Abstract

The relationship between Chinese immigrant mothers and American-born daughters in The Joy Luck Club is a process ranging from mothers and daughters’ misunderstanding with each other at the first beginning, then the unavoidable collision, later communications and understanding, and finally, to the mutual acceptation and integration between them. The conflict of Chinese American mothers and daughters means the collision between Chinese culture and that of the America. Daughters imbibed the spirit of Chinese culture through mothers’ love stories, which shows the best wishes that Chinese culture and American culture can be evolved from misunderstanding and colliding to understanding, accepting and finally reconciling through communication. The paper shows that the description of Chinese American’s mother-daughter relationship reveals the real life situation of Chinese Americans on one hand, and Chinese Americans adjust their cultural identities in American society and find their ways to develop themselves on the other. Hence, the only means to gain success in American is to combine the preservation of Chinese conventions with the acceptance with American advanced culture. 

Keywords: The Joy Luck Club; The relationship of mothers and daughters; Cultural conflict; Integrate

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

3. Cultural Conflict of Mother-daughter Relationship-3

3.1 Chinese Obedience to Parents and American Independence-3

3.2 Chinese High-Context Culture and American Low-Context Culture-4

3.3 Family’s Honor and Individual Achievement-5

4. Factors Leading to Contradictions and Conflicts-7

4.1 The View of Life and Value-7

4.2 “Self ” and “Others”-8

4.3 The Family Education-10

5. The Integration of Mother-daughter Relationship-11

5.1 The Mother’s Understanding of Her Daughter-11

5.2 The Daughter’s Understanding of Her Mother-12

5.3 From Conflict to Fusion-13

6. Conclusion-16

Works Cited-18