Abstract

Many factors contribute to the great success of The Joy Luck Club written by the prestigious Chinese-American writer Amy Tan. In prior researches, experts focused on the components of traditional Chinese culture, the theme of cultural conflicts and integration and the theme of mother-daughter relationship as well. Nevertheless, this paper concentrates on the important writing technique of symbolism. In order to analyze the skillful use of symbolism, three typical examples are introduced in the paper, namely, the swan feather, the wood and the red candle. Two layers of symbolic meaning are discussed in elaborating the symbol of swan feather. Background information is added in the illustrating part of the five elements theory in traditional Chinese culture, which is necessary in presenting the symbolic meaning of the wood. The last symbol of red candle is explained in both traditional context and the novel context. By showing these important symbols in The Joy Luck Club, it is expected to help readers gain a better and more extensive understanding towards all the major themes of this novel.

Key Words: symbolism, The Joy Luck Club, swan feather, wood, red candle

摘要

著名美国华裔女作家谭恩美的第一部小说《喜福会》获得了巨大的成功。它的成功归因于多重因素。在此之前，专家学者主要对这部小说的以下几个方面作了详细研究：小说中的传统文化因素，小说的文化冲突与融合的主题以及小说中微妙的母女关系。然而，本篇论文着眼于对小说的主要写作手法——象征主义进行研究，并对小说中的三个典型象征意象进行了分析，即天鹅毛，“木”和红烛。在分析“天鹅毛”这一象征意象时，分别从文化和情感两个角度入手；在对“木”的象征意义分析时，补充介绍了中国传统文化中“五行”理论，这对西方读者理解“木”这一意象具有重要的指导意义；对“红烛”这一意象进行分析时，分别介绍了传统的红烛象征意义和小说中红烛独特的另一象征意义。除了这三个主要象征意象的介绍外，小说中其他一些重要的意象也略有简介，如“喜福会”这一题目，象棋和玉坠等。正是因为谭恩美对象征主义这一写作手法的准确、熟练的运用，小说的主题得到了更突出的表现。本文意在通过对小说三个象征意象的解释从而分析象征主义这一写作手法的具体作用，以帮助其他读者对文章的主要中心和主题获得更深刻的理解。

关键词：象征主义， 喜福会，天鹅毛，木，红烛

I.    Introduction
In The Joy Luck Club，a swan bearing a mother’s hope and dream opens a door to the world that Amy Tan has created for readers. This novel helps Tan to win an irreplaceable position in the modern American literature. As one of the most prestigious Chinese-American writers, Amy Tan urges the boom of the Chinese American literature and promotes the influential position of Chinese culture in the USA. All of her works include lots of Chinese cultural elements with no exception, which can be perfectly illustrated in her first novel The Joy Luck Club.