Analysis Of Cultural Identity In The Ancestor Game From The Perspective Of Hybridity

Australian literature began from its colonial period.Over the past two hundred years,it has gone through a prosperous transformation and become an important part of English-language literature in the world.At the same time,a number of excellent writers sprang up one after another.Alex Miller is one of them.His novels are not only easily embraced by ordinary readers,but also are of high literary value.Being well-elaborated,his novels are of substantial contents,high morality and rigorous structures,full of philosophical ideas and imagination.The Ancestor Game,Miller’s third novel,is hailed by The New York Times as the perfect depiction of China and Australia.The novel is closely linked to Chinese history and culture.Consequently,a great deal of attention in Australia academic community has been paid today to the novel and it also has won reputation in China.The Ancestor Game gives a full account of the stories of four generations of the Feng family and gives us a vivid picture of the psychological journey that the main characters go through in an alien land full of cultural conflicts between mother country and the host country.Throughout this novel,Miller shows us a series of cultural conflicts and identity confusions of people who live in cultural gaps and suffer from cultural displacement.This thesis attempts to interpret the four generations’ cultural identity from the perspective of hybridity,so as to make readers can further understand the novel’s profound thinking on cultural identity and perceive the complicated mental journey of Chinese immigrants in the novel.This thesis consists of five chapters with the first chapter providing with a general introduction to Alex Miller and The Ancestor Game,literature review,objective and the structure of the study.In Chapter Two,the theoretical framework is formed through detailed elaboration on the definition of cultural identity,as well as hybridity and the Third Space in Bhabha’s post-colonial theory.Chapter Three,the body part,examines hybridity in major characters,namely,Feng I,Victoria Feng,C.H.Feng and Lang Tzu.Firstly,it explores the cultural identity of Feng I,the first generation,by analyzing two periods: self-imposed exile and outsider in Australia.Secondly,the second generation,Victoria Feng’s cultural identity is discussed into two parts: Chinese complex and native to Australia.Thirdly,it clarifies the cultural identity of C.H.Feng,the third generation,into two parts: Australian complex and insider in China.Lastly,this thesis rearranges the scenes of Lang Tzu’s growth stage in chronological order and divides them into four parts:unhomely at home,outcast in China,marginalized in Australia and ancestor complex.Chapter Four,after making a comparison between the four generations of the Feng family,further analyzes educational,historical and spatial factors contributing to those differences.Based on the previous analysis,Chapter Five draws a conclusion that the ancestral influence is permanent.Deeply ingrained in motherland’s culture,and marginalized in the new country’s society,the migrants are unable to fit into the new country and construct their hybrid cultural identity beneficial for themselves.What they need to do is to integrate the cultures between mother country and the host country,and find a third space belonging to themselves.