On The Variation And Reconstruction Of Chinese Cultural Narrative In Maxine Hong Kingston’s Works

Maxine Hong Kingston,the second generation of Chinese American immigrant writer,enjoys a high reputation in the United States and even the world literary arena.From the1970 s to the beginning of the 21 st century,she has successively written novels such as "The Woman Warrior","China Men","Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book" and "The Fifth Book of Peace".Each of them received great acclaim after publication."The Woman Warrior" and "China Men" won heavyweight awards in the American novel field once they were published,prompting Maxine Hong Kingston to become one of the mainstream writers of contemporary American literature.The contradiction between the two heterogeneous cultures of China and the United States can be seen everywhere in the book.Its changeable writing style,the dual marginal identities of women and minorities,the multiple themes of the works and the "Americanization" of Chinese traditional culture have all drawn widespread attention.The variation theory of comparative literature is the study of the variation phenomenon of literary works in the process of inter-language and inter-civilization communication and further elucidation,and it is a new research method of comparative literature.Cultural filtering is one of the typical theories of cultural variation,which pays attention to the deep-seated reasons for the phenomenon of variation and the internal law that promotes the occurrence of variation.Therefore,this article uses the theory of cultural filtering as the theoretical basis for the research to explore the phenomenon and root causes of the variation and reconstruction of Chinese culture in Maxine Hong Kingston’s works.Maxine Hong Kingston’s unique Chinese cultural narrative style is widely accepted by western readers,and it has also become a hot spot in academic research at home and abroad.As Maxine Hong Kingston’s representative works,"The Woman Warrior" and "China Men" are rich in various types of Chinese cultural elements,such as traditional Chinese myths,poems,novels and cultural customs.The traditional Chinese culture in Maxine Hong Kingston’s works is not consistent with its original appearance,however,the characters,myths,legends and literary works in which have lost or changed their original meanings in the process of quoting.Chinese-American writer Maxine Hong Kingston rewrites the story,character images and literature of Hua Mulan,Yue Fei,the Women’s Kindom,Guan Yu and Li Sao,and she reinterprets these stories in the light of her own experience.This paper analyzes the variations and reconstructions of Chinese cultural narratives in "The Woman Warrior" and "China Men" one by one,and sorts out the "deformation" of Chinese culture in Maxine Hong Kingston’s writings.And based on the theory of cultural filtration,the causes of the variation will be analyzed from three aspects: western cultural context,minority psychology and cultural identity pursuit.This paper aims to explore the way of writing about Chinese culture in Chinese American literary works,and hopes to provide some useful reference for scholars engaged in Chinese American literature research.