Abstract

American writers of African, Chinese, Jewish and Indian descent have been successfully accepted by the mainstream readers, and writers of Mexican descent attempt to keep abreast with these writers of ethnic minority. They try to construct their national identity with special textual strategies. Sandra Cisneros is playing a leading role in the movement. By analyzing her novel The House on Mango Street, this thesis endeavors to find two important strategies used by the author to construct her national identity: the perspective of a child and images. Sandra Cisneros emphasizes that we should use the difference of national culture to protect their Mexican culture. We should pay attention to the Mexican culture and the White culture. It is important to diverse the national culture and colonialist culture. Those writers are in a dilemma on national culture and colonialist culture. Sandra Cisneros points out the root in traditional culture.  

Key words: The House on Mango Street; children’s point of view; autobiography; images; national identity

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-4

1.1 A Brief Introduction of Sandra Cisneros and The House on Mango Street-4

1.2 Background and Significance of the Study-4

2. Literature Review-6

2.1 Study Abroad-6

2.2 Study at Home-6

3. National Identity Construction via Language-8

3.1 The Metaphors in the Context in Children’s Points of View-8

3.2 Childish Language and Expression in Speech-9

3.2.1 Diction-9

3.2.2 Sentence Length-10

3.3.3 Sentence Structure-11

3.2.4 Free Speech-11

4. National Identity Construction via Image-13

4.1 The Image of Female Characters-13

4.2-The Image of “House”-15

4.2.1 In Search of Class Identity-15

4.2.2 In Search of Ethnic Identity-16

4.2.3 In Search of Female Identity-17

4.3-Other Repeated Images-17

5. Conclusion-19

Bibliography-20