Masks, Fans, and Nu Shu in Chinese-American Female Love Relationships

Abstract

In this article, I argue that the issue of saving face is experienced differently among Chinese- American Lesbians than it is for Americans as a result of the cultural transmission of Confucian beliefs through first generation immigrants. The fictional texts that will be analyzed in detail are: The film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011) by Wayne Wang and the film Saving Face (2007) by Alice Wu. Fans, masks, and the Nu Shu language indicate how ethnicity, class, and gender intersect in the construction of identity and how, in a fictional context, the above-mentioned historical works of art serve as archives to document the way female love relationships have struggled to exist. I investigate the use of the Nu Shu language, which was created for and used only by women, and show how it really existed in the province of Hunan, its last user dying in 2004. This unusual form of communication created a possible romance between women who shared a secret language.