Saving Or Killing Fish

Saving Fish from Drowning is the fifth novel by famous Chinese American woman writer Amy Tan.In this novel,Amy Tan changed her usual topic—"mother-daughter" relationship into a thrilling adventure through the unique "the perspective of ghost";the adventure is setting in the east and it involves group of American tourists.Amy Tan not only moved the setting to the east from the west,but also amplified its topic into a larger background.The subject matter in Saving Fish from Drowning ascends from domestic family trifles to racial even national affairs.The adventure witnessed American tourists' blindness and conceit,especially while they are in Burma,which in turn reflected eastern countries' economic downturn and spiritual desolation under the western imperialist oppression.In the light of Spivak's postcolonial theory,it can be found that political metaphor in this novel reveals aggressive imperialist ideology.Either in the past or at present,imperialist mission is still intruding the east in any possible channels.With the mask of epistemic violence,western imperialist ideology tried to erase eastern cultural marks,and English guides,the Karen tribe without epistemic and economic advantages are actually "subaltern" to American tourists.Even for the Third World women immigrants living in the First World,their cultural plight triggered an overwhelming imperialist ideological threat.This thesis aims at revealing imperialist ideology hidden in the text by virtue of Spivak's postcolonial theory,and further introspects the difficulty faced by Third World people,women in particular,trying to exert a practical solution to help them escape from this situation.In addition,this thesis also attempts to prove Amy Tan's idea that the westerners' distortion and intrusion against the east would be ultimately in vain and ancient civilization and geographical advantages in the east are unbeatable.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter one is mainly an introduction to Amy Tan,the literary value of Saving Fish from Drowning,overseas and domestic research and Spivak's postcolonial theory.Chapter two includes a thorough analysis of imperialist mission from parts to the whole,attempting to expose the severe aftermath resulted from imperialist blind meddling in eastern countries' politics and economy,thus pointing out that American tourists are helping to carry out the imperialist missions through a series of hypocrite assistance.Chapter three verifies that the "subaltern"image prevails among disempowered groups and individuals because of imperialist intervention in politics,economy and culture,such as the Karen tribe—a twofold"subaltern",and the English tour guides who have to blur their cultural heterogeneity under the influence of epistemic violence.Chapter four puts emphasis on cultural plight faced by Third World women and presents a possible approach for them to regain cultural identity.Chapter five is the conclusion which reasserts the main argument that imperialist mission is unfinished and it is still underway in modern times.The east should beware of its treacherous transformations and thoroughly break imperialist shackles in the near future.The significance of this research lies in unmasking imperialism,seeking for the solution to Third World women's difficulty and reminding the Third World of the urgency to protect its geographical integrity.