Abstract:

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.

Key words: intercultural communication, Amy Tan, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, ethnocentrism, cultural differences