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The Trauma Writing In Saving Fish From Drowning

Posted on:2019-06-14Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:T Y XuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2405330545471076Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Amy Tan(1952-)is one of the most compelling and outstanding contemporary Chinese American female writers and wins great reputation in American literature.Her ghost novel,Saving Fish from Drowning is published in 2005 and is a big flyby of Amy Tan's literary creation.It has a daring attempt and innovation on writing themes and cross-cultural perspectives.This novel is regarded as her transition from an ethnic writer to a global writer.Saving Fish from Drowning narrates a group of Americans,eastern journey from the omniscient perspective of ghost Bibi Chen.It depicts various traumatic experiences of main characters Bibi Chen,Walter and Lord's Army.Amy Tan meticulously portrays traumatic events such as childhood trauma,trans-generational trauma and cultural trauma.She also shows various traumatic symptoms and psychotherapy process when the survivors face trauma but cannot overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.By reading Saving Fish from Drowning carefully,this thesis explores main characters,traumatic events,traumatic symptoms and recovery from trauma from the perspective of trauma theory.Analyzing Saving Fish from Drowning from the perspective of trauma theory not only reveals Tan's concern on the traumatized people's spiritual crisis,but also focuses on Tan's profound thinking on the issues of love,family,society,race,politics and the pluralism of human civilization.The main body of this thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter One analyzes the traumatic events of main characters Bibi Chen,Walter and Lord's Army.Bibi Chen experiences trauma from childhood.Bibi does not believe in love and loses the capacity to love people because of the abuse from stepmother and the loss of maternal love.Walter experiences trans-generational trauma.Each generation of his family suffers from a series of tragedies and trauma because of English and political oppression of the Burmese government.Walter is influenced by these inexperienced family traumatic events.Lord's Army experiences cultural trauma.They face the trauma of genocide and are persecuted and slaughtered by SLORC army.Chapter Two explores the traumatic symptoms of Bibi's emotional numbness,Walter's re-experience and nightmare as well as Lord's Army's loss of self-identity and fear of genocide.All these traumatic symptoms show victims' great pain and torment in their psyche.Chapter Three focuses on the approaches to recover from trauma according to Herman's three stages of trauma recovery.Bibi Chen,Walter and Lord's Army try to overcome their traumatic memories and return to a normal life.They attempt to step out of trauma by means of establishing safety,narrating traumatic stories and restoring connections with others.In a word,this thesis concludes that through the description of main characters' traumas in this novel,victims can gradually walk out of the obsession and shadow of trauma by means of establishing safety,narrating traumatic stories and restoring connections with others.The traumatized people should learn to express themselves and make isolated self restore connections with community.Amy Tan has started to broaden horizons to the absence of love,longing for love and multiple traumas of human beings.It implies Tan's profound criticism about political,social and global traumatic issues.
Keywords/Search Tags:Amy Tan, Saving Fish from Drowning, trauma, recovery
PDF Full Text Request
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