The Symbolic Meaning of House in The House on Mango Street 论文.doc

 The Symbolic Meaning of House in The House on Mango Street A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for BA to the Faculty of Foreign Languages At Abstract As a classic in contemporary American ethnic literature，the novel The House On the Mango Street has brought Sandra Cisneros international fame．The House on Mango Street records struggling history of Mexican immigrants in America．Approaching the life of immigrants, the novel discloses the dilemma of minority communities in American society from the perspective of a little female protagonist Esperansa．The novel also portrays the growth of Esperansa，reflecting Esperansa’s and other Mexican women’s marginal status in American society and their subordinate reality from their fathers or oppress by their husbands after marriage，through which the work lays bare those Mexican women’s physical and spiritual pursuit of equality，racial and gender identity． This thesis will analyze Esperansa’s narrating her ordinary life to explore the symbolic meaning of “house” in The House on Mango Street. It consists of five parts. Chapter One introduces the genre and themes of the House on Mango Street. Chapter Two defines the meaning of the house. Chapter Three discusses about how people on Mango Street pursue class equality. It also talks about the birth of the novel. In Chapter Four, the lower-class Latinos fight for equal racial identity. Chapter Five introduces the male chauvinism and how the women try to win an equal gender status. Keywords：House；Identity; Racial Identity；Identity 内容摘要 作为美国当代族裔文学经典之作，小说 《芒果街上的小屋》为美国女作家桑德拉 ·希斯内罗丝赢得国际声誉。《芒果街上的小屋》描述了墨西哥移民在美国辛酸的奋斗史。小说从主人公一个小女孩埃斯佩朗莎 ·科德罗的视角书写芒果街的移民生活，尤其是社区中少数族裔女性在夹缝中的生存状态，呈现美国社会少数族裔社区的困境。小说讲述了主人公埃斯佩朗莎 ·科德罗的成长经历，反映埃斯佩朗莎以及其它少数族裔女性在美国社会的弱势地位以及在家庭受男性压迫的现实，折射出以埃斯佩朗莎为代表的墨西哥裔女性对象征阶级、种族和性别平等的一所完全属于自己的房子不懈追寻的心声。 本论文通过分析主人公埃斯佩朗莎 ·科德罗讲述她的日常生活来探讨 关键词：房子；追寻；阶级身份；种族身份；性别身份 Acknowledgements I would like to express my deep thanks to all those who graciously offered