俞可文

【Abstract】：Growth is an eternal topic. The growth of the teenagers has always been a hot theme of researches. With confusion， curiosity and study of the growth， initiation story—as a kind of literary work， have emerged and developed. Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club is one of the representative works of Chinese American initiation story.

In this paper， the theory of initiation novel is applied to analyze the growth experiences of characters in The Joy Luck Club. Because of the special cultural background， the growth features which are conveyed in this novel are quite different from those of classical ones. This paper analyzes the novel according to the basic features of initiation story. Furthermore， it demonstrates its special features.

【Keywords】：The Joy Luck Club; Amy Tan; initiation story

1. Introduction to initiation story

1.1The origin of Bildungsroman in Germany

When we start talking about American initiation story， we should trace the origin of German Bildungsroman first. Bildungsroman is a kind of novel genre which is common and popular in western literary world. According to the penguin Dictionary of Liter Terms and Literary Theory， “this （bildungsroman） is a term more or less synonymous with Erziehungsroman—literally an ‘upbringing or ‘education novel. Widely used by German critics， it refers to a novel which is an account of the youthful development of a hero or heroine （usually the former）. It describes the processes by which maturity was achieved through the various ups and downs of life”. [1]

Thus it can be seen that “bildungsroman” – this term generally used in Germany to describe such kind of novel. “‘bildungsroman is a Germany word， composed by ‘bildung and ‘roman. ‘bildung is synonymous with shaping in English and ‘roman is of French origin which simply means ‘roman. Put two words together then formed a new meaning—“novel of formation”. [2]

As a traditional literary genre， bildungsroman “was formed for nations literature essence for more than two hundred years.” [3]

1.2 Initiation story： American version of Bildungsroman

In many respects， American literature's roots are in Europe. In European literature， the word “bildungsroman” is generally includes the meaning of “education” or “shaping”. However， In American literature， bildungsroman develops into a new term “initiation story” and accepted by the public. The word “initiation”， originates from the Latin “initiatio”， meaning to begin， to access or to participate. The bildungsroman emphasizes the significance of education and character shaping while the initiation story underlined the course of growing up.

According to Mordecai Marcuss article “What is an Initiation Story？ （1960）” He explains the origin and the definition of the “initiation story” and points out that anthropology is the root of “Initiation” after synthesizes various opinions.

Marcus brought up a general definition of initiation story：

An initiation story may be said to show its young protagonist experiencing a significant change of knowledge about the world or self， or change of character， or of both and this change must lead him towards an adult world. It may or may not contain some of ritual， but it should give some evidence that the change is at least likely to have permanent effects. （Marcus，1969：222）[4]

The definition clearly claims that what kind of story could be called an initiation story and confirms that the leading characters' identities and the results of growth.

2. Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club as a typical initiation story

Amy Tan is a well-known Chinese American contemporary novelist. Amy Tan was born of the first Chinese immigration parents on 19th February， 1952 in Oakland， California. Tan began writing novel when she was 33. And when she was 37， she published her first book， a collection of short stories called The Joy Luck Club， which the critics reviewed as a novel.

Amy Tans works have always focusing on culture difference between east and west， taking female's personal growth experience as thread， and ending with the settlement of the contradiction and reconstruction the harmonious mother-daughter relationship.

The Joy Luck Club consists of four parts including sixteen interconnected stories which are about four Chinese mothers and their American born daughters， and how the distinct cultural chasm in their upbringing， play into their daily lives.

It is the everyday struggles of modern life for mothers with their daughters， and the conflicts between them that most will easily recognize. It is also a process for the daughters to grow-up and quest for their own cultural and female identity. From the point of the theory of initiation story， the work involves initiation guider， epiphany and growth ceremony， all these elements will be analyzed in the following chapters.

All in all， Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club could be read as an initiation story.

3. Daughters puzzles in cultural and female identities

During the growing courses of heroines， one of the crucial themes of initiation story is puzzlement and confusion which are closely bound up growing up environment. The second-generation Chinese American daughters had the dual cultural identity： on the one hand， their mothers， who were born in China， talked about their past in old China so that daughters wouldnt separate from Chinese traditional culture. One the other hand， the four daughters， who were born and grew up in America， were trying to escape from the influence of Chinese culture and grow up in a western way.

The main character， Jing-Mei Woo， tried hard to please her mother by becoming a genius. However， after several attempts to math， memory games and play the piano， finally she failed on everything. Another character， Waverly Jong， became a chess champion with her mothers anticipation， but she started getting annoyed with her mother because her mother tried to control her and showed off her triumphs all the time.

The mothers believed that the daughters should obey their orders， think exactly like them and put filial piety above everything. The Chinese traditions looked so obsolete and weird to the daughters that they subconsciously distanced themselves from these traditions.

