A Deconstructive Reading Of The Oriental Elements In The Valley Of Amazement

As one of the most renowned Asian-American writers in America. Amy Tan is a productive but controversial one. With the publication of her masterpieces such as The Joy Luck Club, she is criticized for being a spokesman for orientalists. In order to correct her name, Amy Tan endeavors to reveal a more objective image of the Orient in her later works. The Valley of Amazement is an example.The Valley of Amazement is Amy Tan’s latest work which was published in 2013. Due to its innovations on place, protagonists, plot and theme; this novel has attracted extensive attention in the literary field since its publication. In this work, Amy Tan tries her best to reflect an objective oriental image and disprove the validity of those critics’opinions which regard her as a spokesman for the orientalists. Instead of revealing the Orient through her oriental characters’stories, Amy Tan uses her western protagonist’s own eyes and experiences to show us a real China in this work. The change of places from America to China is also one of her successful endeavors to give readers a direct and objective image of the real Orient.In order to explore the real image of the Orient which Amy Tan endeavors to reveal in The Valley of Amazement, this thesis chooses Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction as a base. Except for having a reflection of the negative oriental elements which cater to those orientalists’opinions in this work, this thesis also makes a deconstructive reading of the positive oriental elements which contradict the orientalists’opinions in it. Through the textual analysis under the guidance of the theory of deconstruction, this thesis aims to explore how Amy Tan tries her best to reveal the mysterious Orient and its positive side as objectively as possible. Through an interpretative and deconstructive reading of the oriental elements in The Valley of Amazement respectively; this thesis not only reflects the double sides of the Orient, but also reveals Amy Tan’s dream of building a multicultural society where eastern and western cultures can exist equally and harmoniously.