Ghosts Writing History：
Magical Realism and Identity in Chinese and Black American Novels

Kate Rose⁽¹⁾

Author：Kate Rose，Ph．D.，Professor at China University of Mining and Technology，Researcher in the International Center for Comparative Sinology，CUMT．

Introduction

The prevalence of ghosts in minority and immigrant literatures within the United States suggests that mimesis cannot fully capture realities beyond selective，mainstream history．As Abigail Shachar（2014：78）has shown，“Without truth，immigrants must cling to a hyperreal alternative，filled by ghostly hauntings and sorrowful specters of their unique cultural past．”The use of ghosts or other supernatural devices to“fill in the blanks”in otherwise mimetic narratives may be assimilated with the controversial term Magical Realism．In Décoloniser l'imaginaire，I have suggested a definition of this genre involving not only the magic within the real，but also a questioning and re-working of dominant cultural histories in which the author and/or protagonist is immersed．

Magical Realism has frequently been associated with Latin American authors，and sometimes postcolonial authors．Many critical studies appeared in the 1980s and 1990s，seeking to define the genre and explain its relevance to global concerns of the 20th century，particularly post-colonialism，but also struggles of women and minorities in the West（Zamora and Faris，1995；Cooper，1998）．Connections were made between postcolonialism and feminism as driving forces for Magical Realist expression（Narayan and Harding，1989）．Women have excelled in this genre from its beginnings in Latin America，exceeding their male counterparts both in the defining innovations they have practiced，and also in the numbers of authors（although history does not always retain their names）．This article explores linguistic innovation and supernatural discourse in 20th century Magical Realism．Of particular significance are the works of Chi Zijian（China）and Toni Morrison（USA）．Use of the supernatural to incarnate what society has trouble facing flourished in the demystified，technological era of the 20th century．As Kathleen Brogan（1998）and Arthur Redding（2001）have shown，American literature by minority authors is full of ghosts whose presence is of chilling sociohistorical significance．What is meant by the continued lure of the ghost，of magic，and the language of the uncanny？

Race，Realism，and Beyond

Recently，Mo Yan has been a key figure in a new Chinese kind of Magical Realism．This captures the rapid changes in Chinese society，which verge on the fantastic，the bewildering，the incredible，yet are a part of everyday life；in this sense，it is simply a kind of realism，with a calculated dose of hyperbole and an integration of folk traditions．Beijing novelist Ning Ken has created a new label“chaohuan，”or“ultra-unreal”to describe this genre when inspired by real yet unbelievable events of contemporary，urban China．In his case，this particularly involves government anti-corruption reforms and investigations．It reflects the“seismic transformation”in China's recent history（Ning，2016：93）．

The supernatural expresses what goes beyond language's limits．But it can also be a reconciliation with traditions and superstitions and a way to let their spirit thrive in an increasingly fast-paced and mechanized world．As C.G．Jung（1980）has asserted，belief in something beyond the natural is a basic human need．With the decline of religion，other forms of spirituality are thriving，as are genre literatures such as fantasy．Magical Realism，is a way of confronting social and personal realities on a deeper level than realism or a direct approach would allow．America's racial tension and discomfort with otherness dates from its beginnings；trying to overcome this is a fairly recent struggle．Many American novels，however，have been precursors and instigators of racial justice．Though imperfect by today's standards，they have attempted to defend minorities，dating back to Uncle Tom's Cabin （1852）—stereotypical by today's standards，but radical for its time．Indeed，a tactic of authors championing racial equality seems to have been to revise rather than discard stereotypes．This is apparent in the short stories of Sui Sin Far，who depicts Chinese men as more kind and loving husbands to white women than white men are．She was not alone in doing this（other authors include her sister，Onoto Watanna），and the stereotype of Asian men as effeminate arguably stems from this current within anti-racist movements of the early 20th century US（Teng，1997：86）．

