Deconstruction Of Orientalism And Exploration Of Multicultural Coexistence

The famous Chinese American female writer Amy Tan has obtained great popularity since the publication of her first novel—The Joy Luck Club (1989). From then on, she has kept creation energy and has created other four novels. Saving Fish from Drowning (2005) is her latest novel. Abandoning from her usual depiction of mother-daughter relations and Chinese Americans'pursuit of vague identity in the American mainstream society, Tan shifts her attention on the more universal coexistence of all human beings. And this changing theme shows Tan's social responsibility as a writer and humanistic concern beyond race boundary.As a matter of fact, Tan's change in this new novel is both the breakthrough and the continuity of her consistent literary creation. As is clearly observed in the novel, apart from the deconstruction of Orientalism, Tan thinks more about the mutual understanding and universal coexistence among different cultures and races, which also serves as the major argument of the present research.This thesis probes into Amy Tan's deconstruction of Orientalism and exploration of multicultural coexistence. To begin with, three aspects will be presented to illustrate her deconstruction of Orientalism. First, Tan criticizes the Westerners'cultural prejudice towards the Orient by indicating that the Westerners tend to imagine the Oriental culture according to their own needs. Second, by exposing the hypocrisy of holy image of Westerners, she discloses the Occidentals'racial prejudice and the myth of salvation towards the Orient. Third, by subverting the white men's stereotyped images against the Orientals, Tan overthrows these twisted images set in the Oriental discourse and reconstructs the positive images of the Orientals.What's more, Tan's double-culture background enables her to enjoy a broader vision of the differences between Western and Eastern cultures. As a result, she implicitly points out the fact that the privileged Western culture is not always the advanced one and its values should not be taken as the only standards to judge other cultures. By presenting the misunderstandings caused by different beliefs towards religion, different attitudes towards the relationship between man and man as well as man and nature, Tan inspires us to recognize the differences among different cultures and most importantly, to consider how to treat and solve the problems resulted from the differences.Based on the discussions above, this thesis further explores Tan's meditation and concern of universal coexistence in the third chapter. In addition to the changes in her health and her family, the trend of globalization in the whole world during the time plays an important role in Tan's transition of literary theme. She skillfully sets a group of Westerners in the old and mysterious Orient and designs for them to experience various cultural conflicts. Finally they are inspired by the Oriental culture and get their spiritual salvation. Tan asserts that human beings can keep the harmonious relationship between man and man as well as man and nature if they are willing to understand each other. Different cultures can understand and coexist and develop together if we human beings may pursue the noble spiritual life without excessive desires and love each other.To sum up, Amy Tan deepens her literary theme by exploring the universal coexistence between different races and cultures in Saving Fish from Drowning. As is clearly seen, there are massive differences among various cultures, we should admit and accept the diversities of cultures; at the same time, we should try to understand and tolerate each other to achieve the coexistence and harmony without uniformity.