摘 要

“喜福会”是谭恩美的杰作。这部小说描述了四名中国妇女移民到美国和他们的四个美国出生的女儿的故事。这部小说是基于中国和美国的文化背景而进行的，并着重于文化冲突与和解。本文旨在从家庭价值、自我认同和语言表达三个方面探讨母女之间的文化冲突与和解，以期帮助我们从跨文化交际的角度理解文化冲突与和解的具体体现。

关键词: 喜福会;文化冲突；和解

Contents

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

2. Demonstration...................................................................................................... .1

2.1.Cultural conflicts in the Joy Luck Club.............................................................. .1

2.1.1. Conflicts in values.......................................................................................... .22.1.1.1. Differences in marriage concept.................................................................. .3

2.1.1.2.Differences in education concept.................................................................. 4

2.1.2.Conflicts in self-identity................................................................................... 5

2.1.3.Conflicts in language........................................................................................ 6

2.2.Cultural reconciliation in the Joy Luck Club...................................................... .8

2.2.1.Reconciliation in values.................................................................................... 8

2.2.2.Reconciliation in self- identity...........................................................................9

2.2.3.Reconciliation in language................................................................................10

1. Conclusion...............................................................................................................11

Notes

Works cited

Bibliography

On the Chinese and American Cultural Conflicts and reconciliation in the Joy Luck Club

1. Introduction

Amy Tan is one of the prominent Chinese American writers that have emerged since the 1980s. She was born in Oakland, California, in 1952. She published her first novel: The Joy Luck Club in 1989, which was a great success. It was followed by other novels: The Kitchen God’s Wife(1991), The Hundred Secret Senses(1995), and The Bonsetter’s Daughter(2001). Nowadays, Amy Tan has become one of the representatives of Chinese American writers in the field of American literature because of her extraordinary thoughts expressed in her novels as well as her excellent writing techniques.

As we all known, there are great differences between American culture and Chinese culture, even the conflicts are inevitable. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan describes the life for us through the form of a story in the two different cultural environments of contradictions and conflicts between mother and daughter, thus revealing the cultural differences and conflicts of China and the United States. But ultimately the family and multicultural awareness let them find a way to communicate, the mother and daughter relationship becomes harmonious. The process of their mother daughter relationship from conflict to integration makes us aware of the conflict between Chinese and American culture. Of course, this kind of conflict can be moderated by the integration of mother-daughter relationship.

This paper aims to examine the Chinese and American cultural conflicts and reconciliation in The Joy Luck Club from the perspective of intercultural communication. The paper will be divided into 3 parts. The first part is introduction. The second part is the conflicts and reconciliation in values, self-identity and language in The Joy Luck Club. The third part is conclusion.

2. Demonstration

2.1. Cultural conflicts in The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club is about a complex story of four Chinese women who

come to America in order to escape their tragic lives in China, and later who have given birth to , and raise four American daughters. The mothers are ambitious for the daughter’s future, but while they want them to succeed, they want to remain Chinese. With broken English and limited knowledge of America, the mothers are upset with the fact that their daughters cannot understand their past and their hope.

Suyuan Woo is mother of June. Suyuan Woo gave birth to twin sisters in the war, but she abandoned them. Because she was ill and dying, she was unable to take care of the twins. Later, she immigrated to America and then gave a birth to June. Lindo is mother of Waverly. When Lindo was five years old, she was given to a family surnamed Huang as a daughter-in-law. She was married with a junior younger than her. She could not let a junior have a sexual desire to her and she can't be pregnant, so, her mother-in-law hit and scolded her every day. Then, she offered excuse that Mr.Huang came to her dream and warned her not be daughter-in-law, Mrs. Huang believes and let her go. Ying Ying is mother of Lena. Ying Ying fell in love with a young master.Soon afterwards, she married him, and then had a baby. But, that master was faithless and disloyal, she woke up at last. So, she drowned her son to end this unhappy marriage. She left that home. An Mei is mother of Rose. An Mei was a widow, she went to the temple to burn incense and pray. The owner of a large house called Wu Qing, played a dirty trick, raped her and made her pregnant.She had no choice but rely on him. Her life was dull, her only hope was that daughter is still alive. But her daughter was not admitted by that family, and she knew it will hurt her daughter for a lifetime. The mother chose to eat opium to save her daughter's dignity.

However, daughters have very different experiences from their mothers. They have grown up in the context of the American culture. They accept American culture all the time. They grew up in a more stable environment than mothers’ . Therefore, in the process of their growth, there will be contradictions and conflicts inevitably. The cultural conflicts in the Joy Luck Club lie in the conflicts in values, self-identity and language.