西安外国语大学英文学院陕西西安710128
TheWomanWarriorisarepresentativeworkofMaxineHongKingston,adistinguishedcontemporaryChineseAmericanwriter.Inthisnovel,sherewrotesomeancientChinesestories,legends,historyandrepresentedthoseimagestoAmericanreadersinanewway.Thisworkhascausedagreatsensationamongliteraryscholarsandresearchersduetoitsdistinctivewayofwritingsinceitsadvent.FrankChinhaseverstated,“Their[Kingston,Hwang,andTan]elaborationofthisversionofhistory,inbothautobiographyandautobiographicalfiction,issimplyadevicefordestroyinghistoryandliterature”(3).AsanAmerican,though,shehasherrighttowriteinanAmericanwayandherrewritingisonlyareflectionofherpersonalexperiencesofbeingstuckinthemiddleoftwocultures.ThispaperisgoingtogiveadetailedanalysisofthosetransplantedimagesinTheWomanWarrior.
First,thetraditionalChineseimageofHuaMulanhasalsobeenchangedintoawesternizedwomanwarriorFaMuLanasacombinationofaChinesestorywithAmericanreality.
基金项目：西安外国语大学研究生创新基金项目，课题名称：“美国各少数族裔文学作品中精神家园的跨民族性研究”项目编号：syjs201607
InChina,HuaMulanisawidelyknownheroineoftraditionalfolktales.AllHuaMulanhasdonewasbasedonherdutiestoshowfilialpietytoparents,tohonorherfamily,oreventomaintainthefeudalimperialismratherthantoachieveinpidualheroism,soHuaMulancouldbetakenasamodelfortraditionalChinesewoman.
InTheWomanWarrior,theoriginalpersonalexperiences,heroicactivitiesandnarrativebackgroundshavebeenadaptedorrewrittentoagreatextent.Differingfromthetraditionalimageofspinning,FaMuLanwasguidedbyabirdtolearnmassivesortsofmagicalmartialartsinWhiteTigerMountain.Afterbeingtrainedforseveralyears,shewentdownthemountaintotakerevengeforbothherfamilyandvillagers.Disguisingasamale,shewassobraveandoverwhelminginthebattles.Nowwecanseethatthetraditionalwaragainstinvasionshasbeenchangedintoastoryofself-worth,independenceandsubversiverevenge.FaMuLanhasnothingtodowithfamilyornationalduties,instead,sheembodiesthespiritoffeminism,whichhappenstoshowKingston’screativemotiveofdeconstructingthepatriarchalsystemoftraditionalChinesesociety.
KingstonadaptsthisChinesestoryforherownwomanwarriorasarejectionofthepopularsocialvaluesinChinatown,like“[b]ettertoraisegeesethangirls”(Kingston43),etc.Inthearmy,FaMuLanisnotonlyapowerfulsoldierbutalsoawifewithababyunborn.Kingstonhasnevermeanttopresentwomen’shardshipandstrength,instead,shetargetsherweaponsdirectlyatthefeudalsociety.ThusherecomesaChineseAmericanFaMuLanwhoisequippedwithwesternfeministawarenessandracialconsciousness.
Second,theadaptationofTs’aiYenisanothercallforculturalintegrationinthemulticulturalcircumstances.
Inthelastchapter“ASongforaBarbarianReedPipe”,MaxinenarratesanotherChinesefemaleCaiYan’sstory.Kingston’sversionofCaiYan’sstoryshiftstheemphasisondramatizinginter-ethnicharmonythroughtheintegrationofChineseandAmericanartforms.AlthoughbeingfarawayfromtheChineseland,Ts’aiYenwasdeeplymovedbythebarbarian’smusic.Heremusicworkedasameanstopromoteherunderstandingonthespiritualworldofbarbarians.AfterlivingwiththeHsiung-nufortwelveyears,Ts’aiYenwasransomedandshebroughtbackfromthesavagelandshersongs,including“EighteenStanzasforaBarbarianReedPipe”.WhenTs’aiYen’ssong,asacross-culturalproduct,iscomposedundertheinfluenceoftwoculturesandenjoyedbytwoethnicgroups,KingstonforeseesthepossibilitytocombineChineseandAmericancultureinherbetween-worldslife.Soasanethnicwriterinamulticulturalsociety,KingstonhasseenthepossibilitiestoreconcilewithtwoculturesthroughrewritingthestoryofTs’aiYen.ItisclearthatKingstondreamsofuniversalityasawaytodeconstructtheessenceofmarginalization.
ItcanbesensedthatthosetwoadaptedimagesareactuallytherepresentativeexperiencesofChineseAmericansin20thcentury,soitisnecessaryforthemtofigureoutanappropriatewaytodealwiththeirpracticalissues,thatis,totolerateculturalconflicts,keepthemselvesaswellasmergeintoanotherculture,andthenshapetheirownethnicidentitiesasChineseAmericans.Thiskindofideaechoesthespiritof“ThirdSpace”byHomiBhabha.Thecultureofthe“minority”derivesfromtherecognitionofboththeirtraditionalandforeigncultures.Thus,culturalintegrationisproposedbyKingstonasaneffectivewayforthoseChineseAmericanstogetoutoftheirculturaldilemma.
WorkCited
[1]Chin,Frank.“ComeAllYeAsianAmericanWritersoftheRealandtheFake.”TheBig
Aiiieeeee!AnAnthologyofChineseAmericanandJapaneseAmericanLiterature.Ed.
JeffreyPaulChanetal.NewYork:Meridian,1991.1-91.Print.
[2]Kingston,MaxineHong.TheWomanWarrior:MemoirsofAGirlhoodAmongGhosts.
London:Vintage,1977.Print.
[3]Toming.AHistoryofAmericanLiterature.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingand
ResearchPress,2008.Print.
作者简介：郝慧敏，1993年1月10日出生，女，汉族，山西省忻州市人，现就读于西安外国语大学英文学院2015级英语语言文学专业，研究生，主要研究方向：美国文学。