A Study Of Pearl Buck's Cultural Identity

Pearl S.Buck(1892—1973),American author and Nobel laureate,created a more objective image of China and the Chinese for the Western readers,and introduced the Westerners to a more genuine picture of Chinese culture by means of her literary writings of the Chinese subject matter in particular,her translation of Shui Hu Chuan,a classical Chinese novel,into All Men Are Brothers,and her intercultural social activities.In the course of doing so,Pearl S.Buck gradually established her own cultural identities as novelist,translator,scholar of novels and social activist,thanks to her Eastern and Western backgrounds and unique life experiences.Up till now,however,in the history of Pearl S.Buck studies in and outside of China,there is still not a systematic and comprehensive research of Pearl S.Buck's cultural identities in the form of either a Ph.D dissertation or a monograph.Against such an academic background,the present Ph.D dissertation attempts to make a systemic and relatively thorough study of them based on analyses of concrete works of Pearl S.Buck and an observation of the historical context concerned.The dissertation will chiefly discuss the building of Pearl S.Buck's cultural identities and their influences on the themes of her fictional writings,the writing intention,her translation strategies,and her cultural stances,and it will also excavate the cultural spirit she conveyed and advocated in them,thus helping to promote the heterogeneous cultural exchange and merging in the current cultural context.The dissertation consists of six parts,namely,a preface,four chapters and a conclusion.In the Preface,the dissertation first provides an overview of Pearl S.Buck's unique life and her bi-cultural background.Second,it introduces the related ideas,terms and research methods of such disciplines as sociology,biography,narratology,translation studies,etc.It goes on to give a summary,to make a relatively global evaluation of the previous scholarship at home and abroad and to predict the orientations of future studies in the coming years.Finally,this part expounds the purpose,the research route and the academic significance of the dissertation.Chapter One makes an exploration of the building of Pearl S.Buck's identity as novelist by discussions about her novel writing of the Chinese subject matter.From East Wind:West Wind to The Good Earth Trilogy,The Mother and then to Kinfolk,or to be more concrete,from the creations of Chinese peasants to the artistic representations of Chinese women and their low social position,Pearl S.Buck succeeded in presenting to the Western readers an unfamiliar yet genuine world of China and the Chinese people in her novels,and in showing them rich and various elements of Chinese folklore,thus making her novels the treasure troves of the Chinese folk culture.Chapter Two aims to analyze Pearl S.Buck's final establishment as a translator by focusing on her turning into English Shui Hu Chuan.Pearl S.Buck established her identity as translator and such an effort is not only embodied in her choice of dissimilation as her translation strategy,but also in her choosing Shui Hu Chuan instead of another classical Chinese novel as her source book for a translation.In a profound way Pearl S.Buck's special cultural identity influences her idea,her intention and her strategy of the translation,and as a result,her translation practice proves to be effective and significant in intercultural communication,then and now.Chapter Three probes into the cultivation of Pearl S,Buck's identity as scholar,including the efforts she made to interpret Chinese novel and culture from a scholarly perspective.Compared with her identities as novelist and translator,the cultivation of Pearl S.Buck as scholar is characterized with more subjectivity and gradualness.Starting from her identity as scholar,she accepted the Chinese novels and recommended them to Western readers.In this way,she not only built a bridge between East and West in terms of novel writing,but also transmitted one component part of Chinese culture,which embodies and spreads her cultural ideal and spirit,i.e.equality in cultural exchange and mutual benefit for both parties.Chapter Four discusses Pearl S.Buck's cultural identity as social activist and its features.Pearl S.Buck is a rare author who spent so much of her time and energy on all kinds of social activities.She delivered speeches,founded The East and West Association,assisted Asia magazine,and set up "Welcome House" and Pearl S.Buck Foundation(now Pearl S.Buck International)among others.All these endeavors help to establish her as a social activist of international renown.The Conclusion summarizes the multiple cultural identities of Pearl S.Buck and the united cultural spirit behind them.With her novels,biographies,translations and social activities,she expressed her viewpoints concerning the exchanges between different cultures in a multifaceted way,and presented to the world a more objective and genuine image of China and the Chinese people,thus replacing the distortions with more matter-of-fact and positive images,and prompting the Westerners to come to face and accept China and Chinese culture on an equal footing in the hope of more exchanges and a possible merging of different cultures.In essence,Pearl S.Buck's literary creation,translation,and social activities all join hands in transmitting her intercultural ideal,and enhancing people's awareness of the importance of understanding and accepting heterogeneous cultures.