In Pursuit of Maternal Love: Mother-Daughter Conflict in Daughter of the River and Beloved from a Thematic Perspective

In traditional Chinese and Western family conflicts, mother-daughter conflicts are often ignored and trivialized compared to father-son conflicts. However, the advent of women's literature in the new era has marked a significant paradigm shift, challenging the longstanding silence or aphasia surrounding women's voices. Through literary expression, contemporary female authors have sought to reclaim and foreground women's lived experiences, offering a nuanced portrayal of their realities. Notably, works such as <i>Daughter of the River </i>and<i> Beloved</i> as testaments to this literary renaissance, with both texts serving as powerful vehicles for female self-expression. Centered on the universal yet culturally specific theme of "in pursuit of maternal love," these narratives delve into the intricate dynamics of mother-daughter relationships, revealing the divergent paths taken by mothers and daughters in navigating familial conflicts across cultural divides. From a theoretical perspective of thematic, this paper focuses on the common motif of mother-daughter conflict in the two works, analyzes the three aspects of narrative structure and expression, family background and ethical environment, and cultural expression and value significance. By elucidating the disparities and underlying motivations driving women's writing across Western and Chinese cultural landscapes, this study aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of female identity and agency in a globalized world. 在传统中西方家庭矛盾中，母女冲突相较于父子冲突往往易被忽略和轻视。但新时期以来的女性文学打破传统女性无声或失语的状态，突出女性声音，还原女性真实。《饥饿的女儿》和《宠儿》都是女性作家对女性真实自我的表达，二者围绕相似的主题“追问母爱”，呈现了中西方母女在面临冲突时的不同选择。本文以比较文学主题学为理论视角，从两部作品的共同母题母女冲突分析作品中叙事结构与表现方式、家庭背景与伦理环境以及文化表达与价值意义三个方面，旨在探寻中西方不同文化背景下女性写作的差异性和目的。