Chinese Culture In Nicole Mones’ Novels

Nicole Mones is a female writer in contemporary America. Besides a writer, she is also a businesswoman and a food writer. Until 2014, she has published four China-themed novels totally. The stories in her four novels are mainly set in China, which has a lot to do with her direct contact with China. Her life experience of doing business with China for 18 years and diverse professions provide her with abundant materials to write China.Based on Imagology of Comparative Literature, this thesis aims at discussing the image of Chinese culture in Nicole Mones’ Novels. Her novels are full of the images of Chinese culture. She makes contrasts between Chinese culture and American culture continuously in her novels.Cultural differences are clearly shown in her works. Sometimes, two cultures are even in conflict with each other. Although her novels involve different aspects of Chinese culture, the writer only discusses three typical topics, namely Chinese food culture, porcelain culture and Chinese guanxi. Though many American writers also write China, some of them actually know little about the reality in China. Through the discussion of Chinese culture in Nicole Mones’ novels, the writer finds that because of her direct contact with China, Nicole Mones depicts China profounder than many American writers do. Her descriptions of China could reflect the reality of China to some extent. However,according to Imagology, all the images in literary works about the Other are based on imagination. Naturally, China in Nicole Mones’ works also can not show the reality in China fully. The writer also finds that the image of Chinese culture in Nicole Mones’ works keeps changing.Sometimes it is positive and sometimes it is negative. The writer summarizes that Mones views and makes comment on China from the standpoint of an American citizen. That Americans change their impression of China has little to do with China. It is the change of the necessity of America that causes the change of the image. It can be explained that America and American culture represent Self, while China and Chinese culture are viewed as the Other in Nicole Mones’ novels.The Other China is viewed as Self America’s reference. Nicole Mones needs to change the image of Chinese culture so as to establish her American cultural identity and to express her recognition of American society. Although the image of Chinese culture in Nicole Mones’ works couldn’t reflect the reality of Chinese culture from every aspect, through the analysis of a contemporary American writer’s works, the readers could catch a glimpse of the image of China in modern American society.American description and analysis of China are always biased and inaccurate. Nevertheless, American identity provides American with different perspective to view China. American and Chinese opinions about China differ from each other. Thus, studying the image of China in America could help Chinese people to know better about themselves. It is also helpful for Chinese to learn something about America through Nicole Mones’ works. Besides, Chinese food culture, porcelain culture and Chinese guanxi are the representatives of Chinese culture. Studying the misreadings of Chinese culture on behalf of the three kinds of culture in a contemporary American writer’s works has double significance: firstly, it makes forecasting cultural misunderstanding which Americans have for Chinese culture possible, and secondly, it is also helpful for the promotion of Chinese culture abroad after knowing the misreadings.