Feminism and Metafiction:
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Transcript Feminism and Metafiction:
The Distortion of Reality,
Construction of History, and
Intertextuality in Maxine Hong
Kingston’s The Woman Warrior
While some existing critiques sees The Woman
Warrior as a token Asian text which perpetuates
exotifying and Orientalist notions of Asian identity, I
am arguing that the text must be understood in its
own tradition, counteracting the reductionist
appropriation of the text as part of the multicultural
American academy. Further, I argue that a
metafictional reading of The Woman Warrior creates
space for and is closely linked to an Asian American
feminist perspective of the themes in The Woman
Warrior.
Introduction
Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Addressing Existing Critique
Metafiction
Intertextuality
Distortion of Reality
Construction of History
Conclusion
Chapter 2, “White Tigers,” focuses on the popular
Chinese folklore of Fa Mu Lan.
Fiction versus memoir?
Textual evidence
[clouds as “an ink wash,” “distant peaks as if shaded by
pencil,” rocks like “charcoal rubbings,” and a bird as “two
black strokes”( 20)].
Dismantling binaries
Subverting familiar stereotypes
Creating a complex representation of Asian
women
A metafictional reading of The Woman
Warrior creates space for and is closely linked
to a feminist analyses of its themes.