The Voice Of The Voiceless:A Feminist And Post-colonial Reading Of The Bonesetter’s Daughter

As the representative of Chinese American female writers in the20th Century, Amy Tan is expert in choosing the story of Chinese female immigrants as her subject matter. Her works focus on themes including relationship between race, gender and identity, culture dislocation and conflict, and issues like the construction of self-identity, roots-tracing and the mother-daughter conflict together with reconciliation.The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001) is Amy Tan’s fourth novel concerning mother-daughter relationship, which tells about the struggles of three-generation Chinese females:Precious Auntie, LuLing and Ruth. It not only portrays the tense relationship between the second-generation Chinese female immigrant Ruth and her Chinese immigrant mother LuLing, but also the hidden and exclusive mother-daughter relationship between LuLing and her mother Precious Auntie.The thesis employs feminism and post-colonialism to analyze three female characters in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Precious Auntie, LuLing and Ruth, so as to inquire into the voiceless predicament of Chinese women in both Chinese patriarchal society and American white-centered society, and reveal their struggles to fight against multiple oppressions and make voice of their needs. The thesis is composed of5chapters. Chapter1is a brief introduction to Amy Tan and her works, including The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Besides, a relevant literature review of both home and abroad and the literary theories are provided. Chapter2reveals how Precious Auntie who suffers great oppression from Chinese patriarchy makes her own voice despite her physiological muteness. Chapter3analyzes LuLing’s predicament from her oppression by Chinese patriarchy and her alienation with American culture as well as her search for reconciliation with her daughter Ruth. Chapter4concentrates on the causes of Ruth’s identity dilemma in America from the aspects of Ruth’s alienation with Chinese culture and her marginalization by the American white-centered culture. With a new cultural identity, Ruth finally heads for a new way of writing career and a new life for herself. Chapter5is the conclusion which points out the significance of their struggles to make their own voices.