The Role Of Education In The Construction Of Identity

Asian American literature has undergone dramatic changes since it emerged as a distinctive field in the wake of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s. The heated pace of production of Asian American writing and the growing interest in Asian American literary criticism over the past three decades have demonstrated the shift of Asian American literature from margin to center, from neglect and localized significance to national attention and reputation. Chinese American literature, as an important part of Asian American literature, has received greater recognition accordingly.The issue of identity is a pervasive theme in Chinese/Asian American literary studies. Scholars and critics have studied the issue of identity from various perspectives, ranging from feminist approach to cultural studies, from political and racial interpretations to gender and class examinations, from sociological interpretation to historical elucidation, from religious perspective to international political relationship, from postcolonial studies to multiculturalism, but there have been few studies examining the connection between education and identity formation. The limited studies that do exist have primarily been undertaken by employing qualitative approaches and the data is collected through questionnaires and interviews. According to my search results at EBSCO's Academic Search Premier (1975-2005), the National Digital Library of China and CNKI (1994-2005), and all the essays or monographs that I have seen, it can be affirmed that no one has previously studied the interaction between education and identity formation through analyzing literary texts.Chinese Americans are characterized by their respect for family and education, and have been portrayed since the mid-1960s as a "Model Minority" greatly due to their outstanding achievements in education. Their school experiences are also reflected in Chinese American writing, be it a few words of description or a precise record. Research to address the relationship between education and the identity formation of Chinese Americans through analyzing literary works is thus of importance.