《妈阁是座城》：赌性与人性博弈下的极致女性书写
A City Called Macau: The Ultimate Female Writing under the Game of Gambling and Human Nature

严歌苓在新作《妈阁是座城》中塑造了一个极具现代女性色彩的形象。女主人公梅晓鸥身处在现代化的物质大繁荣时代，由于自身的种种曲折经历，使得个人命运与赌场紧密地联系在一起。此角色将严歌苓笔下以往女性“地母般的神性”褪去，具有了现代女性的独立自主，是严歌苓在女性创作方面的大胆创新。爱情的不顺唤醒了梅晓鸥的自我意识，使她从安于命运到奋起反抗自立自强，在赌性与人性的较量中寻求突围。梅晓鸥的形象仍带着严歌苓笔下女性一贯的“救赎”本能，即使处于赌场这一极致环境下，也改变不了女性内心深处对美好的向往和追寻，从中体会到女性生命的强韧与美好。
Yan Geling has created a very modern female image in her new book A City Called Macau. The heroine Mei Xiaoou lives in the age of modern prosperity. Due to her various twists and turns, her personal fate is closely linked with the casino. This role takes off the mother divinity of the previous female image in Yan Geling’s works, with the independence of modern women which is Yan Geling’s bold innovation in female creation. The indisposition of love awakes the ego consciousness of Mei Xiaoou, making her change from being content with destiny to rising up to rebel and standing on one’s own strength, seeking to fight against gambling and human nature. Mei Xiaoou’s image still carries consistent instinct of “redemption” for women in Yan Geling’s works. Even in the extreme environment of casino, it cannot change the yearning and pursuit for beauty in the heart of women, from which the strength and beauty of women’s life can be realized.