摘 要

在美国主流文化中，美国梦是美国社会重要的文化特征。美国人认为，在平等的制度和机会下，他们可以通过勤奋和坚忍不拔来获得财富和地位,而且这种信仰也存在于众多的美国文学作品中。美国梦是任何一个美国人或是生活在美国土地上所有人的梦想，它可以作为一种主流的叙事体例，还迎合了美国的大众文化。

本文主旨就是通过谭恩美的《喜福会》一例来探究在传承东方文化的同时，文中主人公与西方文化所产生的摩擦以及对当地文化的融入。作品中的移民都是怀揣一个美国梦来到美国的。上世纪的中国，闭塞落后，战乱不断，中国人纷纷移民，想要到美国过上好日子，《喜福会》中的妈妈们就是如此。谭恩美是当代美国著名的华裔作家。1989 年她发表处女作《喜福会》后即享誉美国文坛。母女矛盾的产生和最终冰释是小说《喜福会》的重要情节，凸显了撞击与交流的中美方文化，梦幻和现实的交融。中国文化植根于美国文化，并传承到下一代时，一如谭母曾经的告诫，华裔可以和所有的美国人一样行为举止，但是，“你”应该为你的与众不同感到骄傲，你若为此感到难为情，那才是可耻”。由此可见，所有关于华人移民过去的记忆都将有助于谭恩美这样的土生华裔对自我的理解与认同。

关键词：谭恩美，文化差异，冲突与融合

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南京工业大学本科生毕业设计（论文）

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

The image of the Orientals in many western writers’ works is polarized. It is either an ancient and charming utopian society with political enlightenment or simple folk customs; or it is ugly hell, mysterious, weird, superstitious or feminine. In American mainstream culture, the American dream is an important cultural feature of American society. Americans believe that with equal systems and opportunities, they can gain wealth and status through diligence and perseverance. And this belief also exists in many American literary works. In the works such as The Great Gatsby and The American Tragedy, the general spiritual beliefs of the American people can be felt. Cultural identity has always been a constant theme in Chinese American literature. In the writings of many white writers, when Orientals meet Westerners, they are often obsessed with Orientalism and surrender to Westerners. Westerners abandon or save Asians. They rarely love each other equally, such as the famous Madame Butterfly. For a long time, the Chinese have been in a bad situation in the United States. They were silenced by the mainstream society and smeared by whites. All these make Chinese American writers unwilling to make their own voices in response to Orientalism, restore the true East, reshape the image of Chinese Americans, and win more for Chinese Americans in the United States. In the expression of different cultures, there is often cultural hegemony. Amy Tan tries to rebel against cultural hegemony and rewrites the East and China.

1.2 Research purpose

In order to fully view the “China image” in the works, the readers must not go to extremes due to the bloated national consciousness and must adhere to democratic nationalism. By exploring novels related to Eastern and Western cultures, the readers study a series of philosophies reflected in the characters in the novel. In the era of globalization, people of all countries in the world have frequent exchanges, coexist in multiple cultures, encounter heterogeneous cultures, and have constant cultural conflicts. In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts, the readers should face up to the cultural differences and values of different countries and different ethnic groups, transcend Orientalism, transcend “I ethnic centralism” and correctly handle relations, and face up to the conflicts and integration between East and West. The readers neither look up nor look down at the West. We neither feel self-abasement nor arrogant about ourselves. We must strive to create an equal and kind relationship that will enable the East and West to develop together.

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Chapter2 Literature Review

2. Literature Review

2.1 An overview of works of Chinese American literature

The development of Chinese American literature is divided into three periods: the initial stage was from the late 19th century to the 1960s, and the transitional stage was the 1970s and 1980s. From the late 1980s to the present, it has entered a prosperous era. Chinese American literature began in the second half of the 19th century and was originally oral literature in the form of songs and stories. Edith Eaton (1865–1914), a Chinese-British hybrid, can be said to be the most influential figure in the creation of Chinese American literature. She openly admits her Chinese identity and publishes novels and articles under the Chinese name “Daffodils”. In 1912, Edith Eaton published a short story collection Mrs. Spring Fragrance, which was regarded as one of the founding works of early Chinese American literature.

Liu Yichang and Huang Yuxue are the leading writers of the early Chinese American literature. They are born American citizens (ABC, American-born-Chinese). Although they have yellow skin and dark eyes, they are full of American values. Their thoughts and behaviors are different from those of their fathers, and they are particularly prominent in their attitude towards China and the United States. Their works reflect the Chinese people’s urgency to seek a place in American society.

A group of Chinese-American writers represented by such as Tang Tingting, Amy Tan and Zhao Jianxiu regained the essence of traditional Chinese culture as the driving force of literary creation, actively exported Chinese culture, changed the stereotyped image of Chinese Americans, and merged two heterogeneous cultures. As the adherent of nationalism, Zhao Jianxiu vigorously upholds the Chinese tradition and loves Chinese myths and legends and heroic traditions. He uses this to counter the distorted understanding of Chinese Americans in the mainstream society, corrects the stereotypical image of Chinese Americans, and constructs heroes of Chinese man spirit. Tang Tingting has an awkward attitude toward Chinese culture and traditions. On the one hand, she exposes and criticizes the unfair treatment suffered by Chinese Americans. On the other hand, she has given subjective and exaggerated renderings of certain disadvantages of the Chinese. Amy Tan, who is known as the “talker of Chinese stories” in a multicultural context, recorded and recreated the lives of his own and his father’s generation, reflecting the special experiences and mentality of ethnic Chinese groups in the marginal culture of the United States. Amy Tan combined biographies, folk stories and memoirs and explored three relationships: gender, race and identity. Most of its related content is about cultural misalignment and Sino-American cultural conflicts.

2.2 Research on the Joy Luck Club

The novel tells the story of four Chinese women who immigrated to San Francisco in the 1850s. Four Chinese immigrants to the United States met each other by playing mahjong, and together established a club “The Joy Luck Club”, and even placed their expectations for a better life. Each of these four Chinese women has a daughter. As Chinese mothers, they have difficulty communicating with American-born daughters and their daughters’ lovers and friends. Obviously, this barrier to communication comes from the different cultural backgrounds of mothers and daughters. Mothers grew up under the traditional Chinese high-context culture while their daughters grew up in the invasion of American low-context culture. The story shows the contradictions and confusion faced by two generations of women in the marginal zone. The daughters of the four mothers received a new style of education and life from an early age. There seems to be a gap between the mother and the daughter that cannot be communicated and the insoluble contradiction. However, the existence of blood and love between the mother and her daughter prompted the two parties to work hard to resolve the contradictions between them. Eventually, they became reconciled.

南京工业大学本科生毕业设计（论文）