The Image Of The Chinese Intellectuals In Pearl S. Buck's Novels

Pearl S. Buck, once was one of the best-selling American writers throughout the world, has attracted widespread attention in China now. Buck's profound relationship with China made her a legend. As an occidental people, she created great amount of writings about China with high enthusiasm and changed western country's impression of China and Chinese extensively and effectively.Based on her three impartment works-East Wind: West Wind, The Good Earth and Kinfolk, this study is a research about dynamic shaping of the Chinese modern intellectuals'image in her novels, and goes further to explore the self-construction of intellectuals and the enlightenment practice of China's reformation when the eastern culture meets western culture.Chapter One introduces briefly Pearl S. Buck's life and the role of cultural borders, summarizes the historical comment and evaluations on her work both in China and America, and focuses on the phenomena of Buck's research as cold in west and hot in China.Chapter Two confirms her contribution of creating China and Chinese'image compared with the contemporary tendency, and demonstrate the essentiality of the Chinese intellectuals'image as well as the necessity of the research.Chapter Three analyze the first appeared image of the Chinese intellectuals in East Wind: West Wind who intend to replace the traditional culture of China with the sign of western culture. The crisis arisen in the eastern culture would be observed form the disassembly of old family and the relationship of couple.On the base of The Good Earth, Chapter Four tries to trace the identity's creating of the Chinese intellectuals and reviews the hybridity of Wang Yuan's subject with two important signs:"earth" and "knowledge", thus generates the responsibility of the intellectuals as a torchbearer.Chapter Five analyzes James'exploration for the enlightenment; reveal the oppositive dilemma between the elite and the masses. Finally, James married Yumei who is a "bridge" to bring the west culture into people's life. Chapter Six summaries the evolvement of selfhood construction of the Chinese intellectuals from the perspective of the sign of culture; analyzes specific utilization of eastern sign and western sign in the enlightenment's practice by intellectuals.Chapter Seven wholly evaluates the prominence and the limit in Pearl S. Buck's works and analyzes her attitude and reflection on the eastern culture and western culture in her novels.