THE PHENOMENON OF SISTERHOOD IN AMY TAN’S AND CHEN RAN’S WRITING

Abstract

Sisterhood, which is defined as a close bond among women that accommodates female friendship and affection, is a major motif in the fiction of contemporary Chinese woman writer Chen Ran and Chinese American writer Amy Tan. In their story telling from female perspectives, both writers touch upon, although with different emphasis, sisterhood as a source of women’s consolation and salvation. The article conducts a thematic comparison of the two writers’ portrait of sisterhood, the affirmation of which is a powerful means to revolt against male hegemony. The analysis of Chinese and American sociohistorical realities is also carried out to account for the variations of the role that sisterhood plays in Chen Ran’s and Amy Tan’s writing. It is hoped that more textual-based studies of intercultural communication could be conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions among different cultures in today’s global society.