Yearning For Harmony:A Stylistic Interpretation On The Theme Of The Woman Warrior

It is argued that The Woman Warrior has revealed Kingston's strong yearning for harmony by linguistic means.Therefore,a stylistic interpretation is adopted to interpret how these means contribute to the expressing of pursuit of harmony.It is believed that the stylistic approach is proper for thematic studies because such studies tend to base their interpretations on linguistic descriptions.Moreover,by correlating form and meaning,the stylistic approach proves to be a reliable tool to deduce critical interpretation from linguistic evidence.Linguistic evidence is rich in this book.Such evidence is selected and grouped into three categories.They are lexis,syntax,and semantics.At lexical level,numbers,compounds,borrowed words and changes of meanings are believed to be made to reinforce the theme of harmony.The combination of 7 and 8 implies the coexistence and integration of both masculine and feminine features of man,and further indicates the integration and harmony between men and women.Both compounding and compounds imply integration.Of all forms of compounds,AB form is the one that can suggest,to the utmost extent,both the integration of different elements and the theme of harmony.The coexistence of words of different origins is also believed to indicate the harmonious coexistence of cultures.Besides,the changes of meanings of words indicate that in the course of cultural interaction and integration,some changes might take place.When it comes to syntactic features,run-on sentences and parallel structures are believed to play an important role in suggesting the yearning for harmony.By means of the wrong forms of run-on sentences,Kingston shows her criticism of the disharmonious on-goings,namely discrimination against women,disrespect to nature,and imbalance between the collective and the individual.Criticism on disharmony may help indicate pursuit of harmony.Parallel structures,such as lexical juxtaposition and parallel clauses,are used to suggest the coexistence of different genders,of different professions,of different ranks and classes,and of different cultures.Thus the yearning for harmony is reinforced.As for semantic level,semantic relevance and semantic ambiguity are major concerns of this research.In terms of semantic relevance,componential analysis is adopted to illustrate the harmony between man and nature.Semantic ambiguity is another technique that Kingston employs to display her craving for harmony.The coexistence of two interpretations of a given word suggests the reconciliation of differences.Different interpretations must be effected before the final resolution can be made.This dissertation finds that,besides harmony between different races,between different genders,between the East and the West,The Woman Warrior reveals the pursuit of harmonious conditions of man,of toughness and softness and of man and nature,etc.In short,The Woman Warrior has revealed the pursuit of harmony between all kinds of things in the world.To display this yearning,Kingston has taken great advantage of linguistic devices.