Introduction
"The old woman remembers that she spent a lot of money to buy a swan in Shanghai many years ago. "This beast..." the market goose vendor boasted, "Cracking her neck and hoping to turn the goose, you see, it is so beautiful that it is unbearable." Stomach down.' Then the woman crossed the ocean with the geese in her arms and headed to the United States with expectation. During the trip, she told the swan that I would have a daughter like mine in the United States, where she didn’t need to rely on her husband to breathe. Life; no one will look down upon her because she will speak fluent English; I want her to be a swan that is a hundred times better than expected. But when she arrived in the new country, immigration officials took her away The woman waved her arms in panic, leaving only a feather as a memorial. Now, a long time later, this woman wants to give her daughter this feather and tells her that although the feather is not valuable, it comes from a distant country. It has always carried my expectations."
The swan that crossed the oceans carried the faith of survival gathered by the four mothers after rebirth and the traditional Chinese spirit of personality freedom and all the expectations of their daughters. But in the new continent of the United States, they discovered between consciously and unconsciously that their beliefs and values could not be recognized by this "free country." But they still do their best to leave that piece of feathers that even others seem to be worthless, hoping that one day their daughters can understand all their feelings.
Amy Tan and her "
The Joy Luck Club " Chinese American female writer Amy Tan's famous work "The Joy Luck Club" (The Joy Luck Club) was included in the "New York Times" bestseller list at 9 Months. In 1990, the book won the Los Angeles Book Award, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Award, the Bay Area Book Critic Fiction Award and the Commonwealth Club Gold Award and many other literary awards. The novel was later adapted into a movie, which also caused violent repercussions at home and abroad. "The Joy Luck Club" has achieved such a glorious achievement, on the one hand, because the novel describes the sufferings of the four mothers in old China. It is full of oriental flavor and caters to the psychology of American readers who desire to understand the mysterious ancient China. On the other hand, it is because the novel has a cross-cultural theme. The author’s description of the generation gap and estrangement between the four pairs of mother and daughter reflects the cultural complex arising from the encounter between the maternal culture and the heterogeneous culture—the conflict and fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, and the influence of Chinese descent on their cultural identity in the collision of the two cultures. Difficult to search for this major theme of world significance.
Like the descendants of immigrants described in the novel, Amy Tan has a dual identity. On the one hand, as a descendant of Chinese immigrants, she has withstood the influence of Chinese culture from her mother's story. In her bones, there is an indissoluble Chinese cultural plot. On the other hand, as the second-generation immigrants who grew up in the United States, the surrounding environment and education are all typical American. The United States is an immigrant society and a "melting pot". How to deal with the conflict between traditional culture and mainstream culture, that is, thinking about cultural identity, is common in the texts of minority writers. In "The Joy Luck Club", the author starts from personal memory, separates a specific perspective of observing history and absorbing culture, amplifies self-experience, and raises family conflicts and conflicts between mothers and daughters to the level of cultural conflicts. , And make it symbolized and fable under the background of Chinese and American cultural traditions, making the novel and later movies more cultural connotation and artistic tension. The four mothers described in "The Joy Luck Club" emigrated from mainland China to the United States in the 1940s with the suffering and traditional culture of old China. The United States at that time was their paradise. In the United States, they hoped that their daughters would never repeat the misfortunes of old Chinese women and would never repeat their mistakes. They have unlimited hopes for their children, and they want to plan their daughter's future according to their ideals. However, these children who were born and raised in the United States have accepted American culture since childhood. In their view, the mother’s ideas and behaviors are both absurd and ridiculous, so both sides hold on to their own opinions and do not give in to each other. Contradiction. From a cultural perspective, the first half of the film shows the collision and conflict between the Chinese and Western cultures through the relationship between the four pairs of mother and daughter, and the second half describes the relationship between mother and daughter from conflict to reconciliation, thus constructing Eastern and Western cultures. The prospect of cultural development from elementary opposition to dualistic integration.
As a migrating ethnic group, the Chinese people face the dilemma of dual culture. The conflict between the parental culture and the heterogeneous culture in life makes them unable to fundamentally surpass the conventions of the original culture. Therefore, when colliding with and encountering heterogeneous cultures, the cultural genes and conventions deposited in the depths of memory will naturally appear. The post-colonial theorist Homi Bhabha “has a strict examination of nationalism, representation and resistance, especially emphasizing a kind of'contradiction' and'mixedness' that are characteristic of colonial disputes." "Imaginative construction of culture and national identity.". ① This kind of "hybridity" is a subversive strategy of the vagrant writers on the margins, infiltrating into the mainstream culture with a heterogeneous culture, and thus is recognized by the mainstream culture.
