The Liminal Negotiation between Southern and Northern Chinese Cultural Difference in Pearl S. Buck's Novel,The Good Earth

Abstract

The thesis entitled"The Liminal Negotiation between Southern and Northern Chinese Cultural Difference in Pearl S.Buck's Novel,The Good Earth"explores the process of cultural change. Pearl S. Buck, a realist writer, focuses on cultural difference, negotiation between and among different cultural traits and change of cultural identity. Wang Lung, the protagonist inThe Good Earth,was a poor male figure representing northern Chinese culture. He gradually negotiated with female, western people and people of higher class in liminal space where the identity of both sides interact. So he was able to change both his status and mentality.Culture is totality of human life i.e., culture includes all the aspects of human life. Similarly, cultural difference indicates the dynamic movement of cultural identity. The movement i.e. the change, is possible due to the interaction between differentcultural identities and the negotiation between them. The interaction between male and female, higher and lower classes and sophisticated and simple cultural traditions paves the way for cultural negotiation which leads to the cultural change. This interaction and negotiation takes place in a liminal space which is the precondition for cultural change.