沟通的力量解读《喜福会》中的人物冲突与解决途径.doc

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1、 DOI:10.13792/45-1300/z.2009.01.005 第 30 卷 第 1 期 2009 年 玉林师范学院学报（哲学社会科学） Vol.30 No.1 JOURNAL OF YULIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY (Social Science) The Power of Communicating OntheCharactersConflictsandResolutionin The Joy Luck Club WANG Xiao -ling (Lecturer, MA., Dept. of College Foreign languages Teaching, Y

2、ulin Normal University, Yulin, Guangxi 537000) Abstract: There are many kinds of conflicts in The Joy Luck Club. Among them,mother-daughter conflicts are the main conflicts. It is through communicating with each other that the mothers and the daughters gradually come to understand each other. Theref

3、ore, the conflicts are resolved and mutual understanding is ultimately achieved. Key words: The Joy Luck Club ; conflicts; communicating 外语教 沟通的力量 解读喜福会中的人物冲突与解决途径 王小玲 （玉林师范学院 大学外语教学部 讲师 硕士，广西 玉林 537000） 【摘 要】 喜福会中存在多种冲突，其中母女冲突是最主要的冲突。无论她们之间的 冲突有多大，通过互相的沟通，母亲们与女儿们之间最终达到了互相理解，他们之间的冲突也 得以解决。 【关键词】 喜福会

4、；冲突；沟通 【中图分类号】 I106.4【文献标识码】 A【文章编号】 1004-4671(2009)01-0139-08 1. Introduction to The Joy Luck Club focuses on the theme of mother-daughter relationships and he may also notice that the conflicts between the mothers and the daughters arise very frequently. Although the mothers and the daughters have

5、 a hard time communicating, we cannot deny that it is through communicating (mainly through the mothers telling stories， sharing their experience with their daughters and the daughters listening to the stories) with each other and caring each other that the mothers and the daughters gradually come t

6、o understand each other. he Joy Luck Club focuses on four central pairs of mothers and daughters: Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei “June” Woo, An -mei Hsu T and Rose Hsu Jordan, Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair and Lena St. Clair. The stories of these pairs are interwoven in four major se

7、ctions with mothers and daughters telling their stories of how they come to be where they are in life. After reading the novel, every reader may notice that the novel 139 2009 年 玉林师范学院学报 第 1期 grows up to be the strong, happy woman the mother has imagined. The woman still wishes to present the feathe

8、r to her daughter and to explain its symbolic meaning,butformanyyearssheholdsback.Sheisstill waiting “for the day she could explain it in perfect American English.”(JLC, P. 4) The opening parable raisestheissueofthelinguisticandculturalbarrierthat exists between each immigrant mother and American- b

9、orn daughter in the book. The daughter in the parable has never known the sorrows that her mother experienced in China, so she cannot appreciate her good fortune because she does not know her mothers story. Moreover, although the mother desires to live out her hopes through her daughter, the lack of

10、 communication between them prevents her wish from being granted in its entirety. 2. Mother-Daughter Conflicts There are four pairs of mothers and daughters: Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei Woo, An-mei Hsu and Rose Hsu Jordan, Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair and Lena St. Clair in the no

11、vel. The major source of friction between Tans mothers anddaughtersisthemothersdesirefortheirdaughters to be successful by American measures while remaining culturally Chinese. Now that the daughters are grown women with lives of their own, the mothers have been forced to admit to themselves that th

12、eir dreams will morethanlikelyneverfindfulfillment,buttheirlegacy of maternal ambition continue to shadow the lives of the daughters. In response, the daughters have perhaps unconsciously managed to subvert their mothers plans by ignoring their attempts to inculcate Chinese tradition into their mind

13、s and becoming so On the journey to America, the mothers are full ofyearningsforabetterandbrighterfuture.AsSuyuan says, “In America I will have a daughter just like me. But over there nobody will say her worth is measured by the loudness of her husbands belch. Over there nobody will look down on her

14、, because I will make her speak only perfect American English. And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!” (JLC, P. 3) 外语教学研究 thoroughly Americanized that they retain only fragments oftheirculturalheritage.Theresultisthebreakdownincommunication between the mothers and the daug

