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Between the cracks : explorations of madness in three Chinese-American women's novels
Author
Tang, Geraldine Hui Chan
Supervisor
Wong, Patricia
Abstract
The Chinese American woman is no stranger to margins. Yellow-skinned in America, subjected to the patriarchy of both Chinese as well as American culture the Chinese American woman faces a complexity of challenges and issues just for being in her skin. Chinese American woman novelists who venture into translating the Chinese American experience in their writing do no less than address or at least acknowledge these issues. It is therefore very intriguing that many Chinese American novels written by women contain characters that are 'mad' or who appear to be so. To be female, of Chinese descent and 'mad' further consign the women to the margins. This thesis seeks to explore the 'madness' depicted in Maxine Hong-Kingston's Woman Warrior, Amy Tan's The Boneserter's Daughter and Fae Myenne Ng's Bone. In doing so, this thesis will trace Chinese-American history, placing in context Chinese-American Literary endeavors. It will also trace 'madness' in general, particularly as 'madness' is reflected in Western literature and in feminist theory on writing. The large project of this thesis is, after all, a re-visioning of 'madness'-how it can also be read, be appropriated and be re-defined.
Date Issued
2004
Call Number
PS221 Tan
Date Submitted
2004