Chinese Americans’ Pursuit of Cultural Identity in The Woman Warrior

【Abstract】： Maxine Hong Kingston is the first Chinese American writer who has included in the mainstream of American literature. Her most famous work The Woman Warrior depicts the narrator’s experience and reveals her psychological growth as a Chinese American in the American culture. It also shows the heroine’s struggle of establishing her cultural identity within the conflict of Chinese culture and American culture. Based on the analysis of the novel， this thesis devotes to analyze the main process of building a Chinese American’s cultural identity.

【Keywords】：Chinese American; cultural identity; conflict

1. Introduction

Of all the Chinese American writers， Maxine Hong Kingston is undoubtedly the most well-known one. Her works have not only gain official recognition but also help establish her cultural position as a Chinese American. Kingston’s first book The Woman Warrior： Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts， with 450，000 copies sold in 1976 according to the New York Times， is regarded as a milestone in Chinese American literary history. The book consists of five parts and each part can be independent but interrelated. In the form of five independent stories： “No Name Woman”， “White Tigers”， “Shaman”， “At the Western Palace” and “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”， the novel lets the narrator to shift between China and America， past and present， reality and imagination， and also shows her loss of identity and her struggle for pursuing a cultural identity in the mainstream American culture.

2. Cultural Identity Pursuit in The Women Warrior

In The Woman Warrior， Kingston describes two generations of immigrants， who go through different ways when pursuing the cultural identity. As for the first-generation immigrant， they grow up and are educated in China. The Chinese tradition and values have rooted in their thoughts. When having immigrated to America， they have to change themselves in some way in order to adapt to the life in American society. Kingston depicts one of the first-generation immigrants in the novel—the mother Brave Orchid. Story telling is Brave Orchid’s typical way of preserving the Chinese culture. She tells her daughter the story about her poor sister in order to warn her not to bring shame to the family. “Now that you have started to menstruate， what happened to her could happen to you. Do not humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful” （Kingston 5）.

After Brave Orchid knows that she could never go back China after the People’s Republic of China was founded， her longing of returning remains a dream. Therefore， she begins adopting to American culture gradually. The most obvious change can be found in her daily life. “She recently took to wearing shawls and granny glasses， American fashion” （Kingston 117）. Brave Orchid changes her dressing style. Living in the American society， she has to change herself intentionally or unintentionally to live a better life.

However， when it comes to the second-generation immigrants， things turn out to be more complicated. In the novel， the second-generation immigrants grow up in a paradox. They are immersed in the white values as well as Chinese values since they are raised by their Chinese-born parents. Living in the liminal space of two cultures， they face a more serious conflict， and need to seek for their unique cultural identity （ Shi 36）.

In The Woman Warrior， the little girl is a second-generation immigrant who born in a Chinese family and grow up in the American society. Between the time she is born and the time she goes to school， she is immersed in Chinese values in her family. Therefore， she unconsciously identifies herself as a Chinese. However， when entering school and being exposed in the American society， she feels a kind of lost. Everything around is strange and she is different with all other children. So with the eager that not be a strange she tries her best to enter the American society and act like a native American. But her Chinese face and the nonnative English remind her that she is a Chinese. She gets into a dilemma and feel torn between being Chinese and American （Guan 88）. At this time， she begins pursuing her unique cultural identity.

3. The Ultimate Way of Forming Cultural Identity

As for the first-generation immigrants， they keep their Chinese values all the time. After living in American society for some time， they begin accepting some of the American cultures in order to integrate into the mainstream society. At the end， the two cultures coexisted with each other （Jennie 49）. The first-generation immigrants thus find a proper cultural identity.

The process of the second-generation immigrants’s pursuit is more complicated. When they are children， their Chinese parents teach them Chinese values. After entering school， they begin accepting American cultures and the two cultures clash with each other. In order to integrate into the majority， the second generation accepts American culture and escapes from the Chinese culture. However， after realizing the uniqueness and the true beauty of Chinese culture， they return to Chinese culture in some way. At the end， they find their new cultural identity which is multiple and the most suitable for themselves.

References

Guan， Hefeng. Seeking Identity Between Worlds----A Study of Chinese America Women’s Literature. Henan： Henan UP， 2002. Print.

Jennie， Wang. The Iron Curtain of Language Maxine Hong Kingston and American Orientalism. Shanghai： Fudan UP， 2005. Print.

Kingston， Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior：Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York： Vintage book， 1975. Print.

Shi， Pingping. A Study of Chinese American Women’s Writting. Henan： Henan UP， 2004. Print.