The Hard Identity Establishment As Modern Women

In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan observes the life experiences of Chinese American immigrantwomen from the dual viewpoint of a woman and an immigrant. In The House on Mango Street,Sandra Cisneros also describes the lives of Chicana women from the perspectives of gender andethnicity. The similarities and differences between the two novels supply the feasibility of doing acomparative study of them.Post-colonial feminists advocate discussing the identity establishment of the third-world womenin a dynamic way, taking the specific social, historical, and cultural elements into consideration.Based on the theory of post-colonial feminism, this thesis analyzes the sufferings the femaleimmigrants face in the two novels and studies how these women try to transform from the Other tomodern women.Based on the analysis of the two novels from the perspective of post-colonial feminism, it canbe said that Chinese and Mexican female immigrants in the two novels have all suffered sexual,racial and cultural discriminations. These women are labeled as the inferior group in both Chineseand Chicano cultures. In addition, they are excluded by white Americans for their races and colors.Compared with the Chinese American who has been praised as “model minority”, life for Chicanawomen is harder. Through exploring the reasons of their sufferings, this thesis points out that, forfemale immigrants, the true way out of these sufferings is to transform into modern women. In thetwo novels, these women try to establish their subjectivity and complete cultural identity. However,different social backgrounds and sufferings of Chinese and Mexican female immigrants lead to somedifferent strategies used in identity establishment. Chinese American women appreciate themother-daughter alliance while Chicana women appeal for the alliance among all women. Besides,Chinese American women try to achieve a balance between Chinese culture and American culture.However, the Chicana women try to maintain a closer contact with their native culture for strength.Compared with Chinese female immigrants, they face more difficulties and challenges. This thesisalso reviews the complex influence of traditional cultures on female immigrants in America andsums up some feasible measures for them to transform into modern women.