Constructing The Third Space: A Postcolonialist Study Of The Narrator’s Identity In The Woman Warrior

Maxine Hong Kingston is a well-known Chinese American writer, and TheWoman Warrior is her first novel. Since its publication in1976, it has drawn greatattention from critics both at home and abroad. This thesis studies Kingston’srewriting of Chinese myths and legends in The Woman Warrior in the light of HomiBhabha’s theory of third space, arguing that Kingston constructed the cultural andracial third space by rewriting and retelling the Chinese traditional stories.The thesis is made up of five parts. The first part is a brief introduction ofMaxine Hong Kingston, and The Woman Warrior and its literature review, and theperspective and layout of this thesis. Chapter One discusses Kingston’s constructingthe cultural third space by analyzing the narrator’s rebellion against Chinese cultureand her critical revision of it. And it makes a concrete analysis of the narrator’srebellion in three aspects: retelling the story of no name aunt, her rebellion againsther mother and her rebellion against the Chinese community, and her revision ofChinese culture reflected in her retelling the story of Fa Mulan.Chapter Two explores the narrator’s constructing the racial third space. It makesa concrete analysis of the narrator’s rebellion against racism in American society andher exploration of the racial relationship between Chinese and American.Chapter Three examines the realistic meanings of the third space Kingstonconstructed in her novel. It mainly discusses its realistic meanings in three aspects:reconciliation of cultural and racial conflicts, reconstruction of the identity ofChinese American females, and Maxine Hong Kingston’s success as a writer.In the conclusion part, the thesis reviews the main contents of the thesis, andnotes that by negotiating and critically absorbing the essence of Chinese andAmerican cultures, Kingston bravely bridged the gulf between the two cultures andconstructed the third space through her writing, which not only helped the confusedChinese Americans get their identity as Chinese Americans but also provided a solution for those who are suffering in the cultural shocks and get lost in the era ofglobalization.