The Representation And Subversion Of Orientalism In China Men

There is no doubt to say that Maxine Hong Kingston has become the greatest Chinese American writer since the 1970s. She is also the representative of American minorities and women writing, with the works popularized in popular literary market and in academic circle. Kingston's success marks the rise and prosperity of Chinese American literature.Published in 1980, China Men has won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Based on the four male generations' stories of Kingston's family, this book represents the Chinese immigrants' real living conditions in America from the Opium War to the end of Vietnam War. The readers can listen to the great grandfather's indignant shout in the Hawaii sugarcane plantation, search the grandfather's heroic trace on the American western railroad, sense the father's tough business in the bottom of American society, and experience the brother's pure human nature in the Vietnam War. When Kingston eulogizes the enormous contribution that the Chinese immigrants had done to the America construction and celebrates their masculinity, she also depicts the Chinese traditional convention and culture. On one hand, China Men subverts the obliteration of Chinese immigrants in America history and governmental record; while on the other hand, it represents the oriental culture in the westerners'eyes. Therefore, this book has close connection with orientalism which Said has put forward.This thesis attempts to analyze the representation and subversion of orientalism in China Men from Said's theoretical perspective. It mainly includes five parts, that is, introduction, conclusion and three chapters.Chapter one introduces Said's orientalism, which functions as an important part in his postcolonial theories and emphasizes the combination of literary criticism and politics as well as social history. Orientalism mainly includes three interdependent connotations, i.e. the whole set of knowledge about the Orient in the Occident, a style of thought opposites the Orient and the Occident, and the power relationship of the Occident over the Orient based on the orientalist discourse. In order to further explain the development of orientalism and its relationship with Chinese American literature, this thesis puts forward the distinctions between "Old Orientalism" and "New Orientalism", as well as "the latent Orientalism" and "the manifest Orientalism".Chapter two analyzes the representation and construction of orientalism in China Men. In the orientalists' eyes, the east represents irrational, brutal and mysterious whereas the west is civilized, advanced and rational. This orientalist bias comes from the westerners' ignorance, prejudice and curiosity. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Kingston has received the authentic western education and culture; therefore, she shows bias and disdain of the Chinese traditional values and conventions to some extent. Her depiction of the old and mysterious China helps to reinforce the fixed image of China in the westerners' mind. This chapter consists of three parts, that is, the people's necessities of life, superstition and Chinese traditional values.Chapter three analyzes the subversion and deconstruction of orientalism in China Men. Influenced by the long racial discrimination and cultural bias, the American literary works are full of scandalous and impotent eastern male images. In order to fight against the western cultural hegemony and break the silence of Chinese immigrants in the western mainstream discourse, Kingston subverts the stereotypes of China men, eulogizes their brave, unyielding and industrious quality and successfully represents the easterners' masculinity. This chapter is divided into two parts which respectively analyzes the Chinese laborers' enormous contribution to the American construction and the characters of four male generations in Kingston's family.All in all, China Men combines the orientalist reading of Chinese traditional culture and the anti-orientalist reading of Chinese male images. However, its influence cannot be compared with The Woman Warrior, mainly because it truly reveals the exploitation and oppression of the western mainstream culture. This phenomenon reflects that nowadays western cultural hegemony still exists and orientalism still controls the relationship between the east and the west.