The "aphasia" of mother-daughter communication-the collision of Chinese and Western cultures
. The communication barriers between the two generations first come from language. "Language as a signal reflects cultural prejudices and restricts people's way of thinking", and "in the process of encoding meaning through language, the context outside the language is extremely important." ②In the film, we can find such an interesting phenomenon. Even in the family, all the members’ dialogues are in English, but the mothers always have a little Chinese vocabulary in their English, especially when they are eager to express a certain meaning. when. We believe that for mothers, Chinese will always be their mother tongue, just like China will always be their home in the depths of their hearts. As long as they are willing, this language can be fluent from their mouths at any time. So Su insisted on running the "Joy Luck Club" because this is the habitat of traditional culture in the hearts of mothers, so that they, who are in a foreign country and wandering on the edge of mainstream culture, can wear Chinese clothes and use their mother tongue. Chat, tell stories, and feel spiritual comfort in the strong local cultural atmosphere. But for their next generation, they are worried. Although she has "speaks fluent English", she "neglects their dream of coming to the United States." With the growth of these second-generation immigrants over the years, they have even completely forgotten that they were originally Chinese. They no longer use Chinese, but communicate in fluent English. Even in such a traditional occasion of playing mahjong, they do not allow mothers to mix Chinese in their communication because they don't know if they are "cheating". The language barrier naturally caused the blocking of information exchange between mother and daughter to a large extent, until both sides fell silent.
In both Chinese and English language environments, the "signifier" of the language symbol "family" is given different meanings of "referred". In traditional Chinese concepts, the family not only represents the absolute power of parents over their children, but also means the interdependent relationship between parents and children. But in the United States, individualistic values encourage everyone to struggle, emphasizing self-realization and independence. The conflict between mother and daughter in the film reflects to some extent the collision of "family" values between the two cultures of China and the United States. Su has always turned his "debt" to the two twins whose whereabouts are unknown on the mainland into hope for his daughter Jun. She hopes that her daughter will become a phoenix. She has been carrying out a "genius training plan" for the king in the way she has maternal love in her mind, and when she is rebelling, she strongly shouted: "There are only two daughters, obeying the mother's life and doing whatever she wants. But this house can only accommodate obedience." But how can a child who grew up in a "free country" like this understand the mother's painstaking efforts, she also yelled at her mother: "I am not your slave, this is not China, you can't force me!" Since then, the differences between the mother and daughter have continued for more than 20 years. Jun deliberately ignored his mother's expectations, and he eventually became an ineffective person. Wei Li had a talent for playing chess since she was a child, but because she couldn't understand her mother holding her honor to show off everywhere, she said she would no longer play chess, but her stubborn mother Lindo thought that she had not only failed to cultivate Wei Li's painstaking efforts. The respect and reward the daughter deserves, even the unjustifiable performance of being proud of her daughter was regarded as a loss of face by her daughter, and she was so disappointed that she stopped "interfering" in her daughter's life for a long time, and was never happy. Not sad expression. The estrangement between mother and daughter resulted from this, and "aphasia" lasted for more than 20 years.
The misunderstanding and separation of the two generations of mother and daughter in the film are produced in a cross-cultural context. Therefore, this conflict is not only covered by the usual "generation gap", it embodies self/other, center/periphery , The cultural power conflict between the West/East. As Said said in "Oriental Studies": "The relationship between the West and the East is a kind of power rule and varying degrees of complex hegemonic relations." ③In this cultural gap and cultural gap, it is bound to form a representative of the United States. The struggle for the right to speak between the daughter of the mainstream culture and the mother who represents the traditional Chinese culture. The inferior mother—the Eastern culture is bound to be suppressed by the strong Western culture, making the mother and daughter go farther and farther under the barriers of racial barriers and cultural collisions, and finally fall into a state of "aphasia". The power consciousness under the Western cognitive structure and the one-sided and biased Western cultural traditions towards China make the daughters who are immersed in American culture a one-way activity to distort the heterogeneous culture. The humble nature and economic backwardness in modern Chinese history have made Chinese mothers in the position of "marginal people" in a heterogeneous culture. They have no voice in society, and the only thing they can rely on is the spirit of not admitting defeat and the long cultural tradition. They use stammering English to intervene and educate their daughters in their lives and growth, showing their fearless resistance and challenges to Western hegemony. What coincides with the Eastern consciousness is that in the confrontational relationship between mother and daughter, the mother does not fight for reasons and argues with her daughter endlessly, but adopts the traditional Chinese method of forbearance and retreat.
In the silence brought about by such ideological and cultural conflicts, the mother has grown old, and the daughter has also experienced the collision and conflict between the two cultures on her own. While the mother generation is suffering from the huge trauma caused by "aphasia," the daughters are also repeating their mothers' stories unknowingly.
