"Articulating" Silence

As one of the most renowned Chinese American female writers, Amy Tan made a name for herself with the publication of The Joy Luck Club in 1989. Her endeavor was further appreciated when her other novels made their appearance: The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995) and The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001). The publication of two children's books The Moon Lady (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994) contributed to her fame as well. Although highly acclaimed, Tan, as a Chinese American female writer, has never ceased to grope for new ideas in her literary creation. Her recent writings, The Opposite of Fate (2003) and Saving Fish from Drowning (2005), have all the more drawn critical and popular attention.As a female Chinese American, Amy Tan has witnessed and experienced the ubiquitous silence among minority women. More or less, her concern for the silenced Chinese American women is woven into her novels, among which her fourth one The Bonesetter's Daughter touches upon the state of muteness with most nuance. Since so far little research has been done on the theme of silence in Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter, this thesis is inclined to attempt a tentative analysis of the text on the silence of Chinese American women via investigating some characters, mainly female ones in The Bonesetter's Daughter. Grounded mainly on Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's theories, this thesis adopts a Postcolonial feminist perspective in the analysis of the text so as to shed more light on some of Tan's cultural strategies proposed for Chinese American females in reality. As no similar analytical efforts have been made before, this thesis intends to offer a new angle to excavate the richness of Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter. With a careful examination of the text and detailed analyses of Tan's life and work, some personal opinions are provided in hope of intriguing more insights and provoking more inspiration concerning Amy Tan, her works and the Amy Tan's study.Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, the whole body of the thesis falls into four parts. In the first chapter, the author of this thesis traces the reasons for the silence of Chinese American women, namely sexual discrimination, racial exclusion and traditional Chinese misogyny. Chapter Two mainly discusses the marginalized situation of Chinese Americans in the alien land that results in the silence of Chinese American women and Tan's strategy to cope with the doubly marginalized situation of the females. Chapter Three focuses on the ambivalence of Chinese Americans in the heterogeneous cultural context of America and Tan's suggestion on dissipating the ambivalence. The last chapter explores the communicative barrier arising from cultural differences. Such differences, which are illustrated in the novel in terms of catering tradition, family mode, family education, life attitude or life style and way of expression, lead to the silence of Chinese American women on the whole. To remove the barrier, Tan proposes the strategy of cultural hybrid to negotiate those different aspects that institute the cultural barrier. By creating a new image for the Chinese Americans in general, Tan bridges the gap between China-born mothers and America-born daughters, east and west, ethnic groups and the mainstream society.Ultimately, a conclusion is reached concerning Tan's cultural identity strategy to cope with silence. Irrespective of the dispute over the artistic representation or deliberate transformation on Tan's part, Tan has succeeded in voicing her opinions as a Chinese American female and for Chinese American females on the whole. Her endeavor is worth appreciating when the cultural hegemony in the United States is taken into account. Adhering to her American citizenship, Tan, none the less, emphasizes the strategy of cultural hybrid and double identity. Through resorting to her Chinese heritage, Tan tries to challenge the homogeneous American mainstream culture. As a matter of fact, it does not matter much whether such cultural identity strategy works or not, because with the successful publication of The Bonesetter's Daughter, Tan has after all diverted the attention of the readers and of the critics to the situation of Chinese American females, especially to their underprivileged situation in the circumstance of globalization. In this sense, The Bonesetter's Daughter, together with other Tan's works, takes on practical significance.