CulturalIdentitiesinTheJoyLuckClub

Abstract：The Joy Luck Club is written by Chinese American female writer Amy Tan， in which vividly depicted a series of story about four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American daughters. These two generations in the novel are bred up with utterly different culture and family education， thus eight heroines possess different cultural identities. In this paper， the great impact of cultural identities and the factors which paly critical roles in fostering cultural identities are discussed.

Key words：The Joy Luck Club；Cultural Identities

1. Introduction

Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to， as part of the self-conception and self-perception to nationality， ethnicity， religion， social class， generation， locality and any kind of social group that have its own distinct culture， in this way that cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also to the culturally identical group that has its members sharing the same cultural identity. So as the one of the most important cultural symbol， it is necessary for us to anaylse cultural identities in The Joy Luck Club.

2. Cultural Identities in The Joy Luck Club

2.1 the key factors in fostering cultural identities

One important factor in fostering cultural identities is cultural nourishment. Though the four Chinese mothers met in church and had been living in America for decades， they still were Chinese. Since they met， they had been feasting， playing mahjong and telling stories together for 30 years. Their party is called the Joy Luck Club. It is clear that the unique Chinese thinking pattern roots deeply in their minds. Their Chinese cultural nourishment largely determined their cultural identity. Its all the same to their daughters. Being born and raised in American culture， they are independent Americans at the first place.

Family education is the other key factor in fostering cultural identities. An Mei lost her father when she was young and her mother was forced to marry to a rich man as a concubine. Her mother was kicked out of the family and was despised. Then An Mei followed her mother to live at the rich mans house. She found that her mother was looked down upon at this house as well. Tragically， An Meis mother committed suicide to give her the power to defeat the enemy. So An Mei finally become a strong woman and knows what she worth. In the past， it was a shame if a widow broke her vow and married to another man. In the old Chinese way， women were taught to desire nothing， swallow other peoples misery， and eat her bitterness. However， An Meis mother taught her to be strong-minded and brave enough to take control of her own destiny.

2.2 the great impact of cultural identities

Cultural identities have huge influences in peoples lives. It determines how we perceive things， how we think and how we act. When Waverly brought her boyfriend to her families， her mother just smiled but she still was particular about Rich's appearance， having many spots on his face. Description of the conflicts of manners between Chinese tradition and American notions is quite interesting. These words of "And then he had helped himself to big portions of the shrimp and snow peas， not realizing he should have taken only a polite spoonful， until everybody had had a morsel.” vividly express the American character of being casual which counts as discourtesy in China. The part of Rich criticizing her mother's cooking is quite funny and impressive. Chinese habit of making disparaging remarks seems to be extremely common. Being modest and avoiding showing off are parts of Chinese traditional manners. Her mother complaining about " This dish not salty enough， no flavor "， in fact， was a cue to proclaim it the best she had ever made. But the Rich did not understand. Due to the different cultural identity， they have different ways of handling things， so it is very likely that there is conflict between them.

Throughout the novel， Mothers represent the classic， traditional Chinese culture but the daughters are the symbol of free， open and modern American one， which are two kinds of contradictory element. However， through the whole novel， it is easier to find that finally they can understand each other and be in harmony. When Jing-Mei saw her twin-half sisters， she was surprised at this kind of familiarity. “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood. After all these years， it can finally be let go. ” the similarity in their cultural identities makes them finally understand each other.

3. Conclusion

Analyzing peoples cultural identity helps illustrate Americans perception of family and the interaction between traditional Chinese culture and American culture. A comprehensive understanding of different cultural identities is of great significance to guide peoples endeavor to breaking through the cultural barriers today.

Reference

[1] Moha Ennaji， Multilingualism， Cultural Identity， and Education in Morocco， Springer Science & Business Media， 2005： 19-23.

[2] Amy Tan. The Joy Luck Club[M]. Galantine Books.

【作者简介】

杨心彤（1994—），女，汉族，山西省晋城市人，本科学历，单位：西南财经大学，主要研究方向：英语翻译。