An Interpretation Of The Bonesetter’s Daughter From The Perspecitve Of Feminist Narratology

Amy Tan is a bestselling author in America and also one of the famous writers incontemporary American literary circle. Her works have drawn attention of many critics whoare interested in Chinese American literature. Many of her works are about mother-daughterrelationships, ethnic and cultural identity，such as The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’sWife.This paper studies The Bonesetter’s Daughter, which is also one of Amy Tan’smasterpieces. The Bonesetter’s Daughter tells about the mother-daughter relationshipsbetween three generations. Amy Tan uses narrative techniques to help the female charactersto gain consciousness and construct their narrative authority. This paper focuses on how AmyTan builds female authority by using feminist narratology. The author explores it from threeaspects: perspectives, voices and symbols. This paper will give a deep analysis of the womencharacters from the perspective of feminist narratology.The narration in the novel is like an “O” shape, first narrated by Ruth, then Luling, andfinally the whole narration goes back to Ruth. This kind of narration can display the wholestory a sense of accuracy, make readers feel as if it is a true story. In this paper, the writer usesGenette’s theory, and Susan Sniader Lanser’s theory to analyze the female characters.This paper includes three parts. The first part is to analyze the novel from threeperspectives: Ruth, Luling and Ruth. From the perspective of Ruth, we can know Ruth’sattitude towards life, marriage and the mother-daughter relationship, which also shows us thepresent situation of women; Luling is another perspective. Through the description of Luling,readers can feel the terrible situation of feudal women in China, and also the inharmoniousrelationship between Luling and Precious Auntie. After that, the narration returns to Ruth,The inharmonious mother-daughter relationship of three generations is reconciled, and thehappy ending also displays the “O” shape narration. The second part talks about narrativevoices in the novel. In this part, the writer applies Susan Sniader Lanser’s theory to analyzedifferent voices, such as authorial voice, personal voice and communal voice. Through theauthorial voice of Ruth, we can see the true present women’s life in America, and also theconflict between mothers and daughters. Luling’s personal voice reveals the real life oftraditional Chinese women. Precious Auntie’s voice is a communal voice, which stands forthe pressed women. The third part shows the symbolism in the novel. The writer talks abouttwo symbols: the dragon bones and the ghost, which stand for women’s action against the feudal society.