A Perspective Of Pearl Buck's Cultural Identity Through Fighting Angel And The Exile

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1938, "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces". However, the two biographies, The Exile and Fighting Angel, which also helped her gain the award, didn't arouse much attention. In fact, we can resort to these two books to solve the problem of Pearl Buck's cultural identity, which is still a controversial issue now.As historical materials, the two biographies bear out the fact that Pearl Buck was an American descendant, having an American cultural background. As literary texts, the two works reveal Pearl Buck's identification with American culture and the reasons for her being accepted by it. To be recognized and acknowledged by the culture of the first world and to be a spokesman of a weak culture were two interdependent aspects in Pearl Buck's identity formation. The two aspects supported and interfered with each other. When she tried to speak for the weak culture, Pearl Buck could not eliminate the interference from the strong culture. Hence, there were inevitably some limitations in her works. While criticizing her works, we should relent from a cross-cultural perspective. At the same time, we should not be over-subjective in regard to Pearl Buck's cultural identity and promote her novels to too high a status.