Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
Constructing Chinese-American Identity: Mother-Daughter
Abstract Category: Arts
Course / Degree: International Conference
Institution / University: RR Campus/Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Published in: 2007
Who are we? This question weighs much options for anyone and probably it is the quest for identity in the study and analysis of any fictional texts of hyphenated authors— African-American, Asian-American, Indian-American, Chinese-American—where fictional characters enjoy in the new cultures, make choices of living, create dreams, shifting from one nation to another, and finally lead a painful existence thinking of past, culture and originality/roots. Amy Tan, like many ethnic writers, develops her fictional writing from the intersection of two traditions, Chinese and American, fusing family history, religious values and cultural identity in narrative form.
This paper mainly focuses on construction of Chinese-American identity through mother-daughter relation in The Joy Luck Club (1989), one of the best-selling novels of Amy Tan. Having presented the first generation of mothers—Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St. Clair from China to America, Tan shows them cultural aliens in their new world. On the contrary, their daughters—Jing-mei “June” Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong and Lena St. Clair are born and educated in America, some even married to non-Chinese, and this represents the second generation of Chinese-American women. The mothers in The Joy Luck Club expect their daughters to obey their elders and so learn by obedience, by observation and by imitation, as they did in China. Because the mothers internalized values and knowledge, they seem to assume the knowledge is innate, and that is present in their daughters, but they misinterpret in the context of American culture. The only means for the mothers’ generation, to ensure their ethnic continuity, to understand who they are indeed, is to recollect the past and to tell the tales of what is remembered, whereas in the second generation, the daughters, after terrible sufferings, come to an understanding, and there is hope for the daughters, for instance, June/Jing-mei completes her relationship with her dead mother, Suyuan Woo, and experiences her Chinese identity.
Paper Keywords/Search Tags:
Constructing Chinese-American Identity: Mother-Daughter in Tan's The Joy Luck Club
This Paper Abstract may be cited as follows:
Bista, Krishna (2007). Constructing Chinese-American Identity: Mother-Daughter Relationship in Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Internatinal Conference, Kathmandu: Literarcy Association of Nepal.
Submission Details: Paper Abstract submitted by Krishna K. Bista from Nepal on 20-Dec-2010 04:02.
Abstract has been viewed 3547 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
Krishna K. Bista Contact Details: Email: kbista1@hotmail.com
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