A Study Of The Images Of China In Amy Tan's Works

Amy Tan is a contemporary Chinese American writer who has published six novels,two children's literature and a collection of non-fiction essays.She has been regarded as a leading figure in bringing the Chinese American literature to the American mainstream and has been praised by critics as another peak after Maxine Hong Kingston in the circle of Chinese American literature.As a second-generation Chinese American,Amy Tan displays her Chinese cultural background and ethnic identity.With the Chinese origin,Amy Tan's creation of Chinese images and stories in her novels has attracted many readers worldwide.With the help of female narration,she presents images of China which she derives from her mother's memory and her own imagination by rewriting and reconstructing Chinese traditional culture.In this thesis,the theory of imagology in comparative literature is applied to interpret the images of China presented in The Joy Luck Club,The Kitchen God's Wife,The Hundred Secret Senses and Saving Fish From Drowning.With the aid of post-colonial theory,specifically Said's orientalism,this thesis discusses the construction methods and purpose of the images in Amy Tan's narrative texts.Through a thorough analysis,the author intends to provide a fresh perspective for readers to understand how Chinese Americans construct their ethnic identity in the multicultural society of America.This thesis contains six chapters.The first chapter introduces the life experiences,writing background and the works of Amy Tan.Research objectives are also discussed in this part.The second chapter is a literature review of domestic and overseas studies from various perspectives.The innovation of this thesis will be presented in this section.The third chapter focuses on the theoretical framework which includes two segments.The origin and development of imagology theory and orientalism are introduced.Chapter four is the main part of this thesis.Three types of the images of China are elaborated here.By rewriting Chinese history,the image ofsuffering China in wartime and in patriarchal society in The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife will be explored,by presenting contradiction between eastern and western cultures and deconstructing westerners' stereotype of Chinese people,exotic images of Utopian China and new images of Chinese women are described in The Joy Luck Club,The Hundred Secret Senses and Saving Fish From Drowning,by rewriting Chinese myths of ghost and god stories,mythological figures and superstitious activities in each novel,Amy Tan displays her Chinese cultural heritage.The fifth chapter is about the reflection on Amy Tan's purposes in constructing the images of China.To sum up,there are three major purposes of Amy Tan's writing.Firstly,Amy Tan expects to construct the cultural identities for Chinese Americans.Secondly,she deconstructs orientalism and rebels against westerners' stereotype of Chinese image.Thirdly,by presenting Chinese images in American context,Amy Tan embraces multiculturalism.The last chapter summaries the significance of constructing images of China in Amy Tan's novels and discusses the limitations of this thesis.