Fiction And Reality

Pearl S. Buck is an American woman writer who spent over40years in China and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in1938chiefly for her works of Chinese subject matter. The House of Earth trilogy by her illustrates a picture of way of life and culture in turn-of-the-century China, focusing on the ups and downs of a Wang family. The changes wrought in one family over three generations are presented respectively in the three volumes. Regarding researches on The House of Earth trilogy, researchers have mainly focused on the first book of the series and have expounded at large its lasting features, neglecting thorough analysis of the two sequels.This thesis intends to study Pearl Buck’s The House of Earth trilogy from the perspective of cultural anthropology. After a brief introduction to Pearl Buck, her literary achievements, and the main criticism on The House of Earth trilogy, the thesis analyzes the core value of cultural anthropology, especially stressing on the contents of admitting cultural differences reflected in literature. On this theoretical basis, the thesis makes a specific research on readers’different response to The House of Earth trilogy and probes into the reasons behind. The thesis also conducts a detailed exploration into the cultural differences reflected in The House of Earth trilogy, covering birth and death, marriage patterns, Chinese people’s superstitious behavior and characterization of Chinese farmer’s land complex. A thorough analysis of the text leads to the conclusion that Pearl Buck’s constructing the China Difference as cultural otherness presents a picture of truth to world readers, which is a necessary step forwarding the Chinese culture away from being "the other" culture.This thesis concludes that cultural anthropology provides a new angle for the study of Pearl Buck’s trilogy. By presenting the truth to readers through fiction, Pearl Buck expresses her best wish for China and China’s going to the world and makes considerable contributions to the Sino-US cultural exchanges. Her trilogy is a good reflection of the relationship between the fictive and truth under the vision of cultural anthropology. It is necessary to re-recognize Pearl Buck as well as her works in the globalization context.