The present dissertation investigates three self - narratives written by Chinese women autobiographers in the first half of the twentieth century. Written with foreign audience in mind, these narratives provide a range of Chinese female images aiming to contest the predominant Western stereotypes about China and its people. Thus this study explores the questions of how these women writers adopted the roles of cultural interpreters, which allowed them to position themselves as authoritative and representative voices and, at the same time, rejuvenate China’s image in the global arena