Configuration Of China In The Good Earth And China's Pearl Buck Fever In The 1930s

Pearl S.Buck is a famous American writer who developed a close friendship with the Chinese.Most of her works show concern for Chinese issues.In China,especially in the 1930 s,her masterpiece The Good Earth caught the intellectuals' attention.They discussed and held different opinions on the novel and its writer,which led to Pearl Buck fever.This study mainly focuses on how Chinese intellectuals accepted Pearl Buck in the 1930 s from the perspective of Reception Aesthetics,Imagology and Orientalism,trying to figure out how Pearl Buck configured China in The Good Earth and how the configuration influenced the way Chinese intellectuals evaluated her in the 1930 s.The thesis consists of five parts.Chapter ? is the introduction.It starts with talking briefly about the Pearl Buck fever in the 1930s' China.After reviewing research achievements abroad and at home,it illustrates the focus and significance of the study.Then,it introduces the theoretical bases of the thesis.Chapter ? is aimed at illustrating Pearl Buck fever in the 1930s' China by offering the basic facts of Chinese intellectuals' evaluating her and translating her works at the age.Such problems as the writing credibility in The Good Earth and Buck's religious life are discussed so that the phenomenon could be explained clearly.Chapter ? analyzes one of the important factors which made Buck become a hot topic in the 1930s' China.It states that it was Buck configured both cultural and realistic aspects of China in The Good Earth that made her both popular and controversial.Chapter ? interprets how Chinese intellectuals configured Buck in the 1930 s.Her image falls into three types: a missionary,a “China's daughter” and an objective observer.These three kinds of images mix with one another and make contributions to Buck's complex image in China.The thesis ends in summarizing the major ideas of the whole text and holding that the relationship between Buck's configuration of China and Buck's image in China is complicated.The reception of The Good Earth and Pearl S.Buck in China has been changing throughout history.The research is expected to help readers have a profound understanding about Buck and her reception in China.