The Brave Heroines: A Study Of Orientalism In Kingston's The Woman Warrior And Ng's Bone

Maxine Hong Kingston and Fae Myenne Ng,as important Chinese American female writers,present us some brave heroines who are bold to fight against the fixed stereotypes of Chinese women in the white-centered world.Faced with dual marginalisation and subjugation in the white society,both of them employ silence as a useful strategy to speak out the ‘family taboo' to challenge the paternal authority for one thing,and fight against the aphasis of Chinese American women in the West for another.In The Woman Warrior and Bone,Chinese American females are courageous for their rebellions and self-empowerment in racist America.Obviously due to the Orientalism in the West,they suffer from multiple prejudice and oppression,which forces them to make resistances to fight against their terrible living situations in America.As a result,they must keep motherworking day and night continuously for their survival,and struggle hard for their American-born daughters' better future.But due to their inferior positions,they are always seen as outsiders in the dominated civilization and trapped into cultural conflicts,so some of them keep certain estrangement from racist America to get rid of their predicament.In addition,Chinese American women's bravery is also expressed in their self-empowerment for speaking out their voice,pursuing their love and getting their power in body and spirit.Unlike the stereotype of Oriental women,the characters in Kinsgton's and Ng's work are fearless,independent and smart.So to some degree,Chinese women's breaking of silence is not only an expression for their indignation and resistance against paternal prescription,but also a weapon to empower themselves in order to get their position and subjectivity in the mainstream culture.In a word,Chinese American women are brave in fighting against the stereotype of them and speaking for themselves.