Abstract

The Joy Luck Club is the remarkable novel written by Amy Tan, a famous Chinese-American writer of dazzling talent. It weaves an intricate tapestry detailing the stories of the Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters, describing the morass of love, misunderstandings and mutual understanding between the two generations in two different cultures. Based on the analysis and research of the character features, destinies of two generations and the mother-daughter bonds, the paper is intended to explore the cultural conflicts and concord on marital views, family concepts, personal values and expressing manners. Then the thesis conducts a comprehensive analysis of the reasons hidden behind the cultural conflicts and reconciliation. In the end, it urges readers to develop an open and tolerant attitude towards cultural collision and promote cultural exchange and cooperation actively in the age of globalization.  

Key Words: The Joy Luck Club; cultural conflicts; cultural compatibility

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 Previous research on this topic-2

2.2 Significance of the study-3

3. The Cultural Conflicts Between China and America in The Joy Luck Club-3

3.1 Differences in marital views-4

3.2 Differences in expressing manners-6

3.3 Differences in family concepts-8

4. Causes of Cultural Conflicts in The Joy Luck Club-10

4.1 The environmental cause-10

4.2 The cultural cause-10

5. The Cultural Compatibility Between China and America in The Joy Luck Club-11

5.1 Compatibility of mothers and daughters-11

5.2 Compatibility of cultural identity-12

6. Conclusion-13

Works Cited-15