On Chinese Folklore In The Woman Warrior

The Chinese American writer Maxine Hong Kingston's masterpiece The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of A Girlhood among Ghosts is a milestone in the history of Chinese American literature. The abundant Chinese culture has endowed Chinese American writers with plentiful resources, so that the image of Chinese traditional culture is always presented with the elder generation's memory and their own understanding in every detail of their writings. Kingston presents her interpretation and understanding of the Chinese culture in The Woman Warrior. Among the numerous aspects of Chinese culture displayed in The Woman Warrior, Chinese folklore can best represent Chinese traditional culture. This thesis will explore the crisis and the ultimate choice for Chinese folklore to survive in the American culture through the study on the Chinese folklore described in The Woman Warrior.Folklore is part of folk culture, and it refers to the living culture that is produced, used and inherited by the folk people. Chinese folklore has cultural significance to the Chinese culture. There are three kinds of Chinese folklore that are mainly described in The Woman Warrior: the well folklore, the folklore of witchcraft and folklore of taboo, and through Kingston's creative description of them, the thesis will analyze the second generation's understanding of Chinese folklore and the crisis for Chinese folklore to survive in the American culture and its origin. By using Zhang Juwen's theory of validity and vitality the thesis will illustrate the possibility for Chinese folklore's survival in other cultural environment, and find out the ultimate way for Chinese Americans to inherit and develop Chinese folklore.