On The Cross-domain Writing Of Yan Ge-ling's Immigrant Novels

The creation of overseas Chinese literature started in the early 20th century from the "Angel Island Poetry" period by the Chinese immigrants in custody in San Francisco Bay, developed into the overseas students literature in the 1950s and 1960s, boomed in 1970s and 1980s with "new generation literature" and the 1990s with "new immigrant literature" which stimulate more power of overseas Chinese literature. The new immigrant literature has some similarities in contrast with the former "overseas students literature" and "new generation literature", for example, they all reflect the difficulties in studying and making a living abroad, express the loneliness and homesickness. Nevertheless the "new immigrant literature" has more openness, perspectiveness comprehensiveness and other transcultural qualities besides Chinese spirits, which elevates overseas Chinese literature to a new level. The new immigrant writers are aware of the complexity and toughness of multicultural conmmunication in the globalization context, therefore, their creations contain more self-consciousness of cultural dialogue, recognation and participation.An outstanding phenomenon in overseas Chinese literature is the activity of female writers and their prominent achievements. Yan Geling is one of the noted writers in new immigrant literature. Her female writer identity, new immigrant writer status and characteristic writing style lift her works to a new aesthetic level. Compared with other peer writers, Yan's works demonstrate oriental cultural qualities in the perspective of "otherness" and express existential and humanistic cares of the broad masses of the people through subtle perception of alien culture.In the development of overseas Chinese literature, it experiences the stages of rootless immigrant identity, seeking for motherland and root consciousness, struggle for living status of the Chinese ethnicity and pursuit for humanity. Yan's works show original creation ideas in construction of culture identity and illustration of humanity compared with her peer writers during this process. From the point of heterogenous culture, this dissertation analyzes the construction of culture identity and its influence on the works of Yan by using historical sociology, culturology and comparative literature methods. The original creation practice and ideology of Yan as a representative new immigrant writer are also evaluated.In the introduction, the reason for object selecting, the present research situation, studying methods and the framework of this dissertation are introduced.In chapter 1, the cultural identity of Yan Geling in heterogeneous cultural context is defined. Cultural identity could be expressed in different levels according to the context:national level, ethnic level, sexual level, class level and so on. The experiences of Yan's life in childhood, being enrolled in army, first marriage failure, studying abroad in US, together with her transnational marriage to a US diplomat all influence her cultural identity definition. Compared with contemporary writers, Yan has more complex life experiences, which endued her with broadened vision and subtle sensibility. These factors stimulate her talent and become her creation resources. It is this special life experience that makes her a prominent writer.Yan, of a Chinese origin, has formed a steady living habits, rules of conduct, value judgment and aesthetical mental set. These are the marks imprinted by her motherland culture no matter whether she enjoys it or not. When she left her motherland and stood on a foreign land, the cultural differences became her most realistic feeling. The two cultures of different bases will necessarily have conflicts and frictions and the uneven match of the cultures in real life intensifies the contradictions. Yan records the clash and also the fusion and communication of two cultures with dual cultural identity in her new immigrant novels. When Yan inspects the alien culture and reviews her native culture, an original perspective is generated by the spatial transformation, helping fulfill her literature pursuit by writing on the edge.Yan scrutinizes this with her characteristic feminine vision, and confirms her own cultural identity by edge-writing a series of mainstream society and sexual relationship subjects. This confirmation comes from the differences between race, nationality and gender, which is also a method for the writer to resist the center and mainstream and prove the meaning and value of existence of herself.In chapter 2, the multiple subject matters in Yan's novels are discussed. Yan repeatedly probes similar subjects in her creations. As one of the most powerful writers, Yan's every narrative and return is not a simple repetition, but to attach richer and deeper cultural meanings to the subject. Through the investigation of immigration history, introspection of the Cultural Revolution, concerns about new immigrants, redescription of folk lives in homeland, etc. this chapter analyses the colorful aesthetic world Yan creats for us. Her sensitive personality and tender words bring to us not only changeable life scenes but also mysterious individual life experiences. Moreover, she puts her writing in transcultural scope, which unifies individual, life and culture then reflects abundant multicultural connotations.Yan's creations cover a century-long time span, involving subjects ranging from miserable immigration history of ethnic Chinese about one hundred years ago to realistic lives of contemporary new immigrants. Her focuses on immigration history indicate the deeper speculation triggered by her personal experience in immigrant status. These works tracing earlier immigration history demonstrate the complex ethnic love, non-stop conflicts and fractions in moral qualities between western and eastern cultures, which finally return from analyse of cultural connotations to the ultimate discussion of the nature of humanity.The Cultural Revolution which was a very special period of time turns out to be a unique stage for humanity exhibition with its deformed social circumstances and time features. Having the personal experience in the Cultural Revolution, Yan saw many downfall of humanity. When standing on an alien land Yan could have a sober and reasonable judgment and evaluation of this period of time because of the passage of time and isolation of space. Yan, as an "idealist", would naturally record this feeling in peculiar ways of writing to deliver her understanding and concerns of humanity.As a fifth generation immigrant, Yan has to face the reality of differences between western and eastern cultures, race discrimination and oppression, hard lives and inferior status of Chinese immigrants. Since immigrants are those who have to face not only the space transformation and time conversion but also the process of acceptation, understanding and integration of alien cultures. During this life transplantation process, Yan expresses her acute reflections of culture, ethnicity and humanity based on her experiences. After that Yan gradually pays her attention to the contemporary lives in mainland China. Like many other writers, she discovers drainless art resources in this land that bred her. So she travels between America, mainland, Taiwan, Africa and so on, revalues and surveys the modern lives on this ancient land from a multicultural perspective.In Chapter 3, the multi-dimension narrative strategy in Yan's creation is studied. Yan accepted professional writing trainings after moving to America. Being academism writer, she emphasizes the exploration of narrative arts and applies various new elements in her own writing. This chapter demonstrates the experimental and exploratory features of her novels from aspects of the framework, dictions, and the application of film elements.Chapter 4 mainly studies the specificity of Yan as a "individual". Firstly, Yan is compared with other Chinese American writers of different time. There are many outstanding writers through the development of Chinese American literary from the early "Angel Island Poetry" to overseas student literature, and new generation literature and new immigrant literature, yet Yan, as a representative of new immigrant literature, is distinctive and characteristic among them. Her novels transcend the ordinary subjects of immigrant novels and extend to the cultural exchange and in-depth reflections of humanity in the globalization context. Her novels would undoubtedly make a new contribution to immigrant literature. Then the thought resources of Yan's works are discussed. There are corresponding relationships between her preferences of covert psychology, concerns of cultural differences, expansion of humanistic experiences and the psychoanalysis, immigrant sentiments and homosexual emotions. It is the absorption and integration of various cultural and ideological resources that make her works eminent compared to the contemporary mainland literature. Lastly, Yan's special creation philosophy under "other" context, poetic presentation of margin lives in her novels, peculiar feminine narrative and persisting sympathy altogether form her special aesthetic values in her creations.In summary, Yan, as a fifth generation immigrant writer, could take more equable attitude and wider cultural scope to present the lives on alien lands and review her motherland. She demonstrates peculiar art appeals either in the narrating of subjects or in the application of narrative strategies. Analysis on her new immigrant novels would help us to understand her inner trace of thought and is also inspirable for evaluating other akin writers.