The embarrassment of the daughters-the confusion of the others themselves
For daughters born in the United States, "China" is far away. It is mother's babbling, Chinese language that they can't fully understand, and a mythical story. They try their best to adapt and assimilate to the cultural environment of the surrounding mainstream society, and strive to make themselves a true "American". However, their inborn faces and the Chinese traditional cultural values subtly derived from their mothers make them always belong to the "other" in the eyes of Americans. As Patricia Lin pointed out: “Chinese women born in the United States are very sensitive to the completely different values of China and the United States. Unlike their mothers, these women face demands from two opposing cultures. Chinese women born and raised in the United States know every bit of the Chinese way of life, but they often feel helpless because they have to choose between the'Chinese style' and the'American style.' In contrast, they are born in China. Mothers seldom feel at a loss because they are entangled in the complicated issues of whether they are Chinese or American, or being a female."④
Wei Li always speaks fluent English, and her capable style and ability have allowed her to accomplish something in her career. She can be regarded as a successful "American" in all aspects, but she can't get through it only in terms of feelings. Mother's hurdle-in fact, she couldn't pass the hurdle in her own heart after all. Although years of estrangement left mother and daughter with little room for communication, children who grew up under that kind of Chinese education are born with an unknown fear of their parents. In her first marriage, Wei Li married a Chinese for her mother's favor. This time she wanted to bravely find her own happy life, but the image of her mother was like a mountain in her heart. On the night that she brought her boyfriend home for dinner, Wei Li had been observing her mother's expression. She was relieved when her mother laughed. If her mother is unhappy, she would not even dare to mention marriage. Between the outward American style of chic sentiment and the inner Chinese filial piety, Wei Li has always been in a dilemma. Li Na has an independent job. In her life, all expenses of her and her husband are accounted for under the "AA system". She always thinks that this will demonstrate her independent personality and be respected by her husband. Isn’t it a puppet? It’s still a puppet. It’s nothing more than the fact that the things you can lead can be reduced, and the puppets you can lead can increase.” While becoming an economically independent new woman, Li Na was unconsciously lost In addition to the dignity of the relationship, the life between husband and wife is largely determined by the benefits of money, which makes her feel depressed but she does not know the crux of the problem, and she cannot tell what she is suffering. Rose's elegant appearance and high-minded personality earned her the favor of the publishing tycoon's son. However, the man's mother tried to ask Rose to leave. Because of her skin color, her status is likely to affect her son's career development. "In Western culture, the mainstream ideology has repeatedly distinguished itself from the other in a subordinate position." "In order to maintain the superiority of a nation, something else—an other—must be regarded as a lower one. Labeled.” ⑥The American scholar Amy Lin once said when talking about the cultural identity of Chinese descent: “Whether they are new immigrants or Chinese born in the United States, they are found to be caught between two worlds. They are. The facial features proclaim the fact that their ethnicity is Asian, but through education, choice, or birth, they are Americans.” ⑦ But even if they are nationalities, what about culturally “Americans”? In the orthodox mainstream Western cultural context, their skin color determines that they will always be "others" on the margins of society. The secular perspective also affected Rose’s psychology to a certain extent. Although she was married to her sweetheart, she regarded herself as a husband in her heart.
If the "aphasia" between mother and daughter is more due to the differences and collisions between the two cultures, then the embarrassment and confusion that the daughters showed in the face of the powerful Western cultural offensive reflects the mainstream culture's opposition to " The exclusion of the "other". We can see in the film that although the daughters have not received formal Chinese traditional education, the traditional ethics, values, and even the entire Chinese culture appear remote and separated. But because of the mothers’ words and deeds, and their ears and ears, these traditions still affect their thinking subtly. This kind of dual cultural infiltration and dual cultural awareness makes them subconsciously Chinese cultural consciousness will play a role when they cannot solve the problem in the American way. The dual identity is destined to make them seek reconciliation between the two cultures.
Convergence of heterogeneous cultures
Cultural identity is not an inherent characteristic of a particular culture or a particular nation. On the contrary, it has a structuralist characteristic, which is a series of interrelated characteristics. Homi Baba believes that cultural “identity is by no means a priori, nor is it established, it can only be an uncontrollable process that always approaches the overall image.” Hall also said, “The theme is different. Time acquires different identities, and the unity of self is no longer the center. We contain contradictory identities, and our power is directed in all directions. Therefore, identity is always a constantly changing process." ⑨In "The Joy Luck Club", as the years go by Over the course of time, each mother-daughter pair ends with reconciliation, which to a certain extent also symbolizes the fusion of the two heterogeneous cultures of China and the United States.
