Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

La critique de la romancière américaine Amy Tan se concentre principalement sur la dimension humaine de ses romans, négligeant la dimension matérielle de l’existence qui occupe une place prépondérante dans ses romans. Sous l’influence d’une conception anthropocentrique qui privilégie l’être humain ou le sujet, la critique s’est concentrée essentiellement sur la relation mère / fille, sur l’importance du langage et de la mémoire et sur les conflits entre les cultures chinoise et américaine. Néanmoins, dans le contexte de ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler le “retour aux choses” et l’accent nouveau mis sur le “non humain”, mouvement qui s’est mis en place dans la critique des années 1990, je porte mon attention sur les choses, plus particulièrement sur les interactions entre humains et non-humains dans ses romans. Sous la double influence des cultures chinoise et américaine, Tan dépasse l’opposition binaire, qui caractérise la tradition occidentale, selon laquelle le sujet est supérieur à l’objet. Les humains et les non-humains ainsi que les entités naturelles et spirituelles sont tous des choses-Qi dans l’univers textuel. En mettant en dialogue la réflexion occidentale contemporaine sur les choses avec les philosophies chinoises, notamment le taoïsme, cette thèse examine les caractéristiques des choses-Qi et leurs interactions de nature à provoquer un retour écologique à l’harmonie entre les humains et les non-humains, entre le microcosme et le macrocosme dans l’ordre textuel. / Comments on Amy Tan's novels mainly focus on what we associate with human culture, ignoring the material dimensions of existence that figure prominently in her novels. Influenced by the anthropocentric idea that the human being/the subject is superior to things/the object, critics mainly focus on the mother-daughter relation, the importance of language and memory and the conflicts of Chinese and American culture. However, in the context of the so-called “return to things,” “back to things,” and “turn to the non-human” which has become visible in the humanities since the 1990s, I concentrate on things, specifically on the interactions between humans and nonhumans in her novels. Under the influence of both American and Chinese culture, Tan breaks with the western tradition of binary opposition in which the subject is superior to the object. Qi-things include natural and man-made things, human beings, and even spiritual things and things in the textual world. Bringing the twenty-first century western revision of things into dialogue with Chinese philosophies, especially Taoism, this dissertation discusses the traits of Qi-things and how they interact with each other to foster an ecological return to harmony within the textual world that reconciles humans and non-humans, microcosm and macrocosm.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 47-48).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 47-48). Also available in print.

This project examines the connection between the representations of Chinese American women and the Orientalist discourse, as depicted in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Using a deconstructive and intersectional approach, the project focuses on four interconnected constituents that regulate the novel’s main structural and thematic elements: Narrative Structure; Mother-Daughter Relationships; Language, Writing and Identity; and Feminist Affirmations. The project’s aim is to understand the logic of the novel’s representation by juxtaposing and analyzing the contrasting arguments within each of the sections. Though somewhat inconclusive, this project addresses the ambiguity of Tan’s work in hopes of expanding the critical understanding of the novel.

本篇論文試圖以列維納斯之倫理哲學、傅科和薩依德的觀點來分析、討論譚恩美的小說《百種神秘感》。小說透過兩種敘述的並置，描繪同父異母兩姊妹—中國出生的李關與美國長大的葉奧莉薇—之間的關係，以及一趟迷人的穿越時空之旅。譚恩美藉由這故事傳達她對倫理議題中「他者」的關懷。由於西方哲學及認識論傳統自柏拉圖以降便將「我思」的想法視為靈魂與自我的對話，認為一切真理皆在自身之中。在這樣的思想體系架構下，「他者」被視為暫時脫離但最終將被「同一」（「自我」）給同化的客體。易言之，「他者」的「他性」（或「無限性」）在「同一」的「整體」之中是可被壓制、吸納。大體而言，西方哲學其實是一門有關自戀的「同一」、而非有關真正「他者」的知識。 正是在這樣的哲學背景之下，《百種神秘感》探索許多知識所蘊含有關「整體」的論述暴力，比如心理學、西方醫藥論述及歷史學。同樣地，小說也批判了許多跨文化關係當中所表現出的「整體」暴力。在小說中，西方人透過東方主義式的觀點看待非西方人及他者的文化，並建構出一系列簡化的二元對立概念—西方與東方、文明與野蠻、自我與他者等。列維納斯反對這種不公平且充滿暴力的西方哲學傳統，是以他提出了肯定「他者」之「他性」的倫理哲學。在倫理關係中「自我」與「他者」兩者和平共存；兩者之間有關係但各自獨立。「自我」的主體性因「他者」的存在而建立，因而是為「他者」服務的。在倫理關係中「自我」對「他者」負有責任。藉由列維納斯、傅科和薩依德的觀點，本論文將探討《百種神秘感》中人際關係與文化交流間的他者倫理意涵。 / This thesis aims to investigate Amy Tan’s The Hundred Secret Senses in terms of Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical philosophy, Michel Foucault’s discursive theory and Edward Said’s observations about Orientalism. Through the use of juxtaposition of two narratives, the novel depicts the relationship between two half sisters, Chinese-born Kwan Li and Chinese American Olivia Yee, and a fascinating journey through time and space. By telling this amazing story, Tan expresses her serious concern for ethical issue of the Other. Western philosophy and epistemology have a tradition of totalizing thought. Plato regarded the “I think” thought as the dialogue of the soul with itself; truth was said to inhabit the soul. In western philosophical tradition, the Other is viewed as something that is temporarily separate from the Same (the Self) but is ultimately reconcilable with the Same. In other words, the otherness of the Other is assimilated and oppressed within the totality of the Same. Hence western philosophy is a knowledge about the narcissistic Same, rather than about genuine Other. The Hundred Secret Senses explores the discursive violence of totality in various knowledges such as psychology, medicine, and history. Likewise, the novel also depicts the violence of totality in intercultural relationships. The westerners in the novel tend to view non-westerners and their culture in an Orientalist way, in which a series of constructed opposites are adopted—West/Orient; Civilized/Barbaric; We/They. Against this violent and unjust tradition in western philosophy, Levinas advocates an ethical philosophy, in which the Other is affirmed in his otherness. In the Levinasian ethical relationship, the Self and the Other are viewed as separate but connected terms; neither is assimilated into or confused with the other. Ethical relationship is the coexistence of Totality and Infinity (otherness). Subjectivity of the Self is awakened by the presence of the Other; hence its essence is for the Other. In ethical relationship the Self has responsibility for the Other. Through the perspectives of Levinas, Foucault and Said, the thesis will also scrutinize the ethical meaning of interpersonal relations and cultural exchanges in The Hundred Secret Senses.

