Healing the Haunted Memories and Wounded Past: An Analysis of The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan in the Light of Trauma Literary Theory

Abstract

This article interprets The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan as a reproduction of the traumatic experiences of a Chinese American woman, Winnie who lives in a diasporic condition in United States. Drawing insight from the notions of trauma derived from the writings of Michell Balaev, the study unveils that the revealing of traumatic memories by Winnie to her daughter Pearl in connection with her troubled married life in China with her ex-husband Wen Fu and witnessing the violence during the Sino-Japanese war and WWII is a source of bringing the compatibility in their mutual relationship. The findings of this article also show that Winnie seeks to step out of the oppression paradigm and social injustice with a positive vision and her organized efforts for immigration to US and re-marriage with Louie is a healing process from her traumatic past life and the claim of her own power in the world.