Rose Hsu， one of the daughters， did not bear any responsibility for her marriage so that she lived in her husband Teds shadow for fifteen years and she was “unable to make the simplest decisions”.[5]Her behaviors were considered to lose herself. Another daughter， Lena St. Clair， She is having marital problems with her husband Harold， who wants to be treated equality. “As long as we keep the money thing separate， well always be sure of our love for each other”[6]Harold explained. In that way， her husband avoide his responsibility and her value finally eroded away.

So much distress was caused by the daughters cultural and female identities. Under such a circumstance， they failed to place themselves in a correct position.

4. Daughters awakening during growth process

In The Joy Luck Club， the gap between the young daughters and mothers is the one between the American mainstream culture and their Chinese heritage.

An-mei Hsu， Roses mother， who lived in the Old China， was forced to be concubines and tried to commit suicide by taken opium; Suyuan Woo， Jing-meis mother， who abandoned twin babies in China in account of the Chinese Civil War. Each of them had a rough past. After listening to every story spoken by their mothers intently， daughters tried to figure out what their mothers thought and understand the world from mothers point of view.

Looking for the memories from the Chinese culture is another method for questing for culture identity. Both generations float upon American culture so that they lost themselves. However， Chinese culture gene is rooted in their bodies leading them to solve the problems which culture contradiction has brought to them. The myth， the spirit， the Chinese characters and other elements of Chinese symbol revive their cultural identities.

In The Joy Luck Club， Amy Tan not only indicated the gender discrimination in China， but also revealed the gender inequality in America.

In The Joy Luck Club， the daughters unfortunate marriages in the United States disclose the sin of masculism and challenge the longstanding gender roles. The mothers grew up in the old regime but never give up being in charge of their fate. They encouraged their daughters to make a stand against the inequality in marriage living for their own happiness as well.

When Roses marriage was on the rocks， at this crucial moment， her mother came up and said： “I am not telling you to save your marriage... I only say you should speak up.”[7]After reminding of her mother， Roes realized that it was what her husband dominated in her marriage. Finally， she firmly proclaimed that her husband “wouldnt just pull me out of your life and throw me away.”[8]

At first， Lena thought that this kind of inferiority complex was commonplace in women in Chinese background. However， Rose conveyed her therapists words which changed Lenas idea. The therapist said， “Why do you blame your culture， your ethnicity？ “[9]Lena was unable to endure stringent and unfair in her marriage life and tried to address this trailing position through a heart-to-heart talk with her husband.

Through these endeavors， the daughters retrieved their female identities and valued by themselves. In this process， daughters were no longer strayed because of they have explored a typical pathway of Chinese and Western culture integration.

Conclusion

The Joy Luck Club belongs to the literary genre of Initiation Story. It tells a series of ordinary family stories including four pairs of mothers and daughters who fight drastic conflict of cross-cultural， career goals， marriage and divorce and parental guidance. As David Li presents， “gender，generation， and geography are thus interwoven and transcoded to exemplify Amy Tans ideation of an Asian American family amid the familial relations of ethnicity and nation at large.”[10]

Although the plot form in The Joy Luck Club does not absolutely consistent with the basic form of Initiation Story， it still embodies the Chinese American teenagers initiation. As the representative work of Chinese American literature， The Joy Luck Club also gave a great influence on Chinese American works at that time and later.  In my opinion， it has theoretical and practical significance to study of the daughters images portrayed in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

注释：

[1]“Bildungsroman.” The Penguin Dictionary of Liter Terms and Literary Theory. London： Penguin Books， 1998

[2]Jerome Hamilton Buckley. Seasons of Youth： The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Cambridge. Harvard University Press， 1974.

[3]谷裕，“试论诺瓦利斯小说的宗教特征”，《外国文学评论》，2001年第二期。

[4]Mordecai Marcus. “What Is an Initiation Story？” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism19， 1960.

[5]Amy Tan， The Joy Luck Club， Random House， 1989.

[6]Amy Tan， The Joy Luck Club， Random House， 1989.

[7]Amy Tan， The Joy Luck Club， Random House， 1989.

[8]Amy Tan， The Joy Luck Club， Random House， 1989.

[9]Amy Tan， The Joy Luck Club， Random House， 1989.

[10] JoLi， David Leiwei. Imagining the Nation： Asian American Literature and Cultural Consent. Stanford UP，1998.

Bibliography

Amy Tan. The Joy Luck Club. Random House，1989.

“Bildungsroman.”The Penguin Dictionary of Liter Terms and Literary Theory. Penguin Books，1998.

Jerome Hamilton Buckley. Seasons of Youth： The Bildungsroman from Dickens to    Consent. Stanford UP，1998.

JoLi， David Leiwei. Imagining the Nation： Asian American Literature and Cultural Golding. Cambridge. Harvard University Press， 1974.

Mordecai Marcus. “What Is an Initiation Story？” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism19， 1960.

谷裕，“試論诺瓦利斯小说的宗教特征”，《外国文学评论》，2001年第二期。