Escape From The Other—the Feminist Awakening In The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan, as a distinguished Chinese American women writer, has been widely accepted by both Chinese and American critics and readers since the publication of her first novel The Joy Luck Club in1989. By combining her bicultural background with the real experiences of her mother’s generation, Amy Tan has created many typical female images in her works, especially immigrant Chinese mothers and American daughters. For instance, in The Joy Luck Club, by depicting the conflicts in mother-daughter relationships or in marriage, Amy Tan reveals the dilemma that Chinese American women confront in the American mainstream culture.After The Joy Luck Club’s publication, Amy Tan has attracted much attention of scholars at home and abroad. Much research has been done on this novel from different perspectives, i.e. cultural identity, cultural conflicts, mother-daughter relationship, etc.This thesis attempts to analyze the female images in The Joy Luck Club through a detailed textual study from the perspective of feminism. By applying Beauvoir’s Other theory into textual analysis, it aims to figure out how and why these women become the Other, and then how and why they begin to break away from the Other identity.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter one introduces the purpose and significance of the study, as well as the structure of this thesis. Chapter two begins with a brief review to Amy Tan and her works, including some relevant research on The Joy Luck Club. Chapter three deals with the theoretical foundation-feminism and lays much stress on Beauvoir’s Other theory. Chapter four begins to analyze the construction of female images in this novel. Then chapter five focuses on the reconstruction, the feminist awakening of both mothers and daughters. Chapter six comes to the conclusion that women have been submissive to their Other identity for a long time. But with the awakening of their feminist thoughts, they begin to find ways to get rid of the Other identity and realize their self-value. By improving themselves and drawing lessons from others’experiences, they should have the courage to struggle for what they want.