A Study of Objects in the Joy Luck Club from the perspective of Material Culture_英语论文

摘要

谭恩美是著名的美国华裔小说家。本论文探讨了谭恩美的作品《喜福会》的中国麻将、食物和服饰等方面，从物质文化的角度对这其进行分析，进而展示了母女关系从冲突到融合的过程，体现中国母亲一如既往的母爱。同时，小说也从另一方面揭示了主人公精妹从对中国文化的排斥到接纳过程，体现了作为一个中国人的骄傲，以及找回文化身份的自豪。

近年来，人们越来越看重物质文化的发展，而物质文化的研究主要是关于物质客体的文化表述的研究，它既研究物质本身，又研究物质背后所承载的人的情感及寄托。本论文运用物质文化角度分析谭恩美作品《喜福会》的物品，从物品和身份的关系入手，揭示物品所诠释的中国文化及其所承载的美国华裔的心灵寄托，最终试图展示了中国文化博大精深和美国华裔族群对自己文化身份的接纳。

关键词: 《喜福会》  谭恩美  物质文化 文化身份

Abstract

There are many cultural topics to be discussed among Chinese Americans. Among these topics are Chinese mahjong, Chinese food and Chinese clothing as depicted in the beautiful work The Joy Luck Club. This novel by Amy Tan comes from the perspective of material culture. It analyses the process from conflict to reconciliation between mothers and daughters, revealing mother’s love for the Chinese mother impression. At the same time, the thesis analyses the main character, Jing-mei, talking about the process of her transformation from resisting to accepting Chinese culture. During her personal journey, she realizes the value and the pride of having Chinese heritage.

In recent years, people pay more and more attention to the development of material culture, which highlights the object and its cultural implications. It is the material itself, and the substance behind the human emotion and bearing that becomes the focus of study. This thesis uses the material culture perspective to interpret the Joy Luck Club by analyzing the relations between material objects and human cultural identity, it also attempts to explore the Chinese culture and the Jing-mei’s personal journey reflected in objects and unveiling the process of how Chinese Americans construct their cultural identity.

Keywords:  the Joy Luck Club  Amy Tan  Material Culture  Cultural Identity

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Amy Tan and the Joy Luck Club 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.3 The Theory of Material Culture 5

1.4 Thesis Structure 6

2  The Chinese Daily Item in the Joy Luck Club 8

2.1    The Material Theory of Chinese Mahjong 8

2.2    The Meaning of Chinese Mahjong 9

3  The Chinese Food in the Joy Luck Club 11 

3.1    The Material Theory of Chinese Food 11

3.2    The Meaning of Chinese Food 12   

4  The Chinese Clothing in the Joy Luck Club 14

4.1    The Material Theory of Chinese Clothing 14

4.2    The Meaning of Chinese Clothing 15

Conclusion 17

Acknowledgements 18

References 19