Exploring Pearl Buck And Belonging ——In The Case Of Kinfolk:A Novel Of China

Pearl S.Buck is the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction,with her novel The Good Earth in 1932.Instead of highlighting the importance of her awardwinning work,particular attention of this thesis is placed on her another novel Kinfolk:A Novel of China,which is the story of four second-generation Chinese Americans’search for their roots and belonging in China.The study of her work on cross-cultural theme is aimed to shed light on Buck’s view of belonging and her sophisticated dual belonging.Employing Marco Antonsich’s belonging theory which expounds on place belonging and political belonging,the study adopts text analysis to investigate the extent to which the four figures in Kinfolk were belonged to China and America.The results reveal four patterns of belonging:Mary presented strong place and political belonging while James maintained moderate political and improved place belonging;Peter possessed low-level place and political belonging while Louise had neither belongings.The state of four roles can be generalized into four patterns,namely,genetic,acquired,failed,and reverse belongings.The study suggest that Buck’s personal experience could partly explain the patterns of belonging in Kinfolk.Buck potentially casts her affection and regret for China over Mary and Peter,while Peter and Louise are likely mirror of her comfort and confusion in the United States.The thesis concludes that Buck held an inclusive view of belonging while instilling in her works greater importance in place belonging than political belonging.