The United States has a very short history of female Chinese immigration．Although male immigration was already widespread，the first woman came from China only in 1834 and was immediately put on display as an exotic curiosity in a New York City museum（Buley-Meissner，2008：218）．Widespread discrimination against Chinese did not lessen fascination with art and ordinary objects from China，of which this woman and those few to follow were assimilated．While seeing actual Chinese immigrants as a threat and scapegoat，mainstream America was hungry for an exotic，orientalist escape；strangely，consuming trinkets from China and the knowledge of them was mainly an upper-class leisure pass-time．

Buley-Meissner（2008）has shown that this Orientalist gaze has persevered into late 20th century critiques of Chinese American women's writings．There was a tendency to focus only on the author's ethnicity and gender，effectively not taking seriously the strong individual voice，stylistic innovations，or complex universal human themes present in many of these writers（the most iconic examples being Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston）．Instances of Magical Realism are interpreted by mainstream readers and critics as glimpses of authentic ethnic beliefs，neglecting how authors employ it to revise both norms and forms．Curiously，Black authors' work suffers much less from such reductive interpretations than Chinese（and to a lesser degree，other immigrant literatures）．Thus it can be useful to comparatively apply the same analytical tools to works such as Beloved and The Woman Warrior，which has not previously been undertaken to my knowledge，in spite of their many similarities．It is also revealing to note the underlying reasons for the different reception of Black and Chinese woman authors who use Magical Realism（with more similarities than differences in how it functions to revise history and identity）．

Orientalism has led to reductionist interpretations of fiction by Chinese American woman．The exotic performances of“authentic Chinese womanhood，”no longer available in museums，reached bestseller lists in the following century and could be consumed in the privacy of one's own home without seeming to objectify anyone．Meanwhile，the authors themselves have been cultural critics and explorers of new identities involving“rhetorics of the self in active resistance to others' attempts to deny their individuality，their artistry and their shared commitment to truthful storytelling”（Buley-Meissner，2008：221）．

African-American women share the history of being exoticized and commodified．Still enslaved while the first“authentic Chinese lady”was placed in a museum，they were also victims of racism during the peaks of the“Yellow Peril”in the late 1800s．Historian Erika Lee suggests that there was more racial discrimination in policies and attitudes towards the Chinese than for any other immigrant group in U.S．history．Examples include the Anti-Coolie Act of 1862，stipulating a monthly tax specific to the Chinese；the Naturalization Act of 1870 limiting citizenship to whites and blacks；the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882—1943 banning Chinese immigration and denying citizenship to Chinese already in the U.S．．This was the first immigration policy to target a specific ethnic group．Other Asians，such as the Japanese，were not affected by this policy；they were sought to replace Chinese workers．Only during WWII did policy shift to persecuting the Japanese and granting citizenship and（very limited）immigration quotas to the Chinese．Riots against the Chinese were common in Boston，even as many African-American former slaves were welcomed．Blacks and Chinese sometimes intermarried and the former helped the later when their homes were burned down．In the city of Wellesley，Massachusetts in 1903，234 Chinese were arrested in Boston's Chinatown for failure to produce their papers during a raid．Although there was solidarity on behalf of whites and blacks，including friends and spouses of the Chinese，this raid occurred in the context of rampant anti-Chinese sentiment．

Nonetheless，miscegenation was common at the time，and idealized as“part of a plea for racial tolerance”（Teng，1997：70）．This especially involved white women and Chinese men，and was promulgated by authors such as Sui Sin Far，herself of mixed race．Such unions were even more taboo than those between white men and non-white women（70），since the partners could effectively combat，commiserate，escape（to some degree）white male privilege．The stereotype in the late 1800s of Chinese men making kinder，more generous and understanding husbands is reminiscent of comedian Margaret Cho's implication that her mother，although stereotypically Asian，was actually more progressive than mainstream America（Meyer，2008：286）．Morrison and Kingston both have written hugely popular books involving ghosts with the stories of nonwhite women in the US，and use folk traditions from their own roots．What does recourse to the supernatural in such writings tell us about literature，race，and gender，as well as the historical specificities of marginalized Chinese and Black experiences？