This analysis of Tan's first two novels reveals that her female characters suffer from the strains critics like Amy Ling say result from the double paradox of filling the roles of mother or daughter as minority women in a white, male society. Recognizing this double paradox offers Tan's characters, and her readers, the opportunity to resolve the conflicts between mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club. Using the theories of psychologist Kathie Carlson helps readers understand how the protagonist of The Kitchen God's Wife resolves similar conflicts with her daughter and her own mother by seeking support from a mythic mother-figure, a Goddess of her own making.

美國華裔作家譚艾美的第一本小說「喜福會」,1989年出版後立即名列紐 約、舊金山、洛杉磯的暢銷排行榜,這本小說主要敘述四位中國母親及她 們四個美國出生的女兒的故事。由於譚艾美本身是美國出生的中國女兒, 由她詮釋華裔美國女兒自然具有說服力。然而,誠如林艾美所問的:「一個 在美國長大旳華裔美人,能夠知道什麼是中國女性嗎?」林艾美的疑問是引 發這篇論文的主要動機。小說中的四位中國母親,宿願(Suyuan),安美 (An-mei), 靈多 (Lindo),以及瑩影(Ying-Ying)都是在1949年中國內戰 末期從中國移民到美國的,由於宿願在美國重組其麻將俱樂部: 喜福會, 使得這四位中國母親得以相聚相識,在這俱樂部中打麻將並互相述說她們 在中國的經歷,以及在美生活的點點滴滴。透過故事的敘述,這四位中國母 親的性格逐漸從其扮演的角色: 女兒、母親、妻子、及朋友中顯露出來。 這篇論文的第一、二、三、四章,將分別討論分析宿願、安美、靈多、及 瑩影的性格,首先簡述個人的生平經歷,再就其生命中所扮演的角色個別分 析其性格特點。第五章則比較四位母親性格中的異同。孰為典型之中國母 親?孰為非典型?作為文學創作之產物,她們是否成功?她們在這本小說中的 功能為何?作者對這四個角色所採取的態度有何不同?這些問題都將在第五 章探討。四位中國母親性格之分析比較,只是這本小說所能探討的諸多問 題之一 ,惟願在女性主義、婚姻問題、母女關係等之觀點外,提供另一審 查之角度。 / Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club was published and hit the best-seller lists in New York, San Francisco and L.A. in 1989. This novel deals with the stories of four Chinese mothers and their four American-born daughters. Due to her American -born-Chinese identity Amy Tan is qualified to present American- born-Chinese daughters convincingly. What triggers the study of this thesis is a question provided by a critic. Amy Ling doubts: Can a Chinese American growing up in America ever know what is Chinese? Before answering this question, another critic's viewpoint reinforces the motivation of this investigation. Carole Angiec remarks that the four Chinese mothers "are cleverly planned to cover every sort of Chinese woman's character and experience...." The main concern of this thesis is the image of the four Chinese mothers: are they typical Chinese female or not? To verify the four Chinese mothers' image, the focus of this thesis will be placed upon two parts: one is the respective analysis of the four Chinese mothers' characters; the other is general comparison between the four Chinese mothers and typical Chinese woman with respect to their identity and character traits.