A Study On The Cultural Conflicts And Integration Between Chinese And Westerners

Chinese-American writers who live in both Chinese and American cultures are the most sensitive to cultural conflict and integration. They are also the ones that show the greatest concern to the issue. Amy Tan is one of those writers who probe deeply into the relationship between the Chinese and American cultures. The birth of her first book, The Joy Luck Club, a novel that tells stories of four Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters, has caused a great sensation inside and outside the United States and made Tan a famous writer.From the perspective of intercultural communication, the cultural conflict between Chinese and Americans in The Joy Luck Club is discussed in this thesis. Cultural conflicts between four couples of mother and daughter, between husbands and wives arising from the difference in cultural background are looked into from the angles of Chinese obedience to parents and American independence and democracy, Chinese women’s submissiveness and American women’s independence, Chinese family’s honor and American individual achievement, Chinese high-context culture and American low-context culture, Chinese superstition and American science. The causes of the conflicts are also discussed in the aspects of Chinese culture experienced by Chinese mothers and American culture experienced by American daughters. Chinese mothers are deeply influenced by the concept of "Three Obediences and Four Virtues","Resign oneself to Adversity", etc. However, American daughters are born in the culture that emphasizes "Individualism, Equality, Independence and Freedom". In this thesis, it is also put forward that despite the conflicts, mutual compatibility of the two cultures is unavoidable and an inescapable tendency.By analyzing Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, this thesis tries to show that although cultural conflicts exist between Chinese and Americans, harmonious tendency is predictable, which reflects the development from the clash to the coexistence of the two cultures in the context of globalization.