Analysis Of Zhang Ling’s Cultural Identity Based On Gold Mountain Blues

With its long development, immigration literature has represented new features since the1990s. Compared with the early immigration literature, the themes of the new immigration literature mainly include the experience of the immigrants in their own culture and the foreign culture as well as the reflection on the two cultures. Zhang Ling, one of the most representative writers in this period, has published many works abroad since the mid-to late-1990s and has got widespread concern and great reputation for her exceptional respective and insight as well as her unique writing techniques. With many prizes she has become one of the most talented writers in the new immigration literature.Zhang ling describes the fate of the characters and human nature common in each culture with the special boundary-crossing writing strategy and the historical background. The characters in her novels are determined to seek their ideal spiritual homeland, wandering between homeland and foreign land, Chinese culture and western culture, and history and reality. Different from the early immigration writers, Zhang Ling intends to promote the communication between the two cultures, and focus on similar human nature represented from people with different nationalities and identities. The long novel Gold Mountain Blues which was published in2009relates the saga of Chinese laborers in Canada and the cultural identity in the international background, which has made Zhang Ling get an important prize. In her novels, Zhang Ling has been demonstrating her cultural identity stance. Both Chinese culture and western culture are equal and open communication is available. The two cultures coexist with equality and develop together without superiority over the other. Such stance has got little concern in the academic circle.Cultural identity has experienced its change with the development of history and immigration literature writers in different periods show different cultural identity stances. The new cultural identity stance is well represented in the new immigration literature. Different from other writers, Zhang Ling’s stance has got developed and transcended and demonstrated different attitudes. Though she describes the cultural difference and conflict and seeking spiritual comfort, Zhang Ling does not regard Chinese culture and western culture as the two opposite parties, but intends to show the dialogue and communication and mutual development based on equal status of the two cultures. Her new stance accords with the development tendency. The thesis intends to analyze Zhang Ling’s culture identity stance based on her new novel Gold Mountain Blues. Besides, the thesis elaborates the writing strategies used by Zhang Ling to demonstrate her culture identity stance, together with the hidden reasons for the form of her stance and the effect of her stance on the new immigration literature. Zhang Ling is supportive of both Chinese culture and western culture and she treats the differences between the two cultures with reasonable attitude. And this has close connection with her personal experience and the historical background.