On Cultural Identity In The Bonesetter’s Daughter From The Perspective Of Diaspora Criticism

As a kind of interdisciplinary theory, the diaspora criticism provides a unique theoretical perspective for the study of ethnic literature. Diasporas’ cultural identity is an important part of the diasporic consciousness and form. With the development of the times, ethnic writers make a constant change in the interpretation of cultural identity in their works. The Chinese American writers, for example, base their works on their diasporic experiences, geographically or psychologically. Influenced by two different cultures, they feel anxious and confused inevitably and attempt to cater to one or accept both of them, which is well embodied in their works. Faced with cultural identity crisis, diasporas make great efforts to resolve it.Amy Tan’s works always draw much attention from both Chinese and American scholars. As the second generation of Chinese Americans, Amy Tan was born and raised in the United States and she was always in clash with her Chinese mother. Therefore, she was struggling to find the answer to the question—“who am I?” in the white world. Her works can be seen as a true portrayal of her own life. As her fourth novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter continues the theme of mother—daughter relationship, which is her another masterpiece. In order to find her mother’s memory about China and Chinese culture that has been alienated for years, she published the novel in 2001.This thesis tries to analyze cultural identity in The Bonesetter’s Daughter from the perspective of diaspora criticism through the combinati on of text and theory. The thesis is divided into five parts: the first part is the introduction, which briefly introduces the definition and historical development of Chinese American literature, Amy Tan and her works and previous researches on The Bonesetter’s Daughter at home and abroad. The second chapter mainly introduces the diasporic literature, diaspora criticism, the definition of cultural identity and the reasons for the emergence of cultural identity. The third chapter analyzes the cultural ident ity crisis in The Bonesetter’s Daughter from the perspective of diaspora criticism. What’s more, it explores cultural identity confusion and anxiety faced by two generations of Chinese Americans in the white world. The fourth chapter analyzes the two generations of Chinese Americans’ constructing and reconstructing their cultural identities. By constructing a hybrid cultural identity, they get rid of cultural confusion and identity anxiety. Their cultural identity crisis is resolved. The last chapter is the conclusion part. Based on the exploration of Chinese diaspora s’ cultural identity in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, the thesis contends what Amy Tan advocates is a fluid and hybrid cultural identity, which is of tremendous significance to Chinese diaspora s’ negotiation between American culture and Chinese culture. The issue of cultural identity that the two generations are confronted with is of particular typification. It engenders enlightenment on the cultural identity construction of diasporas of Chinese and other ethnic groups’.