The Construction Of Cultural Identity In Gish Jen's Typical American

Gish Jen (1955- ) is a Chinese American woman writer well-known by both readers and critics of contemporary American literature. Up to now, she has published a short-story collection Who's Irish? (1999), and three novels Typical American (1991), Mona in the Promised Land (1996) and The Love Wife (2004).Typical American, Jen's debut novel, narrates the bitter-sweet struggle of three Chinese intellectuals arriving in America in the 1940s to pursue the American dream. As soon as it was published, the novel was well received by the mainstream American culture. Typical American was a New York Times notable book of the year 1991 and a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award.This thesis explores the novel with the view of cultural identity and multiculturalism. Through deconstructing the authenticity of the Eurocentric Americanness of the Changs' participation in American life, Jen reminds Americans to act properly towards different cultures and face up to cultural assimilation. In posing a critique of the 'melting pot' model of assimilation and its concomitant definition of a 'typical American', Gish Jen redefines the definition of being typical American and constructs a new identity for immigrants. She voices her strong support for American multiculturalism as symbolized by 'American salad bowl'. Chinese immigrants, she insists, should try to develop their cultural identity by blending the best of eastern and western cultures.