Using Magical Realism to confront the past and comment critically on the contemporary configurations of identity is secondary to magic as part of ethnic folklore；this is recognized with regards to Morrison，but less so in responses to Kingston's work；and even less for Amy Tan．Ghosts are not given the same significance，though an interpretation in light of Magical Realism suggests that the authors all equally intend for them to fill gaps in history and identity．Viewing Magical Realism as a genre across cultures and particularly marginalized populations can lead to a more lasting awareness of how the novels reconstruct identity，and to recognition of the ideas they challenge．

Although it is common knowledge that the ghost Beloved in Morrison's novel represents the US's inability to fully confront the slave-holding past and the legacy of this atrocity，such novels are rare，and other forms of literature have recently emerged which intentionally draw the focus away from the Atlantic Slave Trade and the still-unassimilated realities that result from it．For example，Yogita Goyal（2014）has suggested that the prevalence and popularity of contemporary slave narratives（autobiographies of people who recently escaped from trafficking and bondage）is a way of pretending that the US has moved on，and is now the safe，enlightened haven in contrast with the lingering horrors of the developing world．Thus contemporary slave narratives，which employ rhetoric inspired by Atlantic Slave Trade narratives，now end happily with asylum in the US．Such an image，widely embraced through the popularity of such texts，effectively perpetuates the myth that the US has now moved on from its racist past；it appears that the geography and roles have shifted．Through discounting global economic injustices and exploitation，colonial legacies，stringent procedures for asylum-seekers，and the US as a source country for trafficked people，it can seem that the problem is elsewhere，and the US especially（and the West in general）is only there to help．According to Goyal，“contemporary American conceptions of African atrocity are haunted by the specter of slavery，which structures the ways in which a relation between the US and Africa is imagined”（Goyal，2014：50）．The US，still haunted by slavery，is eager to reassure itself that it is now an opponent rather than an instigator．The lessons from Morrison's Beloved （1987），which confronted marginalized historical realities，have yet to be integrated．

The use of the supernatural to fill in the blanks and express unspeakable emotional truths and realities，as well as the way they quietly haunt the conscience of a nation has earned Beloved a prominent place in 20th century US literature．Although contemporary slave narratives confuse history by making the Atlantic Slave Trade appear as a closed chapter with little bearing on current realities（downplaying racism in the US），other genres have exposed history and its consequences，employing，like Morrison，the rhetorical device of ghosts．The haunting past of slavery（whose legacy is ubiquitous，yet concealed），has emerged in horror films，as described by Carol E．Henderson in“Allegories of the Undead：Rites and Rituals in ‘Tales from the Hood’”．Themes ranging from police brutality to domestic violence incorporate the supernatural，in films anchored in contemporary and traditional African-American folklore and realities．As for the film“Tales from the Hood”，it“coincided，eerily，with the barely repressed fears of an American society grappling with the resurgence of blatant acts of racism that demonstrated a reckless disregard for black life”（Henderson，2007：173）．As this disregard has been haunting America since Africans were first brought there，such films address“the unspeakable in cognitive categories that challenge our understanding not only of horror but also history within the confines of the horrific．”（Henderson，2007：172）．A statement of resistance when no other autonomous acts seem possible involves taking one's own life．

Suicide is a common theme in both Morrison's and Kingston's works，and often involves individual and collective traumas centered on childbirth and mothering．Through the body and its acts of resistance，“gaps in consciousness created by trauma”and“false testimony of patriarchal cultures”，are mitigated，as Jennifer Griffiths（2006：354）has shown．Trauma takes the form of ghosts，while the“drive to bring forward the ghosts，to allow them to surface，and to claim their own story within the life of the survivor”，allows both protagonists and readers to“negotiate the meaning of the traumatized body they have inherited”（Griffiths，2006：368）．By“delving into the recesses of traumatic memory”（a human universal），Beloved addresses“economic，affective，and historical”debts and reparations（Perez，2014：190）．This is a collective process not limited to a minority community，not only a part of US immigrant history but of human experience．Authors such as Kingston and Morrison have revived history's silenced voices，its ghosts．Far from stuck in a folkloric past，these are used to forge new identities．

