AMY TAN AND LITERARY CANON
Amy Tan is a great writer who must be considered a part of the literarycannon because she has been a major force in highlighting the issues facingthe Chinese and immigrant community in the United States. But Amy herselfdoesn't want to be labeled as a Asian American writer and thus instead ofbeing a part of Asian literary canon, it would be great to include her inthe lost of major writers of United States. Below we shall discuss somefeatures of her famous works and then see why she must be a part of the'The Hundred Secret Senses' is Amy Tan's third novel and received positiveresponse from the readers because of her earlier successes namely 'The JoyLuck Club and the 'Kitchen God's Wife'. The book as her earlier works was abeautiful blend of east and west and the writer herself coming from aChinese family brings an element of Oriental culture and values in theHundred Secrets Senses too. While the storyline is definitely unique in itsown way, it is important to understand that it is not the plot for whichAmy Tan is famous but it is her wonderful and lively characters, theiramazing and rather incredible powers and their ability to bring somethingdifferent to everyday American life tha
Despite her contribution to the issues of immigrants, Amy Tan doesn't likebeing called an Asian American writer only. Forinstance, the story begins and proceeds with the female heroine of themasterwork travelling with her father to China and visiting various placesin the country that is supposedly her motherland. As the plot develops, the characters developtoo uncovering the attributes of the main characters. Tan's novels reifyand reinterpret traditional genres by casting them in a variety of modes--realistic, comic, tragic, tragicomic, allegorical, fantastic, naturalistic,and heroic--that metamorphose seamlessly into each other in Tan's signaturenarrative style. The positioning of Jing-Mei Woo in this piece of writing hasbeen done in such a way that she appears to be the main character of thestory without doubt. t makes her novels interesting andgripping. What the fourfamilies in that book, the Woos, Jongs, Hsus, and St. As the story unfolds, the reader realizes the mainthemes that the author is concentrating on. " Within the microculturalstructure of family, the only means available for mothers to ensure ethniccontinuity is to recollect the past and to tell tales of what isremembered. And now I must tell her everything about my past. She is a born American with a mother whose rootsoriginally belong to the Chinese soil. The mixed emotions ofagony and happiness as well as the relieving sensation that the readerfeels when the lost sisters meet after aeons in China thereby connectingthe main character to not only her roots and cultural values but also toher rich past (Janet). The mothers are all first generationimmigrants from mainland China, speaking very little English and remainingcultural aliens in their new world. Clair voices the anxiety and helplessness shared by all the mothers inthe book: All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore. The other principal character, whichthough seems invisible throughout the course of the story, is the characterof the mother who is Chinese by birth.
Common topics in this essay:
Ying-ying StClair,
Amy Tan,
Luck Club,
St Clairs,
Barnard College,
Asian American,
Jing-Mei Woo,
Chinese American,
Label Tan,
God's Wife',
amy tan,
asian american,
american writer,
luck club,
joy luck club,
joy luck,
asian american writer,
literary cannon,
characters develop,
huntley 1998 explains,
readers critics,
chinese culture,
literary canon,
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Acceptance Essays
