Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club

Bella Adams (University of Sunderland)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1989

Places

United States, California (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Soon after the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club (1989), a critic from an American newspaper announced: “Everyone loves Amy Tan. She's the flavour of the month, the hot young thing, the exotic new voice that is giving hope to a publishing industry weary of old trends” (Streitfield, p. F9). The novel's representation of matrilineal relations in circumstances complicated by the linguistic and cultural differences between Chinese mothers and American-born daughters appeals to a range of readers, mainly women, both inside and outside the academy. What Tan's readers most seem to appreciate is The Joy Luck Club's apparent closing of the intergenerational gap, as well as its sheer number of narrators.

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3271 words

Citation: Adams, Bella. "The Joy Luck Club". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=464, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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