Magic in a Hybrid World

Magical Realism relies on hybridity，both culturally and formally．Using techniques borrowed from realism，the supernatural is described with the same degree of verisimilitude：the magical becomes real．This results in the creation of a radically different reality，free of mimetic constraints．As a popular artistic and literary genre throughout the 20th century，Magical Realism responds to the paradoxes of a world that is chaotic and orderly，utopian but also nihilistic．Scientific advances throughout the 20th century transformed ideas of how the world functions，also contributing to this evolving genre．As the opportunity to travel to non-Western countries became increasingly available to large numbers of ordinary Westerners（particularly in the latter half of the 20th century），the question arose：does this increase understanding and respect for cultural realities different from their own，or offer only a fictitious and deceiving mirage of comprehension gleaned from superficial contact？The power of Westerners（first colonial，then socio-economic）has led to a sort of“voluntary ignorance”and“moral stupidity”regarding what people from non-Western cultures stand for，and thus also of their own selves．With increased opportunities for first-hand contact with the Other，many Westerners also experienced the unease of such voluntary ignorance．This unease is reflected in a longing for other realities within their own．

Many contemporary French critics have remarked on how unease with contemporary society has led to a longing for the supernatural to be incorporated within the real：“La société actuelle souffre de ne plus se comprendre，de ne plus savoir relier son présent ni à son passé，ni à son devenir．C'est ce malaise qui explique le succès d'une série télévisée américaine telle que X files”/“Contemporary society suffers from no longer understanding itself，from no longer being able to link its present to its past nor to its future．This unease explains the success of American TV series such as the X files．”（Meslet，1998）

Magical Realism，however，is not only a product of Western unease．It arises from multicultural identities，influenced as much by oral traditions as by postmodernism．In addition to the best-selling authors of this genre，marginalized authors，including many contemporary French and Francophone women，have also used it to gain a voice（Roussos，2007）．Women writers have been essential to the creation of the genre；they are also using it in a way that is revealing of a common socio-political struggle in the field of language itself．The representation of female experience through a departure from known realities parallels the more frequently acknowledged link between Magical Realism and postcolonialism，by which the postcolonial author uses it to give a specific，marginalized cultural perspective an international voice．

Ideological and political revolutions have always been a dominant undercurrent of Magical Realism．In Europe during the 1930s，Magical Realism in painting reached its peak，in paintings which depicted the grotesqueness of society through hyberbolic charactature，and also the unease just below the surface of solid，urban spaces．In Latin America，the literary aspect was more fully developed，often as a response to dictatorship and a way of avoiding political censorship，through disguising and encoding the authors' criticisms of ruling officials and institutions．From 1968 to 1979，throughout Latin America（Nicaragua，Chili，Bolivia，Uruguay，Argentina…），political oppression is without precedent．This period corresponds to an outpouring of distinctive Latin American writing，which，since 1954，has consistently been referred to as Magical Realism，inspired by the political distress of the continent．Alejo Carpentier（then living in Paris）had already predicted this in 1931：“par les visions nouvelles［que la littérature latino-américaine］nous offre，par le visage inattendu des milieux qu'elle évoque，elle ne tardera sans doute pas à occuper，dans la littérature mondiale，la place qu'elle mérite．”/“through the new viewpoints that it offers，and the surprising face of the places it evokes，［Latin American literature］will soon occupy a central place in literatures of the world，as it deserves to do．”

