Wang Anyi's "Granny": Culture, Conformity, and Identity

Introduction

Wang Anyi is a noted author from China whose stories are clearly influenced by the progression of time and politics in China and beyond. She has been hailed as a hero and a scholar by some, yet vilified by others. Even so, her story is intriguing, and so is the material she has written. Her works encompass an eclectic array of themes and are worthy of review in terms of their historical and literary context. This paper first offers a brief account of Wang Anyi's life and then provides an extensive analysis of her short story "Granny" in particular. The central argument is that people contort themselves in order to get along and fit in, while at the same time changing — sometimes too easily — with the times and the new norms they encounter. While people should have minds of their own and make their own decisions, culture, upbringing, and surroundings play a huge part in how individuals react to their environment, and this is true on many levels.

The Life of Wang Anyi

Wang Anyi is a writer of Chinese birth. She was born in the 1950s to parents named Wang Xiaoping and Ru Zijuan. Her works are mostly novellas and short stories. Just a few of those pieces include the following: Life in a Small Courtyard, The Newly Arrived Coach, Black & White, and The 1969 Junior Middle School Graduates.

Books are far from the only medium she has been involved with. Wang Anyi has participated in film, television, and music throughout her storied career. Wang herself has been married to Li Zhang since 1981 and is entirely Chinese in ancestry, in addition to having been born there (Prabook).

The precise date of composition of "Granny" is not entirely known. As reviewed in this paper, it was published in the larger collection of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. The second edition of that anthology was published in 2007 and includes the story referenced here. As one might expect, much of what informs Wang's work — in "Granny" and elsewhere — has its genesis in her own perspective and life experiences. It should not be assumed to be autobiographical, but Wang is surely not addressing the themes she does without some personal or second-hand knowledge of the events and circumstances she depicts. Even if Wang herself had two parents, was not an orphan, and actually lived in a household steeped in politics and activism, this does not prevent her from telling stories about orphans, cultural expectations, and the reasons people act as they do within a given cultural context.

A Closer Look at 'Granny': Cultural Conformity and Arranged Marriage

It is clear while reading "Granny" that people do seemingly odd and intriguing things when it comes to what is expected, what is considered "normal," and what is customary. The story is only about eight pages long, yet the cultural and societal themes it contains are wide-ranging. Whether the subject is arranged marriage, the proper way to address — or not address — others, what women are permitted to do or say, or how one ought to speak and behave, it is clear that the China depicted in "Granny" was a very different world from what exists today, at least in many respects. Certainly, cultural practices and norms have changed with time and due to political and cultural pressures. Even so, much of what is depicted in "Granny" still resonates with practices found across the world today (Wang).

The arranged marriage involving Fu Ping — which Granny witnessed in her role as a maid — is one of the story's most striking elements. Granny and Fu Ping have a great deal in common: Granny was widowed at a young age and had no sons, while Fu Ping lost much of her family as an orphan and was raised by her aunt and uncle. Fu Ping was present as a prospective spouse in what was very much an arranged and approved courtship. Her mannerisms and way of speaking — or, more precisely, her way of not speaking — are telling. Her head was lowered, she did not speak out of turn, and she was clearly doing everything possible not to "rock the boat" or cause offense. As the woman in the equation, this was the part she was expected to play, and she played it carefully. The story itself notes that she was "vigilant" in doing so. Moreover, there is explicit mention of the fact that the prospective husband was not from the working poor, and that a substantial list of gifts was being extended as part of the arranged marriage process (Houghton; Wang).

One might think that such practices had faded away in the half-century or so since Wang Anyi was born. However, arranged marriages still occur and in ways that closely resemble what is depicted in the story. For Fu Ping, the arrangement represented a genuine opportunity to transform her circumstances — a chance to change her fortunes from the difficult beginning that her orphaning had set in motion.

Conclusion

Even if the sense of cultural superiority and entitlement that Granny displays was not part of her character when she first arrived in Shanghai, she certainly grew into it over much of her life. In her older years, however, she appears to have softened this stance, speaking instead of money and how it could secure her family's loyalty. This shift represents a blending of transactional thinking with a more familiar, predictable notion of family bonds. In the end, while Granny was by no means a villainous figure, she clearly acted from a place of self-interest throughout her life — and this included selectively adopting or rejecting cultural norms based on what benefited her most. Wang Anyi's story ultimately illustrates how individuals navigate culture not as passive recipients but as active, self-interested agents who pick and choose what to absorb, what to discard, and what to perform for the world around them.

Works Cited

Houghton, K. "What We Can Learn From Arranged Marriages." The Huffington Post, 2016.

Prabook. "Anyi Wang." Prabook.com, 2016.

Wang, Anyi. "Granny." The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. 2nd ed., edited by Joseph S. M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt, Columbia University Press, 2007, pp. 462–469.