美国华裔女作家作品中的沉默主题探析——以《女勇士》和《灶神之妻》为例

An Exploration and Interpretation of the Theme of Silence in Chinese American Women Writers' Works:Exemptified by The Woman Warrior and The Kitchen God's Wife

"沉默"是"被人看不见"的一种表现形式,它在美国"非本土"的女作家的作品中占有重要的位置。在美籍华裔女作家汤亭亭的《女勇士》和谭恩美的《灶神之妻》两部作品中,沉默主题背后所掩藏的是两性之间、种族之间及文化之间的矛盾。它表明女性仅仅依靠打破沉默、敞开心扉,通过交流来消除误解和矛盾是有局限性的,还需要建立女性主体,树立自我与他者之间相互主体性的观念。女性需要了解和认识自己以达到与男人、白人及来自其他文化的人之间的平等的、成功的沟通。

＂Silence＂ is a form of ＂being invisible＂. It occupies an important position in ＂non-native＂ women writers＇ works in the United States. This essay attempts to analyze the theme of silence in Maxine Hong Kingston＇ s The Woman Warrior： Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts and Amy Tan＇ s The Kitchen God＇ s Wife, and to explore and reveal the con- flicts hidden behind silence： the conflict between two genders, the conflict between Chinese Americans and White Ameri- cans, and the conflict between Chinese culture and American one. It can be concluded that in order to solve the conflicts, women should not only break silence, but also assert their subjectivity and acknowledge both the self and the other. Equal and successful communication can only be achieved through the construction of intersubjectivity.