Analysis of Discourse of The Joy Luck Club with Face Theory

周桑柔 鄒赟

Abstract： Face Theory is put forward by Brown and Levinson.And there are many face-threatening behaviors in The Joy Luck Club.In order to clarify the relationship between the characters and have a deeper understanding of their characteristics，the essay will analyse the discourse of characters from perspective of Face Theory.

Key Words： The Joy Luck Club，discourse， face， Face Theory

Introduction

The Joy Luck Club is a novel written by Amy Tan in1989.It focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco who start a club known as The Joy Luck Club，a place for playing mahjong.It tells the conflicts and integration between mothers and daughters，and reflects the different historical backgrounds and cultural values.There are many discourses in the whole novel， and we ll discuss them with Face Theory.

The Discussion of Discourse from Perspective of Face Theory

Chinese Face Concept

Face acts plays an important role in the process of interaction，and some cultural connotations are embedded in face concepts.Chinese mostly judge what kind of things they can or cannot do based on social and group needs.A Chinese person would feel gaining face through others.Thus，to some extent，Chinese face has the combination with others.For example：

"Who is this ghost？ Not an honored widow.Just a number three concubine.If you take your daughter，she will become like.No face.Never able to lift out her head."

During her widowhood period，An-mei's mother was deceived by a wealthy businessman Wu Qing and became his number three concubine.She violated the moral requirements of women to preserve chastity，which caused isolation and punishment by her family.According to the eastern view of face，individuals have close relations with families and friends.So one does not lose one's own face alone，but also the face of one's families or even ancestors.That means if An-mei's mother takes An-mei away， An-mei will also lose face and be looked down upon.From this，we can see，An-mei is influenced by traditional Chinese culture，which is the reason why she is restrained and conservative.

Face presents a persons good image of social interactions.The belief that one does not consider others needs when trying to gain face would be considered to be selfish.Look at this example：

"She bring home too many trophy， Lamented Auntie Lindo that Sunday."All day she play chess.All day I have no time do nothing but dust off her winnings." She threw a scold look at Waverly，who pretended，not to see her.

"You are lucky you dont have this problem，"said Auntie Lindo with a sigh to my mother.

Auntie Lindo seems to be complaining while actually she is showing off her daughter's talent for chess.However，she doesnt express directly how excellent her daughter is， for not offending Suyuan.But Suyuan doesnt want to lose face，she also phrases her daughter in the indirect way."Our problem worser than yours.If we ask Jing-mei wash dish，she hear nothing but music.Its like you cant stop this natural talent."From those words，we can know that there exists a comparison between Auntie Lindo and Suyuan and they are immersed in vanity.

American Face Concept

Individualism is a part and parcel of American culture，which largely determines the style of American self-face concept.They are always so confident of themselves. So they hope whatever they have done can be recognized，that is they have need for such positive face.But once the positive face is threatened，they would defend it with self-face maintenance.

"It is just left over strips.And the fur is too short，no longer hairs."

When Waverly shows her mother the coat that her boyfriend has given her，her mother Lindo criticizes the poor quality of the coat.So she feels she loses positive face and shouts "How can you criticize a gift！" "He gave me this from his heart."in order to maintain self-face.As we all know，Chinese consider the value of gifts directly reflects the depth of friendship.Instead，Americans attach more importance to form than substance.Even a humble greeting card can reflect the sincerity of the giver.According to those words，we know that there are differences in values of mother and daughter due to the different cultural influences.

American culture is identified as an individualistic culture.They believe that their success is the result of self-effort，which has nothing to do with others' face.

"You want me to be someone that Im not！"I sobbed."Ill never be the kind daughter you want me to be！"

"Only two kinds of daughters，"she shouted in Chinese."Those who are obedient and those who follow their own minds！Only one kind of daughter can live in this house.Obedient daughter！"

"Then I wish I wasnt your daughter.I wish you werent my mother."I shouted.

Jing-mei finds that her mother let her participate in the piano competition for the sake of face.Therefore，she feels that her freedom and face are seriously hurt. After the competition，she decides to defend her freedom and refuses to practice the piano any more.She believes that she is not a slave to her mother.

Conclusion

The Joy Luck Club reflects the irreconcilable conflicts between Chinese and western cultural value systems through the dialogue between various characters.In addition，face threatening behavior is very common to the dialogue between characters. When we read this novel，we can better understand characters' personalities and relationships by analyse characters' dialogues from the perspective of Face Theory.

Work Cited

[1]Tan Amy，The Joy Luck Club，M，.New York： Random House，lnc.，1993.

Wu Ting.On the Differences between Chinese and American Dinning Cultures in The Joy Luck Club ，2016.

[2]嚴麗霞，從《喜福會》看中西面子觀，2013.

[3]羅晶，從威脅面子角度分析《喜福會》中的人物性格——以吳精美的故事中的人物對話為例，2012.

[4]侯燕芳，張云清，淺析面子保全論及面子維護策略[J].成功（教育版）.