Spatial Politics In Amy Tan’s Novels

A pioneer in the field of contemporary Chinese American Literature, AmyTan has a legitimate claim for special attention in relevant research. Withdelicately interwoven structure and comprehensive connotations, her novels canhardly fail to stir great sensation. Most of her works deal with the ethnicminorities living at the periphery of the host culture. The theme of identity crisistranscends time, space, and the boundaries of countries. Their crisis manifestsnot merely in race, gender and culture, but also in the construction of space,claiming for their subjectivity.In her novels, the concept of space incorporates at least three dimensions-spatial practice, representation of space and representational space, all of whichare inextricably linked with the physical and spiritual presence. Analysis of spacein her novels will have the potential to unveil the close correlation between eachelement. Thus the deployment of theoretical insights from Lefebvre’s SpatialTriad offers a unique approach which marks out some of the specific terrain inAmy’s works. Based on the spatial theory, the body part of the thesis will revolvearound "space" from the following perspectives.1) Breakthrough of ethnic space.This chapter will focus on the struggle and spatial practice immersed in theirliving space-the Chinese community from the perspective of both mothers anddaughters in terms of ethnicity.2) Contest for gendered space, in which a closediscussion will be provided over female’s spatial predicament in patriarchalsociety with particular attention to body politics, and their appeal and efforts forspatial presence.3) Spatial representation of homeland culture. Here, homelandis not a mute object defined by physical geography; rather, it is imbued withcultural codes and national identity. The endeavor to seek for space is actuallythe search for their root and to create an ideal space of homeland.4) Interwoventime and space. Efforts will be made to dig deeper in the complicated correlationbetween memory, history and space. The absurdity of their existence inheterogeneous cultures will be revealed. Collectively, a multi-dimensionalexploration of space is a testament to its dynamic force, representing the socialconstructiveness of space, and illuminating how to reverse Chinese immigrants’social positioning and help them achieve ultimate spatial appeal.