Modern Writers Transnational Marriage And Writing

Generally speaking, one cannot equal an author’s works with his/her romantic affairs in their life, but when reflected in their works, their love affairs can arouse something worth deliberation. This thesis tries to unveil the subtle relationship between "men" and "women" and "traditional Chinese values" and "foreign values" from the perspective of modern Chinese writers’ romantic relationship with foreigners.China in the early20th century underwent unprecedented frustration, which was not only reflected in the damage of its physical objects caused by westerners, but also in the defeat of its culture. Many Chinese intellectuals went abroad for study, which forged Chinese intellectuals with western values. Western women, to some extent, represent western culture. The marriage between Chinese intellectuals and western women is a direct recognition of western culture by the Chinese. However, these multinational marriages often ended in tragedy:Hu Shi and Edith Clifford Williams, Li Jinfa and Gerta, Ji Xianlin and Irmgard, Shao Xunmei and Emily Hahn. The previously closely bonded couples ended in separation. Two reasons lead to the tragedy:on the one hand, the huge gap between the occidental and oriental cultures results in a predicament of ethnic identity; on the other hand, the traditional Chinese values firmly stranded Chinese intellectuals, making them helpless when trying to choose their spouses freely. Finally, they yielded to traditional Chinese arranged marriages. In literature writings, multinational marriages have unique characteristics. Erma(Mr. Ma and his son) explicitly showcases the awkwardness of multinational marriages-the inequality between the populace of strong countries and weak countries.The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter elaborates the multinational romantic affairs of Hu Shih, Li Jinfa and focuses on the influence of "foreign cultures" on their thought formation and literature writing. The second chapter probes into the manifestation of the tragedies of multinational marriages and also tries to find the reasons for the tragedies. Chapter Three discusses the ethnic identity problems encountered by Chinese intellectuals when they are abroad, taking Lao She’s Erma as an example.