摘 要

谭恩美是一位著名的华裔女作家，随着她的处女作《喜福会》的出版，谭恩美大获成功，受到美国甚至全世界读者的欢迎。《喜福会》描写四对母女间的故事。母亲们从隐忍沉默到觉醒发声，争取自己的权利，用自己的故事鼓励女儿们坚强，争取自己的应得的权利。女儿们最初和母亲们有代沟和隔阂，通过聆听母亲们的故事，逐渐理解母亲们深沉的爱和母亲身上所遗留下的中国文化。在这一过程中，《喜福会》中女性意识不断演变发展，从沉默到觉醒再到自我完善。

随着女性文学的发展，越来越多的评论家和研究者从创作手法、主题和人物等角度出发，发表的许多较有价值的文章。本论文分为三部分论述《喜福会》中的女性意识的演变发展。第一部分介绍女性在父权社会中沉默，遭受歧视，分别介绍了母亲们在旧中国的不幸遭遇和女儿们在美国受到的歧视。第二部分介绍女性的觉醒，母亲们勇于对抗，争取自己的权利。女儿们反对婚姻中的不平等，追求自己的幸福。第三部分介绍女性的自我完善，母亲们自立自强在美国社会立足。女儿们理解母亲和中国文化，母女关系和解，走向融合。

关键词：《喜福会》；女性意识；发展

ABSTRACT

Amy Tan is a well-known Chinese American writer. With the publication of her first novel The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan becomes famous and popular among in American readers even the readers around the world. The Joy Luck Club describes some stories between four mothers and their daughters. Mothers are in silence, then they awaken to fight for their rights. The mothers encourage their daughters to be strong by telling their stories. At first, the daughters have conflicts and gaps with their mothers. The daughters gradually understand their mothers and Chinese culture. During this process, the female consciousness in The Joy Luck Club continues to evolve and develop, from silence to awakening and to self-improvement.

With the development of the feminine literary, more and more critics and scholars have published some valuable articles in terms of themes, characterization and writing methods. This essay has been divided into three sections to analyze the development of female consciousness in The Joy Luck Club. The first part introduces the mothers suffer the misfortune in Ancient China and the daughters encounter the discrimination in America. The second part explores the awakening of women. The mothers resist for their rights. The daughters rebel the unfair treatment in their marriages. The third part explains the self-improvement of women. The mothers have made foothold in America. The daughters understand their mothers and Chinese culture.

Key words: The Joy Luck Club; development; female consciousness

Contents

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration.........................................................................................................2

2.1 Being silent.......................................................................................................2

2.1.1 Lindo’s obedience of her arranged marriage..........................................2

2.1.2 Lena’s tolerance with her husband........................................................4

2.2 Being awakened................................................................................................5

2.2.1 An-mei’s resistance against her stepfather......................................6

2.2.2 Rose’s opposition against her marriage................................................7

2.3 Being self-improved .........................................................................................8

2.3.1 Mothers: having a foothold in American society.....................................8

2.3.2 Daughters: identifying with mothers and Chinese culture.....................9

3. Conclusion...............................................................................................................11

Work cited...................................................................................................................12

Bibliography...............................................................................................................13

A Study of the Development of Female consciousness in The Joy Luck Club

1. Introduction

Amy Tan is a distinguished Chinese American writer. In 1987, she wrote her first novel The Joy Luck Club. In 1989, with the publication of The Joy Luck Club, she has achieved great success.

This novel has been translated into 25 kinds of language, including Chinese. In 1993, the novel has been adopted into a movie which is popular among Americans.The book mainly talks about the stories about four mothers and their daughters.

In recent times, more and more scholars pay attention to The Joy Luck Club. Critics and researchers have written some valuable articles from the perspective of theme and characters and so on.

Wang Huiya analyses this novel from one of novel’s themes—“silence” to give her opinion. She thinks that “silence is one of the most important themes in the novel” (Wang 87). In her article, she attempts to analyze the energy and courage in the silence. In patriarchal society, mothers and daughters are oppressed. They accumulate energy in the silence to struggle against oppression and seek for their rights and happiness. Xie Lihua and Yang Yali probe this book in terms of initiation theme that mothers guide their daughters to grow up and be mature. During daughters’ growing up, daughters were self-contradicted; they can’t understand their mothers. However, as time goes on, daughters gradually understand their mothers’ love. Finally, they identify with mothers and inherit Chinese culture from their mothers. Wang ying focus on the evolvement of female images in the book, such as mainland female images, immigrant female images and ABC female images. The female consciousness is developing and evolving in The Joy Luck Club. The protagonists is breaking the silence and exploring their mental world which leads to seek for their rights and catch for freedom. The new female images not only show the Chinese culture, but also reveal the consciousness of independence, competence and self.