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Narratives of resistance: the untold stories of women in Asian American diasporic tales
Date
2025
Abstract
This thesis examines the representation of Asian American identity in the works of Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Nora Okja Keller. Through themes of silence, storytelling, and mother-daughter relationships, the research explores how these authors confront cultural silencing and intergenerational trauma. Drawing on feminist, postcolonial, and gender studies frameworks, the thesis investigates how storytelling and silence serve as tools for resistance, cultural negotiation, and identity formation in diasporic contexts.
By comparing their narrative strategies, thematic concerns, and cultural interventions in The Woman Warrior, The Joy Luck Club, and Comfort Woman, The Woman Warrior, The Joy Luck Club, and Comfort Woman, the study analyses the distinct narrative strategies each author uses to navigate cultural and generational tensions. Kingston blends myth and autobiography to challenge cultural expectations and reclaim silenced histories, using folklore as a means of empowerment. Tan focuses on intergenerational narratives to bridge cultural divides between mothers and daughters, showing how storytelling can redefine familial relationships. Keller, by contrast, highlights the fragmented nature of trauma, using silence to reflect the difficulties of transmitting cultural memory and identity after historical violence.
This thesis situates these authors within Asian American literary discourse, highlighting their shared but unique approaches to reclaiming marginalized voices. By engaging with silence, trauma, and cultural memory, it offers new insights into how these authors use narrative as a critical space for both survival and transformation. Ultimately, the research contributes to the conversation about the power of literature to articulate marginalized experiences and challenge dominant historical narratives
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
University of Limerick
Citation
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Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
Type
Thesis
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/