Magical Realism used to avoid political censorship in the context of Latin American dictatorships melded in some ways with the surrealist movement in Europe，although the latter was more of an escape than a targeted political argument or satire．From its Latin American origins，it was soon associated with other post-colonial contexts，wherein the supernatural could express and reconstruct what the colonizers had taken from the colonized，assimilating it into a contemporary，international literary world．Minority authors also used it．From the beginnings，women authors were particularly essential in founding and defining this genre．My own research（Roussos，2007）asserts that women writers use the genre similarly to Latin American or Post-Colonial writers，even when they are not part of these categories．As women，they are countering a dominant male voice that has“colonized”them，and regaining autonomous expression．Many are also part of the Latin American and Post-Colonial Magical Realist currents．In this，they simultaneously defy cultural and gender-based domination and give voice to silenced categories.The privilege of the dominant is to not see or to hear the dominated．Magical Realism restores their voice．The dominated voices speak back using and creating their own idioms．These obey neither the laws of norms nor the natural laws of the universe，as recognized by contemporary Western science．Magical Realism is part of an overall pattern of exuberant subversion through overturning the norms．It is quite different from supernatural literature as an escape from reality．Magical Realism uses the real to shape new realities by integrating the magical．The supernatural reshapes possibility．Whether or not the author actually believes in the supernatural is irrelevant to how it is used to tilt or overturn the real norms of society．

The Magic of Language

Definitions belong to the definers，not to the defined．This is what schoolteacher says while beating a slave who has dared to speak up，in Morrison'sBeloved．The ink he uses is made by the slaves he abuses，with words and with deeds，in a domination of language and body．Divided from each other and from their own sense of power and worth，they are encouraged not only to submit，but to actually interiorize and believe in their own inferiority．Humiliating them serves this function．Schoolteacher treats Sethe like an animal，and then uses this as proof that she deserves sub-human consideration．

Words belong to those in power，and words shape reality．Slaves，like many of the colonized，were forced to express themselves in the language of the oppressor，their own languages being stolen from them．Recourse to the supernatural in descriptions is a way in which writers can travel beyond the boundaries of oppressive language．The words themselves are mostly the same，but the laws of the universe shift，using symbol and metaphor to express deep，often collective，emotional truths．As Jamaica Kincaid（1988）has stated，the language in which the crime is revealed is that of the criminals．Similarly，Morrison（1992）states that her own writing aims to liberate language from its dominant associations，in the African-American tradition dating back to slavery and continuing into pop culture today，as well as literature．Slaves arriving in the U.S．were separated from those of their ethnic group and also forbidden from speaking and passing on their language to their children．However，the solidarity and subversion that this was designed to prevent happened anyway．Slaves invented new ways of using English that allowed the same remark to be understood differently by a slave or by a master．Naming is a creative and subversive act of appropriation，both of language and of the one's surroundings．History being written by the conquerors，the oral tradition can vehicle those omitted from dominant accounts．In recognition of this，many authors such as Morrison，and also Salman Rushdie（who frequently refers to this in Imaginary Homelands ），use a narrative structure that is close to oral story-telling．

While those in power can take certain realities for granted and ignore others，racialized and sexualized individuals are more likely to see flaws in the norms．In Morrison's The Bluest Eye，a child's textbook for learning to read，Dick and Jane，progressively blurs the words together into nonsense．These distorted passages，at the beginning of every chapter，show an increasing distance between the characters and the normative society in which they live，which is actually（far from the innocence it proclaims）rife with racist and sexist violence．In Beloved，Sethe and her daughters invent an obscure，fusional language cut off from the outside world．This is represented without punctuation，with large white spaces between sentences，much repetition，and free association．It has not been censored and refined to fit into acceptable images that those in power can integrate and manipulate．It is beyond the bounds of what they can know，and thus breaks free of them．The“language”of the supernatural does the same．Standard English does not capture the horrors of Sethe's life and the gaps between it and the illusion of reality imposed and maintained by the masters．Language acts as a bridge to shared realities．Sethe is in danger of isolation（as are often those diagnosed as mentally-ill），in an effective control mechanism of divide and conquer．As long as hers is considered an individual pathology，she is not threatening to the overall system．However，it is through reaching out to the wider community that one of her living daughters，Denver，can help her mother be understood and heal．