15、hters; more like antagonists than friends, the two groups are so wary around each other that they cannot voice frustration and fears. Atthebeginningofthenovel,ashortparablethat introduces the major theme begins with “Feathers from a Thousand Li Away”, which tells the tale of a Chinese woman who deci

16、des to immigrate to America. Before she leaves Shanghai, the woman buys a swan from a vendor, who tells her that the bird was once a duck. In an attempt to become a goose, the duck stretched its neck so far that it became a swan, exceeding its own hopes for itself. Before the woman sailstoAmerica,sh

17、edreamsofraisingadaughterinthe new country of plentiful opportunities. She imagines that her American-born daughter will resemble her However, life is just like dreaming, of which some are beautiful and sweet while others are frightening and bitter. The mothers dreams about their life in America can

18、 never come true. Especially, after they have their own daughters, how to deal with mother- daughter relationships becomes one of the biggest challenges they meet in America. 3. Communicating: the Resolution of the Mother-Daughter Conflicts Although there are lots of conflicts between the every way,

19、 except that, unlike her mother, she will be mothers and the daughters, the readers are pleased to judged according to her own worth, not by that of a find each story ends with the reunion of the mothers husband. Like the swan, the daughter will exceed all and the daughters. It is through communicat

20、ing (mainly hopes, so the woman plans to give her daughter the through the mothers telling stories, sharing their swan as a gift. Yet, when the woman arrives in America, experience with their daughters and the daughters the immigration officials seize the swan and leave the listeningtothestories)wit

21、heachotherandcaringeach woman with nothing but a feather. Later, her daughter other that the mothers and the daughters gradually 140 WANG Xiao-ling The Power of Communicating On the Characters Conflicts and Resolution in The Joy Luck Club come to understand each other. Therefore, the conflicts when

22、she comes into close touch with it. Later, Jing- are resolved and mutual understanding is ultimately meistravelingtoChinatomeetherhalfsistersseems achieved. to bring closure to her mothers dream as well as her The American-born daughters have a strong own story. Thus both of them are aware of each o

23、ther prejudiceagainsttheirmothersandtheChineseculture. and their conflicts are resolved. In their eyes, their mothers symbolize backwardness By telling her story of escaping her unhappy and ignorance. They believe that American culture is marriage, Lindo Jong makes her daughter Waverly superior to C

24、hinese culture. In order to change their knowtheimportanceoftheartofinvisiblestrength.By daughters attitude, the Chinese immigrant mothers listening to her mothers story , Waverly learns from never stop telling their American-born daughters their hermothertheartofinvisiblestrength,whichprovesto past

25、 Chinese experience. By relating their own past be a very powerful weapon for Waverly. Thanks to the experience, the mothers make their daughters know art her mother teaches her Waverly wins a lot of chess them and the Chinese culture better. Whats more, games and become famous when she is a little

26、girl. they all prove to their daughters that they are the After their heart to-heart talk, Waverly decides special ones who have the courage and skill to meet the to go to China together with her mother and spend the difficultiesandchangetheirfate.Mostimportantly,they honeymoon with her husband ther

27、e prove to their daughters through their experience that When Rose is facing the crisis of marriage, An- they actually symbolize bravery, courage and cleverness mei encourages her to speak up by telling her own instead of backwardness and ignorance. Without the painful experience. An-mei encourages

28、Rose, “Why greateffortsofthemothers,itisabsolutelyimpossible do you not speak up for yourself? Why can you not for the daughters to change their attitude and show talk to your husband?” (JLC, P. 216) An -mei also tells respect to their mothers, and to identify themselves Rose, “You must think for yo

29、urself, what you must with the Chinese culture. And the conflicts cannot be do. If someone tells you, then you are not trying.” 外语教 resolved at all. (JLC, P. 140) When Rose takes her mothers advice By telling Jing-mei her wandering life because and speaks up for herself, she not only astonishes her

30、of the war, Suyuan makes Jing-mei know her tragic arrogant husband, but also saves her marriage. Rose pastandthepainshestillfeelsfromthememoryofit. finallyrealizesthathermotherismoreenthusiasticand Suyuan lost two daughters in China during the war. helpfulthananAmericanpsychiatristinpullingherout Th

