怎样解读以及看待maxine hong kingston(汤婷婷)的woman warrior?
谢邀。之前我已经把文本细读类的笔记在写专栏了
《Kingston的The Woman Warrior杂谈(一)(二)》:
http://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/ARoomOfOnesOwn/20285447
http://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/ARoomOfOnesOwn/20381888
大二读了The Joy Luck Club,教授顺带推荐了Woman Warrior做拓展阅读,当时草草一翻,关注点完全都在它和喜福会的相似点上: 同样是第二代移民华裔美国文学,同样是童年回忆性家族小说,同样是以女性视角和女性人物为主的叙事呈现,同样是七八十年前昏黄的旧中国,同样的微妙的母女关系。还有,用同样的流利英语、以“生硬”的方式去呈现许多中国旧俗与历史故事。
当时读来,在英语文学中找到中国文化的种种记叙固然觉得很亲切,但更多的是对简洁的英语叙事和对文化负载语言的直译的不适感,比如《喜福会》中的“千里送鹅毛”, 比如Woman Warrior里的“水鬼” “鹤拳” “纸人纸马”。许多俗语、节日、迷信、旧中国的陋习,用英语一说,无论如何会有怪异的感觉。但这也正给了我们一个反观的机会,站在一个略远的侧面去审视传统文化和自我认同。
最近语言学大课布置了literature circle的作业,我们小组分到的恰好是Woman Warrior。这一回读又有了一些新的体会。Woman Warrior在美国轰动一(几)时、非常流行,在中国却反响平平,很多美国人认为这是了解中国文化的一扇窗口,很多中国读者认为这是对中国文化的误读和怪异的呈现;很多美国评论家认为Kingston是美国主流文化作家,很多中国学者认为她是双重身份的华裔作家。作为一部自传体回忆性小说,这部作品的接受度是非常有争议性的,有一个常用的说法来形容这种争议——"vexed reception"。很多评论家, 包括华裔美国文学家Frank Chan也说汤婷婷展现的中国文化是被扭曲、误读的,其"vexed reception" keeps to attest its popularity and to question it.
In a way, since it is an autobiography, we can identify the character as Maxine Hong Kingston herself, or, at least the projection of Kingston. Scholars generally agree that Kingston captures the painful efforts of an American-born child who struggles in the pull between Chinese and American cultures, and who inevitably reject the expectations and authority of her family in favor of the values of the U.S., a "foreign" land.
The novel ends up with a comic resolution; that is, the character ultimately managed to negotiate between two cultural identities and to realize her gender identity as well.
However, apart from praises the book received for it expresses female anger, many reviewers criticize it for its misrepresentation of Chinese American women and reinforcing stereotype in the name of feminism. Other reviewers accused Kingston for her failure to critique patriarchal values or institutional racism, resulting in misconceptions about Chinese culture and Chinese Americans. They contend that this novel may reinforce the pernicious of stereotypes that Chinese American men are sexist and misogynist.
Sau-ling Wong perceives Kingston's "Orientalist effect". In other words, the exotic, oriental settings in the novel may reinforce the orientalist stereotypes of China.
Also, many Chinese scholars, from the perspective of culture authenticity, accused Kingston for her failure to negotiate foreignness and nativeness. For example, Frank Chan criticized Kingston face-to-face that she misunderstood and misrepresented Chinese culture in The Woman Warrior.
Actually, the so-called "failure" and "misunderstanding" can be understood since Kingston is one of the second generation of Chinese American immigrants. Born and raised in mixed cultural background determines her painful efforts in achieving culture reconciliation. Also, as a creative writer, she has the right to deconstruct and reconstruct traditional Chinese stories. Besides, living with the puzzle of social, cultural and gender identities, under the double pressure of sexual discrimination and cultural conflicts, Kingston developed rather a unique insight into feminism. Asian-American women like her who quest for their identities do not only suffers from sexual discrimination but also confronts with culture conflicts. It’s this complex socio-cultural background that influenced Kingston’s unique presentation of feminist and cultural perspecctives.
一家之言。Further reading 推荐 Miriam Greenspan, Linda B. Hall,E.D. Huntley, Sau-ling Wong,Frank Chan 等有关The Woman Warrior的研究论文.