Traumatic Experience And Self-pursuit:A Study Of Shanghai Girls From The Postcolonial Feminist Perspective

Shanghai Girls, written by Lisa See, a famous contemporary Chinese American writer and correspondent, has caused great sensation since its appearance in American literary scene. The novel is listed as the fourth most popular best-seller on New York Times for eleven consecutive weeks soon after its publication. Shanghai Girls records the odyssean journey of Pearl and May,two sisters who are forced into arranged marriages to “Gold Mountain” men and strive to assimilate into the American society despite racial discrimination and hardships in life. The bond of sisterhood between Pearl and May, and their female power in the face of adversity and disaster, and the author's concern about the existence of Chinese American women in the double marginalized situation make it possible to analyze the novel from the perspective of postcolonial feminism.Based on a close reading of Shanghai Girls, the thesis attempts to analyze the oppression and struggle of female Chinese immigrants in the United States in Shanghai Girls from the postcolonial feminist perspective, to probe into the pathos and struggle of Chinese American women, represented by Pearl and May, under the double oppression of patriarchy and racial discrimination. Faced with the traumatic experience resulting from Japanese invasion against China, the miserable life in Los Angeles Chinatown, and the ubiquitous racial discrimination in American society, Pearl and May never fail to give up self-pursuit. By holding fast to the traditional Chinese culture and embracing western lifestyles, they endeavor to fight for gender equality as well as racial equality in their own way. By analyzing the life experience of the Chin sisters, the thesis tries to reveal Lisa See's aspiration that Chinese American women can find a way out and her expectation for the promotion of exchange and integration between Chinese culture and American culture.