著者

佐藤 洋 Hiroshi Sato

出版者

昭和女子大学近代文化研究所

雑誌

学苑 (ISSN:13480103)

巻号頁・発行日

no.810, pp.118-126, 2008-04

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This research is going to deal with the characteristics of Chinese immigrants. It will make use of the movie titled THE JOY LUCK CLUB. This unusually named club is a group of four mothers who enjoy playing mahjong regularly. They have been playing the game for as many as thirty years, since they migrated to San Francisco from China. They eat food or snacks they cook for themselves and chat and gossip while playing. The stories of how they had to emigrate from their home country is told through their chatting. The movie shows that each of the mothers has her own sad background. Another important topic they always discuss is their family stories, especially those of their special daughters. The movie describes one story after another of how each mother experienced hardship in her younger days in China, and how she is now struggling with new problems related to the generation gap. Their history and struggles are the history and struggles characteristic of Chinese immigration to America. Since other ways of immigrating to America (such as from England, Ireland, or Poland) were analyzed in Gakuen No. 798, issued last April, comparison with that analysis and the difference from immigration types of other ethnic groups will be researched. This will reveal the different characteristics as well as similarities of Chinese immigration from that of immigrants from other countries.