On The Quest Of Filipino Americans For Individual Identity In America Is In The Heart

Carlos Bulosan(1913-1956) was a famous Filipino American writer in American literary circle in1940s, and also one of the most important Asian American writers. America Is in the Heart:A Personal History,1946was declared by Look magazine to be one of the fifty most important American books ever published. In this book, Bulosan, taking the Philippines under America’s colonialism as the background, described a young man’s quest for individual identity after lots of sufferings and pains both in the Philippines and in America. The author showed us that the Filipino identity was dominated and marginalized by the mainstream identity because of the American hegemony. This thesis analyzed how the protagonist reconstructed his individual identity after the loss of individual identity, his quest for individual identity and the encounter of obstacles. This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter1serves as an introduction to Carlos Bulosan’s life experiences and major works, and a survey of research on America Is in the Heart. It also gives the definition of individual identity and individual identity of Asian Americans.Chapter2introduces the loss of the protagonist’s individual identity. His identity was fragmented because of the separation of the family, the land dispossession, and the incompetent educational system, but only when he encountered the loss of dignity at home and in America, did he realize his loss of individual identity.Chapter3is a detailed discussion of the leading obstacle to the protagonist’s quest for individual identity. He tried his best to quest for his identity and his position in the society, but got confused and lost because of the cruel colonialist policies, racial discrimination and persecution, the loss of original cultural identity, and the exclusion of new cultural identity.Chapter4focuses on the protagonist’s reconstruction of the individual identity. He insisted on the integration of different kinds of cultures with his Filipino root as the core and quested for Utopia by participating in the labor movement with writing as a weapon, which helped him find the sense of belonging and reconstruct the individual identity.In Chapter5, the author concludes that the protagonist’s quest for individual identity was successful in spite of all the sufferings and setbacks. The author also points out that there is still much space for further studies.