The Distortion of Reality,
Construction of History, and
Intertextuality in Maxine Hong
Kingston’s The Woman Warrior

While some existing critiques sees The Woman
Warrior as a token Asian text which perpetuates
exotifying and Orientalist notions of Asian identity, I
am arguing that the text must be understood in its
own tradition, counteracting the reductionist
appropriation of the text as part of the multicultural
American academy. Further, I argue that a
metafictional reading of The Woman Warrior creates
space for and is closely linked to an Asian American
feminist perspective of the themes in The Woman
Warrior.
Introduction
Overview
1.
2.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Addressing Existing Critique
Metafiction
Intertextuality
Distortion of Reality
Construction of History
Conclusion

Chapter 2, “White Tigers,” focuses on the popular
Chinese folklore of Fa Mu Lan.

Fiction versus memoir?

Textual evidence
[clouds as “an ink wash,” “distant peaks as if shaded by
pencil,” rocks like “charcoal rubbings,” and a bird as “two
black strokes”( 20)].

Dismantling binaries

Subverting familiar stereotypes

Creating a complex representation of Asian
women

A metafictional reading of The Woman
Warrior creates space for and is closely linked
to a feminist analyses of its themes.