《接骨师之女》是美国华裔文学女作家谭恩美继《喜福会》《灶神之妻》之后又一部聚焦母女关系的长篇小说。本文从跨文化交际视角出发,剖析小说中主人公茹灵与露丝各自的民族中心主义倾向及其对二人关系产生的消极影响,以及她们如何相互理解,达成和解,最终跨越文化隔阂的过程。文本分析表明,母亲茹灵和女儿露丝所秉持的民族中心主义表征主要集中在语言选择、非语言交际方式和教育理念三个方面,而这三种表征也是引起母女关系冲突的主要原因。本文基于小说文本进一步分析了跨越民族中心主义、消弭跨文化冲突的策略,呼吁人们要用开放、包容的态度对待不同文化体系中的思维方式、价值观念、文化习俗,从而实现有效的跨文化交际。

The Bonesetter’s Daughter is another novel focusing on mother-daughter relationship, written by the Chinese-American female writer Amy Tan who had already published the Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. From the perspective of intercultural communication, this paper analyzes the ethnocentric tendency of the main characters, Mother Ruling and Daughter Rose, and its negative impact on their conflicting relationship. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the mother and daughter learn to understand each other and get reconciled by crossing the barrier of ethnocentrism. The analysis illustrates that the choice of daily-used language, nonverbal signals and educational concepts are three ethnocentric manifestations causing their conflicts. This paper further analyzes the strategies to go beyond ethnocentrism and diminish cultural conflicts, appealing for an open, tolerant attitude towards different cultural values, norms and ways of thinking in order to achieve appropriate and effective intercultural communication.