Maternal distortion under the golden cangue: A feminist exploration of the imprisonment and alienation of motherhood in Eileen Chang’s works

School of Chinese Language and Literature, NanJing XiaoZhuang University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211100, China

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Abstract

In the context of the collaborative complicity in the colonial economy and patriarchal moral frameworks during the Republican Era (1912-1949) in China, Eileen Chang’s narrative construction of deviant maternal figures constitutes a radical subversion of traditional motherhood representations. These literary embodiments expose the structural alienation of motherhood under intersecting oppressive regimes. This article centers on the symbolic system of the golden cangue in The Golden Cangue to analyse how the colonial economy distorts maternal ethics through the logic of reification. Simultaneously with this, the study transcends a unidimensional analytical framework by proposing a quadripartite alienation model encompassing economic, power, libidinal, and psychological dimensions. It systematically delineates the process and manifestations of maternal distortion, reveals the tragic consequences and exposes the existential predicaments confronting women in patriarchal structures—while providing deeper comprehension of the image of Chi-chiao and the broader literary significance of Eileen Chang’s pioneering works.