A Study On The Mother-Daughter Relationship In Amy Tan's The Valley Of Amazement

The mother-daughter relationship is one of the most frequent topics in the works of Amy Tan,the well-known contemporary Chinese American writer.The Valley of Amazement,her latest novel in 2013,deals with the mother-daughter relationship again and the story is partly set in modern China.Instead of centering on the issue of cultural clash between Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters,the novel mainly investigates the mental growth of the daughter through the interactions with the mother.Based on the careful analysis of the text,the thesis attempts to study the changing process of the mother-daughter relationship throughout the novel and to analyze its influence on the formation of the daughter's self-identity from the perspective of Psychoanalytic FeminismThe thesis is divided into five parts.The Introduction briefly reviews Amy Tan's life experience as a writer,the background infor^mation of the novel and the related theories of Psychoanalytic Feminism.Domestically and abroad,the systematic analysis of the mother-daughter relationship in this novel is still far from enough,especially from the angle of psychoanalysisChapter One illustrates the symbiotic bonds between mother and daughter and the effects of the loss of symbiotic bonds on the daughter's personality and identity formation during childhood.Chapter Two discusses both the positive and negative influences of the mother on the daughter after they are separated from each other by force and the important role of the surrogate mother.Chapter Three aims to reveal the rebuilding relationship between mother and daughter,in which the daughter reaches the identification with the mother on the basis of her own experiences and mutual communication.By finding the true self and becoming mentally and financially independent,the daughter finally and successfully establishes the self-identity.The Conclusion summarizes the whole thesis and displays a healthy mother-daughter relationship for readers.especially for females,in which both mother and daughter treat each other as independent subjects and build a bridge grounded on mutual respect and efficient communication.