Whereas inThe Bluest Eye language becomes compressed，it is stretched out in Beloved．The first illustrates the impossibility of the dominant language（and discourse）to make sense to those who are marginalized by it，nor correspond to their actual experiences．The second begins to open possibilities for another language．Their functions are，respectively，denunciation and creation．

Domination based on race or sex is not natural or inevitable，although such pretexts have been widely used and defended by those in power and those who serve them．Women have excelled in supernatural literature because they are constantly confronted with the gap between the male“universal”and their actual experiences，between what is stated and what they feel to be true，and between intellectual integrity（seeing things as they really are）and the imposed“logic”of male domination．⁽²⁾In other words，women live in a world made by and for men，which is illogical and contradictory based on their own experience．It either imposes a model of how women should be and are，or pretends they live the exact experience as men（while in no way allowing them the same opportunities）．Women bend to fit into a reality that is foreign to them，and the bizarre becomes their usual element．Perhaps that is why there have been so many women explorers，adapting better than their male counterparts：they are used to not being at home in a metaphysical sense（or as Virginia Woolf put it，they have no country）．It is also why women excel in genres that blur the boundaries between natural and supernatural．The ghosts in their works are also the unrecognized realities that are given no place in everyday discourse，that are beyond the boundaries of what can be said（or even thought），and which haunt them．

There have also been significant efforts at transforming language to fit women's realities，for example in the work of French feminists such as Hélène Cixous on écriture féminine，or her more radical compatriot Monique Wittig，who was in favor of doing away with gender（or even sex）as a category as well as grammatically．In the U.S.，linguists like Deborah Tannen and Debbie Cameron identify patriarchal biases in language，while philosopher Mary Daly has reinvented the language in her Wickedary （just as Monique Wittig has in her Lesbian Peoples：Material for a Dictionary ）．In fiction，mistrust of the language plays out in various ways，including silence and satire；however，it is the dimension of recreation that is relevant to Magical Realism．Bending language has a similar function to tweaking natural laws，and by extension，bending norms．In her novella The Pagan Rabbi，Jewish-American author Cynthia Ozick creates a dichotomy between an erudite Rabbi and a dryad（female nature spirit），in dialogue with each other．This is an overt example of what Magical Realism typically does，setting up an opposition between a male-centered，logically-ordered universe，and a female need to stretch beyond these bounds and in doing so，question them．In Ozick's case，the rabbi is fascinated by the feminine and longs to become free through union with it．She teaches him to communicate with smells instead of words．The sensual，intuitive communication contrasts with the fixed，lifeless words on a page．The rabbi's soul，tired and dirty，finally unites with the female nature spirit．The triumph of the feminine，for the good of both sexes，is often portrayed in Magical Realism with exuberance and hope．

In NDiaye's novel La Sorcière ［The Witch ］，a 5 year old boy，Steve，is abused and neglected by his mother．He is most often portrayed wearing clothing with ridiculous slogans in English．These clothes are in total contradiction with his fragile nature and seem to mock him．Steve himself is never allowed to speak out；like the slave described by Morrison，he is defined rather than self-defining．Although this can happen to males and females，it is a problem most often portrayed by women authors of Magical Realism，with a wide，rich variety of techniques．

The Emotional Language of Phantoms

In Marie NDiaye's novels，personal evolution is a dominant theme，linked to break-ups and new beginnings．With fairytale-like structure，this prominent French author unveils universal themes in the quest for identity and solidity in today's mobile，global world．Ghosts represent transgressions of social norms，like when a man stays in his summer house after the holidays have ended and is haunted，or a child born out of wedlock becomes a phantom．In many of NDiaye's novels，ghosts represent what we leave behind，and which haunts us．

