China Images In Caucasian, Chinese

The American literature of the past one and a half centuries has witnessed a steady flow of works of China-related subject matters, making itself one of the main sources in the framing of the China image in USA. Considering the different cultural identities of the writers of these works, which may supposedly have major impacts upon the making of certain China image in relevant works, the China-related works in question are thus classified into three groups, including works respectively written by Caucasian, Chinese-American and Chinese immigrant writers. This dissertation is designed to trace the development of the China image within each group, the mutual impacts of the China images among different groups and the motivation as well as the dynamics behind the making of a specific China image.The dissertation is divided into three parts, respectively dealing with works written by Caucasian, Chinese-American and Chinese immigrant writers.In "Introduction", the author gives a detailed retrospection of the history concerning studies in the fields of the China image of the West, the USA and the American literature. In doing so, the author makes clear the major issues that this dissertation is to tackle and the approaches it is to take.Part One (Chapter 1-5) explores the China image in literature of Caucasian American writers. After a general survey in Chapter 1 of the evolution of the China image in Caucasian writings, a joking poem by Bret Harte titled "The Plain Language of Truthful James"(more widely known as "The Heathen Chinee") is given detailed analysis in Chapter 2, so that the reader may have a better understanding of the social-political context of the forming of the famous "Heathen Chinee" stereotype and its long-standing legacy. Then, with the discussion of the Fu Manchu stories by Sax Rohmer in Chapter 3, the author tries to trace the origin and development of the popular "Yellow Peril" discourse. In Chapter 4 and 5, efforts are made to analyze the China image in the novel The Good Earth by Nobel laureate Pearl S. Buck and the work of the China-born American writer John Hersey, in order to provide the reader with an all-around inspection of images of both immigrant and domestic Chinese people.Part Two (Chapter 6-9) centers on works by Chinese-American writers. A gain, Chapter 6 is a general survey of China image in such writings. Chapter 7 discussed the realistic representation of the Chinatown life in the works of the Eurasian female writer Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton) and the Chinese America n writer Louis Hing Chu. Chapter 8 explores the significance of a widely-adop ted genre, ethno-autobiography, in Chinese-American literature. The last chapter of this part, Chapter 9, is about the function and image of the omnipresent Chinese cultural elements in Chinese-American writings.Part Three (Chapter 10-16) lists chronologically the China image in immigrant writings of different ages. There are works with the aim of cultural communication by intellectuals such as Lee Yan Phou, Yung Wing and Lin Yutang; there are also market-oriented writings aiming to exoticism-fascinated western readers such as the novels by Princess Der-ling and C. Y. Lee. Special attention is given in Chapter 13 to render a much-forgotten leftist immigrant writer H. T. Tsiang and his works into spotlight for a delayed evaluation. The next two chapters are centered on the China image in Cultural Revolution narratives by New Immigrant writers. Chapter 16 focuses on the writings of Ha Jin, the most influential new immigrant writers in recent years.In Chapter 17 (Conclusion), the author believes that writing language and the corresponding choice of target reader, the social-political context of a certain work and the cultural and other identities of the writer, are the three most important factors in the making of a certain China image. In American cultural context, identity of the writer mainly refers to his/her racial, ethnic and gender role, though factors such as the writer's social position, political tendency, profession and his/her Chinese experience may also play a part in the fomulation of the China image.The author of this dessertation believes that a China image mainly mirrors the internal dynamics of the American culture, yet it also carries more or less some factual information of China. Therefore, the evolution of the China image in American literature could neither be solely attributed to the change of the Chinese society, nor that of the American society, rather, it is the joint functioning of the complicated interation of both societies. In this sense, the China image could be regarded as a mirror from which the desire of the American culture is reflected; and it is also a piece of rough glass from which one might view some of the real aspects of the Chinese culture and society.