ABSTRACT

Pearl S. Buck won the Nobel Prize for The Good Earth Trilogy in 1938. This novel created on the basis of her past experiences in China, introduced Chinese rural life to the western world in a cross-cultural perspective, and contributed a great deal to the exchanges between the eastern and western cultures. The conflict and integration that exemplified in her novels has been revealed as one of the main features of Pearl S. Buck’s works. Cultural conflict refers to the competitive and contrary state caused by two or more cultures contacts. In The House of Earth trilogy, the land complex, the conflict between feminism and male chauvinism have all been discussed to exhibit the conflicts between Chinese and Western cultures. Besides, cultural integration means the mutual penetration and absorption of different cultures. In The House of Earth trilogy, both the development of Chinese feminism and female characteristics embodied the integration of Chinese and Western culture. The paper devotes to studying The Good Earth Trilogy through a cross-cultural perspective. By analyzing the different characters and plots, it aims to explore the conditions of cultural conflict and integration as well as its causes. The paper contains five chapters: chapter one is a brief introduction of Pearl S. Buck, The Earth of House trilogy, and the definition of cultural conflict and integration ; chapter two is the literature review; chapter three is the exploration of conflicts in The House of Earth trilogy; chapter four discusses the integration of feminism; the chapter five is conclusion and implication.

Keywords：Cross-cultural Perspective; Pearl S. Buck; The House of Earth trilogy; Cultural conflicts and integration

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 The Brief Introduction of Pearl S. Buck-1

1.2 The House of Earth trilogy-3

1.3 Cultural Conflict and Integration-4

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-7

2.1 The Current Research In Other Countries-7

2.2 The Current Research In China-8

Chapter Three  Cultural CONFLICTS-10

3.1 Land Complex-10

3.2 The Conflict Between Feminism and Male Chauvinism-11

3.3 Causes of Cultural Conflicts-13

Chapter Four  INTEGRATION-14

4.1 Integrative Development of Feminism-14

4.2 Causes of Cultural Integration-16

Chapter Five  CONCLUSION-18

WORKS CITED-20