From Silence To Resistance

Chinese American woman writer, Maxine Hong Kingston, has well established her place as an important American author and led contemporary Chinese American literature to a new era with the publication of her first book The Woman Warrior: memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts in 1976. The book narrated by an American-born Chinese girl, depicts the girl's meditation of being a Chinese American to pursue her individuality in her American life in 1960s. Since its publication the book has attracted enormous attentions from literary circle. Critics hold different perspectives to analyze it. However, most critical papers have not given a detailed study on the cultural conflicts between two generations of Chinese Americans and the conflicts between two cultures.In order to illustrate the second-generation Chinese American's confrontations with two cultures, this thesis paper begins with the protagonist's conflicts with her Chinese parents and the white group. Through a careful exploration on the protagonist's responses to the between world dilemma, this paper reveals Kingston's ideal to establish a distinct Chinese American culture.The paper consists of five parts.The first part gives a brief account of the literary position of the book and introduces the historical background in 1960s and 1970s.The second part analyzes the oppressions on the Chinese American girl from traditional Chinese culture by demonstrating the conflicts between the protagonist and her mother.The third part studies the oppressions on the girl from American culture through the vivid delineation on the protagonist's situation in a hostile and antagonistic world.The fourth part conducts a detailed discussion on the girl's active responses to the cultural conflicts in her life. Through identifying with three Chinese females the protagonist gains her strength and courage to free herself from the subordinate state, enhances the communication between two cultures. In the end she comes to terms with Chinese heritage and America reality. It is by the characterization of the protagonist that Kingston conveys her idea to set up a distinct Chinese American culture, which is neither purely Chinese nor American.The fifth part is to give a brief summary and observe the significance of the book on the cultural studies at present.