31、at is the reason why she puts all her hope on Jing- of trouble. While the American psychiatrist only makes mei. Later, Jing-mei gradually comes to understand her feel “hulihudu”. With the strength from the itandrealizesthatitisamistakenottolistentoher enlightenment by her mother, Rose solves her pro

32、blems mothertotryherbesttobesuccessful.Shehastowork in marriage. as a copywriter and enjoys low social position because By relating her own miserable experience, Ying- she did not work hard in school and dropped out of ying shows her daughter (Lena) what disastrous college when she was young. After

33、Jing-mei learns consequence would occur if she continues to ignore the more of the details about her mothers past, Jing - imbalance between her and her husband. And Ying- meis eyes open to the good intentions her mother ying warns Lena against the passivity and fatalism that always has for her. she

34、has suffered. In this way, she is encouraging her Jing-meis dying mother realizes that her daughter to take immediate action to eliminate the daughters problem stems from her refusal to em brace imbalance in her marriage. Through communicating her Chinese root. So she hints the suggestion of Jing- w

35、ith each other, Lena finds out that her mother loves meis trip to China, with the hope that the daughter her even much deeper than her Cau casian husband will be able to understand China and Chinese culture because her mother still clearly remembers that she 141 2009 年 玉林师范学院学报 第 1期 never eats ice-c

36、ream while her husband knows nothing mothers and the daughters, the readers are pleased to about it even though he is married to Lena for many find each story ends with the reunion of the mothers years. and the daughters. It is through communicating (mainly On the other hand, the daughters listening

37、 through the mothers telling stories, sharing their to their mothers stories is also the other way of experience with their daughters and the daughters communicating. The conflicts between the mothers and listeningtothestories)witheachotherandcaringeach the daughters can not be resolved until the da

38、ughters other that the mothers and the daughters gradually learntolisten trulylisten totheirmothersstories come to understand each other. Therefore, the conflicts and begin to come to terms with the links between are resolved and mutual understanding is ultimately those stories and their own lives.

39、Hearing their achieved. mothers stories, the daughters are able finally to In Tans writing, the mother-daughter reconcile the two disparate worlds of their heritage. relationships convey profound implications. The clashes The more the daughters know their mothers between two cultures and the bicultu

40、ral dilemma and the Chinese culture, the more they understand are best reflected in this novel. They not only reflect themselves. Finally, true understanding is achieved the conflicts, communication and integration of with deeper level of communication. To sum up, by Chinese and American cultures, b

41、ut also foretell the communicating with each other, the conflicts between understanding, communication and trusting attitudes the mothers and the daughters ultimately come to thatdifferentnations,racesandculturesshouldtakein 外语教学研究 reconcile.Itiscommunicatingthatservesasabridgeto the age of globaliz

42、ation. In the world of multi-culture connect the Joy Luck Club mothers and their daughters. andglobalization,itisinevitablethatconflictsbetween Through the bridge, the American-born daughters differentnationswillarisebecauseofculturedifferences come to know the greatness of their mothers and the and

43、nationalidentityissues.Itissafetosaythatknowing Chinese culture. They gradually change their prejudice abouttheculturaldifferencesisverynecessaryinorder against their mothers and show respect to them and the toreduceoravertsomeconflicts.Andwiththeattitude Chinese culture. They even identify themselv

44、es with of understanding and caring to communicate, different the Chinese culture. Mutual understanding between the nations can seek the commons while maintaining Chinese mothers and the American-born daughters is differences, coexist peacefully and reach “win -win”. finally achieved. 4. Conlusion A

45、lthough there are lots of conflicts between the 【参考文献】 1 Brah, Avtar, Mary J.1999. Thinking Identities: Ethnicity, Racism and Culture M. New York: St. Martins Press, Inc. 2 Tan, Amy. 1989. The Joy Luck Club M. New York: Ivy 4 程爱民、张瑞华 . 中美文化的冲突与融合：对喜福会 的文化解读 J. 国外文学 , 2001, (3). 5 李雪梅 . 母女冲突：两种文化的冲突 J. 西华师范大学学 报 , 2004,(1). Books. 3 Xia, Xiao-yan. 2001. Clashes and Acculturation On the Mother-daughter Relationship in The Joy Luck Club from the Language and Culture Perspectives D. Guangzhou: Jinan University. 【收稿日期 【责任编辑 2008-08-15】 谢文海】 142