“他者”之声——美国华裔女作家的身份书写与嬗变

Others' Voice: The Construction and Transition of Cultural Identity of Chinese-American Women Writers

目前国内对美国华裔女性文学的研究大多局限在某个主题或某几个作家的文本,而整体、动态地考察华裔女性生存处境和主体意识衍变的研究较为缺乏。本文通过对20世纪以来最具代表意义的美国华裔女作家及其作品的分析、梳理和总结,发现美国华裔女作家的身份书写与变迁大致经历了三个阶段:从水仙花和黄玉雪的无奈认同,到汤亭亭和谭恩美突破文化阻碍的呐喊,再到任璧莲在流动中的融合,表现形式虽然迥异,但都是少数族裔在东西方文化冲突、自我与"他者"的对立中或隐或显地抗争的真实反映。美国华裔女作家笔下的人物及其自身对身份的诉求与认知并非一成不变,而是随着时代背景的变迁而不断地嬗变。

At present,studies on Chinese-American women literature in China mostly focus on certain themes or certain texts from some writers. Other studies that take it as a whole and dynamic perspective to observe the living condition and transition of self-consciousness of Chinese-American women have received insufficient attention. This paper draws a conclusion that the construction and changes of cultural identity of Chinese-American women writers have roughly gone through three different stages by analyzing,clarifying and summarizing the works from Chinese-American women writers who are most representative since 20 thcentury——from helpless identity in Edith Easton and Jade Wong,catharsis over culture shock in Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan to flowing integration in Gish Jen. Despite different ways of demonstrations,they truly reflect the culture conflicts between east and west and visible and invisible confrontation between self and the other which are faced by ethics minorities. The pursuit of cultural identity of Chinese-American women writers as well as the characters in their novels is not always still and invariable. In contrast,it keeps changing in different periods with time goes by.