Representation And Cultural Identity: Semiotic Analysis Of David Henry Hwang's Plays F.O.B., M. Butterfly And Yellow Face

David Henry Hwang is the first and the only Asian American playwright ever to win Tony Award for Best Play. Literary critics have been focusing on his masterpiece, M. Butterfly, leaving his other good plays unfairly ignored. Moreover, most critical concerns of the play center around the issues of race, ethnicity and gender politics from the perspectives of deconstruction or Orientalism, however, few critics or scholars show concern about the abundant signs employed in his plays, and relate them to the issue of cultural identity. Therefore, this thesis attempts to concentrate on a semiotic study of Hwang's three plays:the first play F.O.B., the Broadway hit M. Butterfly and the latest play Yellow Face from the perspective of Stuart Hall's cultural studies, especially the semiotic and discursive approach, with some related statements of Roland Barthes's Mythologies as a supplement. Through the analysis of various signs in the plays to be discussed and how these signs construct meaning to represent culture, this thesis explores the relationships between symbolic representations and cultural identity, shedding a new light on Hwang's works.Hwang's plays can be regarded as the opposition, correction and negotiation of the mainstream system of representation. The author of this thesis also outlines three main stages of Chinese-Americans'process of identity quest:the confrontation and identity crisis in F.O.B., the subversion of stereotypes in M. Butterfly and the transcendence of simple concepts of cultural identity in Yellow Face.Hwang, in F.O.B., innovatively appropriates Chinese traditional cultural signs, the Peking Opera and its typical characters, Fa Mu Lan and Gwan Gung to disclose the confrontations and identity crisis among Chinese-Americans. He describes Steve's courage to preserve Chinese culture by playing the role of Gwan Gung, Grace's wavering between two cultures and her deep affections for Chinese culture and Dale's discarding his original identity and belief to assimilate into the dominant culture in detail. Through these descriptions, Hwang shows his opinion that great importance must be attached to Chinese traditional culture if Chinese-Americans desire to establish their independent cultural identity. In M. Butterfly, by his skillful use of character signs, costume signs and music signs, Hwang effectively exposes the stereotypes constructed by the mainstream cultural representation system and subverts them tactfully. Yellow Face combines signs, representation and the issue of identity on the stage with those in the real life, vividly interpreting the fluidity of identity.Finally, the thesis concludes that despite strenuous efforts, Chinese-Americans are unable to have control of their own destinies to remake themselves and assert their independent cultural identity under the overwhelming mainstream system of cultural representation. Apart from various myths and intentional distortions constructed by the mainstream system of cultural representation, it is undeniable that the fact that the East has played up to these mythologized representations to its short-term advantages without thinking of the long-term ill effects partially contributes to the hardship of Chinese-Americans' searching for identity. Therefore, for Chinese-Americans, only after freeing themselves from the ideological control of the system of the dominant cultural representation can they establish their independent cultural identity. David Henry Hwang is the first and the only Asian American playwright ever to win Tony Award for Best Play. Literary critics have been focusing on his masterpiece, M. Butterfly, leaving his other good plays unfairly ignored. Moreover, most critical concerns of the play center around the issues of race, ethnicity and gender politics from the perspectives of deconstruction or Orientalism, however, few critics or scholars show concern about the abundant signs employed in his plays, and relate them to the issue of cultural identity. Therefore, this thesis attempts to concentrate on a semiotic study of Hwang's three plays:the first play F.O.B., the Broadway hit M. Butterfly and the latest play Yellow Face from the perspective of Stuart Hall's Cultural Studies, especially the semiotic and discursive approach, with some related statements of Roland Barthes's Mythologies as a supplement. Through the analysis of various signs in the plays to be discussed and how these signs construct meaning to represent culture, this thesis explores the relationships between symbolic representations and cultural identity, shedding a new light on Hwang's works.Hwang's plays can be regarded as the opposition, correction and negotiation of the mainstream system of representation. The author of this thesis also outlines three main stages of Chinese-Americans'process of identity quest:the confrontation and identity crisis in F.O.B., the subversion of stereotypes in M. Butterfly and the transcendence of simple concepts of cultural identity in Yellow Face.Hwang, in F.O.B., innovatively appropriates Chinese traditional cultural signs, the Peking Opera and its typical characters, Fa Mu Lan and Gwan Gung to disclose the confrontations and identity crisis among Chinese-Americans. He describes Steve's courage to preserve Chinese culture by playing the role of Gwan Gung, Grace's wavering between two cultures and her deep affections for Chinese culture and Dale's discarding his original identity and belief to assimilate into the dominant culture in detail. Through these descriptions, Hwang shows his opinion that great importance must be attached to Chinese traditional culture if Chinese-Americans desire to establish their independent cultural identity. In M. Butterfly, by his skillful use of character signs, costume signs and music signs, Hwang effectively exposes the stereotypes constructed by the mainstream cultural representation system and subverts them tactfully. Yellow Face combines signs, representation and the issue of identity on the stage with those in the real life, vividly interpreting the fluidity of identity.Finally, the thesis concludes that despite strenuous efforts, Chinese-Americans are unable to have control of their own destinies to remake themselves and assert their independent cultural identity under the overwhelming mainstream system of cultural representation. Apart from various myths and intentional distortions constructed by the mainstream system of cultural representation, it is undeniable that the fact that the East has played up to these mythologized representations to its short-term advantages without thinking of the long-term ill effects partially contributes to the hardship of Chinese-Americans'searching for identity. Therefore, for Chinese-Americans, only after freeing themselves from the ideological control the dominant cultural representation system and getting to know the fact that identity is constructed and fluid can they establish their independent cultural identity.