Listening to our mothers' minds: intercultural and intergenerational conflict in Amy Tan's writing

Abstract

The notion of Chinese character being a hereditary entity that cannot be changed by any outer circumstances is a complex belief characteristic of any Chinese community both living in mainland China and in any foreign country. It is a primary factor that subconsciously prevents first generation Chinese immigrants from teaching their children Chinese language as their mother tongue and from imposing on them Chinese family traditions and rules that would apply in their home country. It is the character and its distinctive features that cause their deliberate enclosure in "ghettoes" of China Towns, forming Chinese Diasporas that prevent the immigrant parents from assimilating with their new societies. As a consequence, the second generation immigrants become double marginalised and the immigrant communities are troubled by two major contradicting forces: all Chinese immigrant parents face the problem of reconciliation with the cultural assimilation of their children and all children feel the generation gap between themselves and their conservative parents. In every Chinese community today there are thus two elements in continuous tension: the openness towards the outside world, the desire to borrow the good things and, by integrating them with ancient Chinese tradition, to enrich themselves as a result of this...

Mezi prislusniky cinskeho etnika, zijicimi jak na uzemi Ciny, tak mimo ne, je velice rozsirena iluze, ze jejich charakteristicke povahove rysy jsou vrozene. Cinane veri, ze ani pusobeni okolniho prostredi nemuze zmenit zaklad, na kterem cinsky charakter stoji. Tato vira podvedome ovlivnuje prvni generaci cinskych emigranm a svadi je k tomu, aby sve deti neuCili cinstinu jako matersky jazyk a neuplatnovali pri vychove pravidla, ktera by v Cine platila bez vYjimky. Prave tak jsou jejich charakteristicke povahove rysy duvodem, proc si v novych pusobistich zakladaji cinske ctvrti, do kterych se uzaviraji a vytvifi tak v prostredi hostitelskych kultur sve vlastni, nezavisle fungujici, diaspory. V dusledku kombinace teto dobrovolne izolace rodicu a jejich novych pristupu k vychove deti, se deti dostavaji do pozice dvojnasobne vykorenenYch. Prvni generace Cinskych pfistehova1cu tak cell problemu, jak se vyporadat se zaclenenim svych deti do kultumiho prostredi hostitelske zeme, druha generace je pak postavena pred problem, jak preklenout propast vzniklou mezi nimi a jejich konzervativnimi rodiCi. Na vsechny cinske komunity zijici mimo uzemi Ciny tak pusobi dye proti sobe jdouci sily: na jedne strane otevrenost a vstricnost vliCi okolnimu svetu a touha obohatit vlastni kulturu vypujckami z hostitelskeho prostredi a...