Not long before his mother passed away, Jun finally understood the good intentions of his mother for more than two decades. Just as "how can there be a daughter who doesn't understand her mother", there will be no mothers in the world who don't understand her daughter. On the surface, the traditional Chinese education method of wanting to promote, suppress, and forbearance made Su Zaijun an indifferent mother who was extremely disappointed in her daughter, but Su never gave up her seemingly ineffective daughter. Because only she knows the purity and kindness of her daughter, which is a quality unmatched by any superficial ability. At that time, Jun finally understood all the expectations his mother had for him, but he was just living a good life. The moment she sat down at the mahjong table in the east position of the mother, we seemed to see that the daughter/West had begun to accept the mother/Dong. At the end of the film, when Jun returned to China and embraced her twin sister she had never met, the two sides called out "MaMa", a word common to all languages. It is simple and profound. It is an Eastern and Western culture. One of the intersection of. Lin Duo is also a stubborn Chinese mother who doesn't know how to express feelings too much. Affected by the “chess event” when she was a child, for more than 20 years, Wei Li has always thought that her mother's silent rebellion represented her silent resistance. So she married a Chinese to please her, but her mother's disappointed expression at the time of the divorce made Wei Li dare not let her mother know that she had made a foreign boyfriend for a long time. But in Lin Duo's heart, although she has a lot of dissatisfaction with Wei Li's foreign boyfriend-mainly because she does not understand Chinese culture and etiquette, after all, the happiness of her daughter is the mother's greatest happiness. Lin Duo finally tolerated Wei Li's marriage. To a certain extent, He accept also shows her acceptance of American culture and respect for the differences between the two cultures. In the so-called equal marriage where Li Na wants love not to rely too much on it, it was her mother's words that awakened her deep desire for true feelings. "Respect and gentleness" is what she really wants. The equal freedom of American individualism does not work everywhere. Similarly, Rose, who lost her self in love and marriage, was deeply shocked by the story of her mother. The blood of Chinese self-improvement flowing in her body made her sober up completely. She is not a society, outside the family. "Zhe", she is a complete individual. And her self-esteem and self-improvement finally regained her husband's love and respect.
Said once said: "All cultures have me in you, and you in me. No single culture is isolated and simple. All cultures are hybrid and mixed." ⑩ Two generations of mother and daughter, past and present , The East and the West are inherently interconnected and inseparable. The identity that the mother and daughter finally achieved through the years of running-in is actually the identity of the Chinese and Western cultures. It's just that this identity is not the cultural type of either party accepting the other in its entirety, but a reconstructed third culture that only belongs to the group of Chinese descent. In mothers who cling to traditional culture, we can read the process of the gradual infiltration of Chinese and Western cultures after the conflict; while the daughters embodied the extension of the mothers’ memories and dreams, and inherited part of the traditional Chinese cultural values. The Chinese blood in their bodies will sooner or later boil as they find a sense of belonging, and sooner or later the Chinese culture in their bones will hurt their nerves.
Conclusion
If it is said that the mothers in "The Joy Luck Club" represent traditional Chinese culture, and this group of daughters represent modern American civilization, then the author is concerned about this hyphenated "Chinese-American" phenomenon The same attention was given to the two levels. This kind of attention by Amy Tan can be said to have broken the long-standing "center" and "peripheral" model of opposition, and behind the superficial cultural conflict, it has realized a deeper cultural identity. As Pico Yell pointed out in the "British Empire’s Literary Strikes Back" published in the US "Time" magazine, "Postcolonial writers are diverse and mixed. They do not stand in a specific geographical position, but in The increasingly mobile global village is a convenient crossroad for reflection, and their value judgments for reflection are also diverse, so they have a certain degree of indefinability. They span dual or even multiple languages and cultural traditions. They are creating one A new novel to correspond to a new world." ○11
The United States is a society dominated by white culture and multiculturalism. How Chinese immigrants inherit the excellent traditions of Chinese culture and absorb the essence of American culture to construct a cultural identity belonging to this group is a problem that many Chinese writers always pay attention to. Amy Tan is undoubtedly one of such multicultural insights beyond national boundaries. Whether it is a novel or a movie, "The Joy Luck Club" provides readers and audiences with a network of different cultures through the intersection of different cultures. Time and Space Network". ○12 "The Joy Luck Club" not only shows the younger generation's pursuit of wandering and rootless memories, but also not only the confusion and struggle of Chinese Americans in the cultural identity dilemma, but also expresses the Chinese Americans through the expectation of the integration of two cultures They are unwilling to abandon and conceal the Chinese cultural identity, but the slaves cater to the mainstream culture to squeeze into the mainstream American society, and they are unwilling to stick to the Chinese culture to fight against the will of the mainstream white culture. The whole film conveys a message that advocates diluting the definition of cultural identity and eliminating cultural opposition, so as to achieve a globalized multi-ethnic cultural integration and peaceful coexistence.
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