Similarly，returning to haunt former slaves，incarnation of their trauma，the most famous magical realist ghost in American literature today is Toni Morrison's Beloved．As a baby，Beloved is assassinated by her mother when she，having escaped，is recaptured to return to slavery．Sethe would rather her child die than become a slave．Many years later，Beloved's ghost returns in the form of a young woman．Beloved represents the haunted conscience of the United States，which has not yet faced the lingering consequences of slavery．A slave mother is also depicted in Sui Sin Far's story“The Prize China Baby”．Her child dies in an accident indirectly due to the father keeping the mother literally enslaved．The cruel husband（both are Chinese）cites an American custom as an excuse to give the baby away so that the mother can work harder and make more money for him（Far，1912：219）．Not always is the Chinese husband more humane than his white counterpart in Far's work，but rather she recognizes patriarchy across racial lines．The only way this mother can keep her baby forever is for both of them to die．Killing all of her children and then herself was also the plan of Sethe in Beloved．

Suicide was a form of resistance among African slaves brought to the Americas．It is also a prominent theme in Morrison's novels．According to Katy Ryan（2000：390），“In Morrison's work，suicide operates on two revolutionary levels：Within the story，it functions as a political form of resistance—a break in history—and within the narrative structure，it comprises a discursive strategy，an organizational axis around which meanings revolve—a break in textual time”．Racialized and gendered manifestations of suicide（provoked responses to marginalized subject positions）figure prominently in fiction by US minority writers．Ryan suggests that this is not a form of giving up，but rather of resistance．Where the body is viewed collectively，it is a way of refusing unjust conditions，sending a powerful message to the“body”that lives on as a community．It is a voice of protest and refusal on others' behalf，and of claiming history and text through breaking with their dominant manifestations．Suicide can signify“a reluctance to identify oneself or one's community with victimization，powerlessness，hopelessness…it can also indict a brutal，dehumanizing culture that makes life unbearable”（Ryan，2000：391）．Contrary to stereotypes of suicide as a privileged white problem，it is more prevalent in African-American communities（Ryan，2000：391）．It has a history not only during the Atlantic Slave Trade，but subsequently as part of black power movements，wherein it is not a loathing of life，but rather a deep affection for it，which makes living without hope or dignity impossible（Ryan，2000：392）．

In contemporary Chinese fiction in China and abroad，the supernatural abounds.Ghosts may signify the clash between traditional and contemporary lifestyles，as well as memories immigrants leave behind．They may be haunted by an ancestral world which they cannot fully leave behind even while becoming wholly Americanized．Chinese-American authors use ghost-presences frequently．In Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang，the narrator/protagonist continues telling the story when she is already dead．She briefly mentions her own death，then continues as if nothing has happened．She peacefully remains at home to watch over her adult daughter．（Since she said almost nothing anyway，being a ghost doesn't change much．）In The Woman Warrior：Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts' Maxine Hong Kingston plays with different meanings of ghost，while the protagonist's mother tells stories about different kinds of ghosts in the Chinese tradition．In China too，the ghost theme is prevalent，though it fits in more with the usual contemporary uses of post-modernism，representing a universal（and arguable trans-temporal）theme of going beyond the real，in order to better represent it．

In Chi Zijian's All Nights in the World （《世界上所有的夜晚》），the presence of a ghost is quite ordinary．The protagonist learns，along with the reader，that she is the only one who can see her ex-husband．Finally，she meets this man's colleague，who persuades her to let the two men continue the journey on their own．Knowing already that the man is dead，the colleague understands and accepts that she is travelling with a ghost．When she gets home，she receives the letter announcing the death，as well as a letter from the colleague telling her not to worry about this strange event．He tells her to have confidence in herself and not to bother to see a doctor—not everyone has the privilege to travel with a ghost．The ghost theme suggests a harmony between traditional lore and contemporary society（wherein divorce is increasingly prevalent）．The ghost also portrays missing someone after a break．It's the death of a relationship，haunted by memories，desires and thoughts of the other．The colleague，who also seems attracted to the protagonist，takes her ghost away，allowing her to fully integrate life and love again among the living．

