the last part is the conclusion.