Cross-cultural Interpretation Of The Image Of "the Other" In Pearl S.Buck's The Good Earth

As one of the most influential American women writers of the 20 th century,Pearl S.Buck created a large number of novels with Chinese themes based on her nearly 40 years of Chinese life experience and her unique Eastern and Western cultural perspectives.She devoted her life to promoting the intercultural development of China and the West,so she was praised as “the bridge in the communication between East and West.”This study applies Edward Said's “Orientalism” and Homi K.Bhabha's“Hybridity” as the interpretive tool to analyze the image of “the Other” in Buck's masterpiece The Good Earth from the cross-cultural perspective.The study divides it into three types,namely,“the Other” in light of Orientalism,“the Other” as a result of hybridity,and “the Other” embodying the ideal of universality.First of all,representation of “the Other” in light of Orientalism in the sample is analyzed on a basis of the interpretation of the core idea of Edward Said's Orientalism Said's Orientalism and the examination of Buck's personal experience.It is concluded that “the Other” in light of Orientalism in the novel is the result of the role of American Orientalism in the author's potential ideology;Secondly,representation of“the Other” as a result of hybridity is interpreted on a basis of textual analysis and the subversive effect of “Mimicry” proposed in Bhabha's Hybrid theory on the authority of colonial discourse is verified.The study further argues that “Mimicry” and thecharacterization of “the Other” as a result of hybridity are related to the mixed experience of Buck;Finally,by analyzing representation of “the Other” embodying the ideal of universality,it is concluded that the image is not only a literary illustration of the concept of “the Third Space” of Bhabha,but also an indication of the cross-cultural significance in the study of the novel.Examining and interpreting the representation of the three kinds of “the Other”,the thesis is intended to reveal the cross-cultural significance in Peal Buck's novel in hopes to enlighten people of the necessity of the universal ideal embracing differences in dissolving cultural barriers in communication between different cultures.