The Research On Chinese Americanidentity In The Joy Luck Club In View Of Initiation Novel

The Joy Luck Club is Amy Tan’s first novel which wins her reputation. Once it was published, the book has won great reputation, and critics both domestic and overseas have given great concern on it. This book is based on the life of Amy Tan and her mother, which tells about stories of four pairs of Chinese American mothers and their daughters, their love, their hatred, and after aeries of events, they forgive and respect each other finally. The growth experiences of two generations are important in the novel, however, during this period, their acknowledgment and pursuit to their cultural identity is the priority among priorities, which reflects the introspection of Chinese Americans to their identity.In this thesis, the theory of initiation novel is applied to analyze the growth experiences of characters. Because of the special culture background, the growth features which are conveyed in this novel are quite different from those of classical ones. However, this just shows how the Chinese American initiation story surpasses and expands the boundary of traditional initiation story. Compared with the classic initiation story, this novel shows the growth hardship that the Chinese American experience under the great pressure that the American mainstream has brought. This thesis is divided into five parts:In introduction, the background of this novel is introduced briefly, as well as its current research status, the method that this thesis applies, and its innovation.In chapter one, the development of initiation story is introduced. Combined with the initiation story in the history of American literature and in the history of Chinese American literature, the literature features of classic and Chinese American initiation story are summarized. On one hand, it shows how the Chinese American initiation story inherits the classic initiation story, on the other hand, it conveys the particularity of Chinese American initiation story for the reason of its special culture background.In chapter two, the analysis of the content and structure makes why it can be called initiation story. The contents include the growth theme, autobiographical theme and dissimilation of the characters, and its structure all convey this novel is a typical initiation story. At the same time, the two generations grow up in totally different cultural background, based on this, the growth of two generations are contrasted, which helps to tell how the growth of these two generations is different.In chapter three, the two generations who represent two different cultures experience changes from conflicts to compromise, therefore, the changes from culture conflicts to cultural integration are reflected. And the pursuit of cultural identity of Chinese America is extracted.In conclusion, the whole thesis is summarized, and the arguments are further strengthened. By comparing the growth of two generations and taking their growing culture background into consideration, it comes to a conclusion that the process that the two generations grow is the process they pursue their Chinese American identity.