An Analysis Of Male Image In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club From The Perspective Of Masculinity

Amy Tan(1952--),a famous Chinese American woman writer,established her reputation in literature by publishing The Joy Luck Club in 1989.This novel integrates memory,myth,folktale and other forms to explore the relationship among race,gender and identity,involving such themes as mother-daughter relationship,identity construction,Sino-US cultural conflicts and integration.At the collision and integration of traditional Chinese culture and American mainstream culture,Amy Tan puts her thoughts about the relationship between men and women,individual and family into the writing of Chinese ethnic group experience,which endows her novel with unique cultural connotation and artistic charm.Based on R.W Connell’s theory of masculinity,this thesis examines the male image in The Joy Luck Club by means of intensive reading.Amy Tan’s thinking about the Sino-US cultural conflict and the relationship between men and women is reflected on the male image in The Joy Luck Club in which the masculinities of American men and Chinese men are constructed by patriarchy,body,power of discourse and cultural violence,etc.By comparing the differences between Chinese and American masculinity,it is found that the Chinese male image in Amy Tan’s writing is stereotyped,reflecting the Sino-US cultural conflict and the reality of race,class,and gender.An in-depth analysis of the male image in the work of Amy Tan is conducive to showing the living conditions of Chinese American men in a special social and historical context,and to providing a new perspective for revealing the underlying reasons behind the identity issues of Chinese Americans;at the same time,the male image in Chinese American literature is enriched,and the West may re-understand the gentle,resolute and brave Chinese men,thus changing the stereotype of Chinese men.