With time going by, the mothers never stopped teaching their daughters Chinese culture。 Gradually, they began to tell their own stories in order to help daughters make some important decisions in life。 At the same time, the daughters began to understand the love of mothers and were sympathetic with mothers’ past。 Therefore, the younger ones chose to reconcile with their mothers。 What’s more, they realized the part of Chinese inside them and recognized their duel cultural identity。

Coming out in 1989, The Joy Luck Club made the New York Times’ best-seller list, where it remained for seven months and won its author Amy Tan the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Commonwealth Gold Award。 The novel has now been translated into 25 languages and made into movie with the same name。

It was believed that one reason of the success of The Joy Luck Club lied in Americans’ curiosity of traditional Chinese culture and the difference between two cultures at that time。 China, as one of the most ancient nations in the world, was full of mysteries to foreigners。 However, it was impossible for most of them to go to China and found out what the country was like and what its people were like。 All they could do was to learn by word of mouth or from media and books。 In this novel, not only the Chinese culture, but also the differences and conflicts between two cultures had been presented from many perspectives。

The content of the novel also played an important part in its success。 America was depicted as a land of dream, freedom and democracy, which was richly endowed。 In the first half of the 20th century, many Chinese immigrants had no choice but to try hard to fit themselves into the mainstream of the American society。 In the meanwhile, they were unwilling to let go their native culture。 Their American born children, however, wanted to become the true Americans and be totally accepted by the society。 The Joy Luck Club reflected the changes of the two generations。 Also, the rise of feminist movement in the 1960s encouraged Chinese American females to express themselves and amend the image of Chinese women in the Americans’ eyes。 Literary works focused on Chinese women already became a hit since the publication of Chinese American writer Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior(1976)。

Thirdly, The Joy Luck Club had a unique structure of writing。 The book consisted of four parts with sixteen stories。 Each female character in the novel had two stories told from the view of first person, except Suyuan(no story) and Jing-mei(four stories)。 Mothers’ stories were usually their own experiences back in China, showing something about Chinese culture and traditions, which were different from those in America。 While daughters told some normal things during their growing-up years and adulthood, showing the life of the younger Chinese Americans and cultural conflicts they confronted。 “Those detailed descriptions during the narration thoroughly present the life of Chinese American females。 Except for the unfair of life, readers can also see their fighting for rights and struggling between two cultural identities。 All these make a consensus in society” (张静 2007)。论文网

1。1。2 Introduction to Amy Tan

Born in 1952 in Oakland, California, Amy Tan was the second child of the family and the only daughter of Chinese immigrants John and Daisy Tan。 The couple moved to America in order to avoid the Chinese Civil War in 1949。 After the death of John and their eldest son, Daisy Tan brought her daughter and second son to Switzerland, where Amy Tan finished her high school and learnt about Daisy’s former marriage in China and how she left her children in Shanghai。 In 1987, Amy Tan went to China with Daisy to meet her half-sisters。 The story of her mother and this experience became the basis of The Joy Luck Club。

When Tan was a teenager, she had a hard time getting well along with her mother。 Like many mothers in China, Daisy held high expectations for her children。 She wanted Amy Tan to receive medical education and become a doctor one day。 However, Amy changed her major to English and linguistics。 They didn’t speak to each other for six months because of that。 What’s more, Amy lived in America since young and accepted the mainstream education of the nation。 Receiving American ideology and culture, it was no wonder that she viewed Chinese culture as foreign culture, which led to estrangement between her and her mother。 According to what she said in an interview, her parents wished her and her brothers to have American circumstances and Chinese character。 But the education she received and the culture she learnt in America wouldn’t allow her to be so。 Conflicts were inevitable。