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Juliana Mohamed, Sheila Vijayan and Siti Aishah Kiran
Center for Foundation Studies and Extension Studies, Multimedia University

'Invisible fences: Traces of Confucianism in Hilary Tham vis-à-vis her mother's life encounters.
An analysis of memoirs and poems of a Malaysian-Chinese girlhood'

The main aim of this paper is to trace the Confucianistic influence in Hilary Tham as a result of being exposed to her mother's daily encounters as a second generation Chinese immigrant to Malaysia. The analysis is done based on Tham's literary works: Lane With No Name: Memoirs and Poems of a Malaysian-Chinese Girlhood and selected poems from her wide array of poetry compilations. The author's mother's experiences in a Chinese immigrant society drenched in Confucianistic values is highlighted. This is done by applying gynocriticism, which allows researchers to look into women characters from works by women authors. The three aspects that are delved into in this paper are filial piety, customs and traditions, and marriage. These eventually lead to the paper's conclusion, which establishes that, although now a Jewish-American, Tham is still culturally-rooted in the Confucianististic ways of life. In addition, the paper also acknowledges that writing about homeland and native culture brings Tham back to her Chinese roots although, now, in exile.

<juliana.mohamed@mmu.edu.my>

<sheila.vijayan@mmu.edu.my>

<ash25kir@yahoo.co.uk>