An ecological return to harmony in Amy Tan’s novels Qiping Liu To cite this version: Qiping Liu. An ecological return to harmony in Amy Tan’s novels. Literature. Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II, 2017. English. NNT : 2017TOU20073. tel-02325463 HAL Id: tel-02325463 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02325463 Submitted on 22 Oct 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. THÈSE En vue de l’obtention du DOCTORAT DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE TOULOUSE Délivré par : Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès Présentée et soutenue par : Qiping LIU le Samedi 07 Octobre 2017 Titre : An Ecological Return to Harmony in Amy Tan's Novels École doctorale et discipline ou spécialité : ED ALLPH@ : Anglais Unité de recherche : Cultures Anglo-Saxonnes (CAS) Directeur/trice(s) de Thèse : Wendy HARDING (Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès) Jury : Nicoleta Alexoae-Zagni (Université Paris 8) Nicole Ollier (Université Bordeaux Montaigne) Marie-Claude Perrin-Chenour (Université Paris X - Nanterre) 1 An Ecological Return to Harmony in Amy Tan’s Novels To my family. 2 3 Acknowledgements I am very grateful to my supervisor, Professor Harding who not only gave me the precious opportunity to study at the University of Toulouse and to be in France with my husband, but also directed me with great patience and inspired me in my studies. After many discussions, she suggested that I study the material dimensions of existence in Amy Tan’s works. I found that more than other Chinese American women writers whose main concern is cultural conflicts, Tan depicts many things related to human living and questions spiritual and ecological issues. To do a thesis with original and creative ideas, Professor Harding encouraged me to create my own concept of things and recommended me some relevant books, such as: Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of things and Bruno Latour’s works. Inspired by these and other books, I developed the idea of Qi-things and then attempted to study the relation between humans and non-human things in Tan’s works in terms of this hybrid concept. When after the first year of study in Toulouse I moved to study with my husband in Bordeaux, Professor Harding not only supported my choice but also kept on exchanging with me by email and Skype. After getting the news that I was pregnant with the twins, she often wrote to me to ask about my health and encourage me to carry on my study. In my thesis writing process, she has always provided useful advice and recommended references whenever I felt confused. In all, without her guidance, I could not have completed my study within five years. It has really been a wonderful study journey under her direction. Then, I am grateful to the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès and its libraries where I often studied in the first year of my research. Thanks also go to our lab, Cultures 4 Anglo-Saxonnes (CAS) for supplying me allowances several times. The secretary of our lab, Madame Hanane Serjouan helped me a lot to deal with the annual registration. And thanks to the director of my husband’s research center, Professor MELIN for allowing me to study in their research centre, Centre d’Etude et de Recherches Comparatives sur les Constitutions, les Libertés et l’Etat (C.E.R.C.C.L.E), Bordeaux. At last, I would like to express gratitude to my husband, Tianhao CHEN who also will complete his doctoral study in October 2017. During these five years, he supported our daughters and me financially with his scholarships from both the Chinese and French governments. He always accompanied and encouraged me whenever I felt desperate and confused. Thanks too to my parents and my parents-in-law who continue to totally support us whenever we need help. Finally I am grateful for my lovely twins Zijin CHEN and Zipei CHEN who make me feel much stronger and believe in myself. 5 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... 3 ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. 7 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 8 PART ONE: THE INTERACTIONS OF QI-THINGS THROUGH LIVING ................ 37 CHAPTER ONE: THE INTERACTIONS OF QI-THINGS THROUGH EATING ...... 38 I. THE VIBRANCY OF FOOD AND THINGS RELATED TO EATING ................................................. 41 II. DISCOURSES ON FOOD AS QI-THINGS .................................................................................. 51 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER TWO: THE INTERACTIONS OF QI-THINGS THROUGH CLOTHING ................................................................................................................................................. 69 I. INDIVIDUALISTIC EXPRESSIONS THROUGH PERSONAL ADORNMENT .................................. 72 II. DRESS: A COMMUNICATOR OR EVEN A CREATOR OF IDENTITY .......................................... 78 III. DRESS AS AN INTERPRETER OF SOCIAL STATUS, CONVENTION AND SOCIAL CHANGES .... 91 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER THREE: THE INTERACTIONS OF QI-THINGS THROUGH HOUSING ................................................................................................................................................. 98 I. HOUSES AS INTERACTIVE SPACES ...................................................................................... 99 II. SEEKING IDENTITY AND STABILITY IN FLUID AND HYBRID SPACES ................................ 116 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 130 PART TWO: QI-THINGS IN THE WIDER WORLD: COSMIC INTERACTIONS .. 132 CHAPTER FOUR: THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE NATURAL WORLD .................................................................................................. 133 I. DISRUPTIVE INTRA-ACTIONS THAT DISRUPT THE SUBJECT/ OBJECT DIVISION ................. 134 II. HARMONIES BETWEEN HUMANS AND NATURE ............................................................... 153 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 176 CHAPTER FIVE: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD....................... 178 I. THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HUMANS AND GHOSTS ..................................................... 179 II. THE YIN WORLD: A WHOLISTIC LIFE THAT MERGES THE CULTURES OF AMERICA .......... 195 III. SPIRITS AS QI-THINGS ................................................................................................... 204 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 212 PART THREE: THE INTERACTIONS OF QI-THINGS IN THE TEXTUAL WORLD ............................................................................................................................................... 213 6 CHAPTER SIX: THE NARRATION OF OTHER-THAN-HUMAN QI-THINGS ...... 215 I. NARRATIVE BONES IN THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER ..................................................... 218 II. PHOTOGRAPHS AS QI-THINGS ......................................................................................... 225 III. EKPHRASTIC NARRATION .............................................................................................. 241 IV. A METAFICTIONAL CONSIDERATION OF THE NARRATOR'S POWER ................................. 258 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 266 CHAPTER SEVEN: WRITING AS A QI-THING ........................................................... 267 I. THE PRIVILEGES OF WRITTEN TEXTS AND THEIR COOPERATION WITH SPEECH ................ 269 II. THE VIBRANT MATERIALITY OF WRITING ...................................................................... 278 III. THE INTERTEXTUALITY OF TEXTS ................................................................................. 287 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 312 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 313 WORKS CITED .................................................................................................................. 319 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 333 INDEX ................................................................................................................................... 351 7 ABBREVIATIONS Works by Amy Tan cited in the thesis in alphabetical order