Chi Zijian's other writings include Magical Realist and feminist themes，with frequent depictions of rape，single motherhood，adultery，and witchcraft．Focusing on a minority ethnic group in China's far north，Chi Zijian blends beliefs in the supernatural and everyday life．In The Top of Mountains，a young woman，a dwarf，makes her living carving tombstones and is respected/ feared by the community because of her ability to predict death．Her own father，the executioner，was only able to marry a woman from another village who did not know his job；once she found out，she left him，along with their baby．It is believed that this child is the ghost of someone killed by this executioner，coming back to haunt him．She grows up and eventually is raped by a criminal condemned to death（after killing his adopted mother when she won't reveal his birth mother's name）．The dwarf protagonist is now pregnant，and her pregnancy makes her grow until she reaches a normal size and becomes a full，human member of the community（when she was a dwarf，villagers referred to her as“immortal”）．In spite of the horrific trauma of rape，motherhood still makes her grow．As is typical in Magical Realism，this figurative theme is incarnated，in a grotesque and troubling context．She lives as an independent woman and single mother，continuing to make a living carving tombstones，but no longer predicting death．The novel ends with her praying in the Earth God's temple and being raped by an adolescent．He is the son of a woman who witnessed the first rape，but did nothing to stop it（on the pretext that it is wrong to interrupt rutting animals）．This witness herself has been abandoned by her husband for his mistress，only to return to her when terminally-ill．The injustices and harshness of women's lives are exposed，including with the use of magic to incarnate troubling feelings，contradictions and strangeness that goes beyond the bounds of what is normally avowed in everyday life and discourse．

Historically in China，ghosts may exist to avenge the wrongs suffered in life（Poo，1997：80），but may also incarnate an antidote to sexual repression，as beautiful，sensual female lovers seduce men and are actually supernatural beings as human ghosts or animal（often fox）shape-shifters．From Medieval times，ghosts have become“carved in people's mentality，whether or not one was a believer”（Poo，1997：94）．This was also the case in Europe，though there was a schism between Protestants and Catholics，with disbelief and belief in the supernatural being a core，politically-charged issue of the Renaissance，marking a shift away from the world as a magical place（Bennett，1990）．This had already begun during the Witchcraze，in which the supernatural became not an ordinary，healthy part of life，but something to fear（Barstow，1994）．

Conclusion

Across cultures，contemporary women authors are using Magical Realism to stretch beyond the usual boundaries of language and discourse．Political feminism（what Mary Daly［1987］refers to as“foreground feminism”）has proved insufficient in uprooting inequalities in any lasting way．Marginalization of women just takes on different forms and pretexts from one generation to another．One example involves discussions of equality themselves，and the“disappearance of women”written about by Debbie Cameron（2017）．That is，using the term“gender equality”in the place of“women's rights”，and the idea that people are oppressed by other people，without recognizing the statistical significance of male violence against women，and continued male control of dominant institutions，whether governmental or involving the corporations who are，arguably，running our world．These watered-down ersatz of feminism also include the post-modern view that anyone can be a woman just by proclaiming that that's what they are．Such apparent freedom（benign in itself）may erode already fragile and marginalized spaces reserved for those born and conditioned as female，who seek to contest and revise the roles they have been required to enact．

Another example is Title Ⅸ，originally conceived to combat gender discrimination．Because it views this discrimination entirely as a two-way street，more men than women have used it to fight against their discrimination．The dominant gender has used it to protect itself from a rise in women's rights．Thus it was used by conservative Republican students at Boston College to get Professor Mary Daly fired，because she preferred offering some Women's Studies classes for women only．（Though she agreed to teach men individually for the same credits，she noticed that women in a women-only classroom could learn and express themselves much more．）There are many mazes of patriarchy，increasingly complex in our advanced technological and global world．A direct approach can be met with failure，whereas a more subtle creation of a more feminist world，through the use of magic，can be more effective in uprooting dominant stereotypes and norms on a deeper level，touching the foundations of imagination and how we perceive the world．

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(1) 作者简介：Kate Rose，文学博士，中国矿业大学教授，国际汉文化比较研究中心研究员。

(2) See，for example，the introduction to an anthology on women writers and the supernatural：Richter（1995：16）