Exploring The Survival Of20th Century Chinese Immigrant Families In America From The Perspective Of Acculturation

The official record kept by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services showsthat between1820and1840, only10Chinese emigrated to the United States ofAmerica from China. However, in1882, Chinese immigrants in the USA were39,579.Among the early Chinese immigrants in19thcentury, some were attracted by the GoldRush in America and some were hired by the Union Pacific Company of America tobuild the American central Pacific railroad. As the number of Chinese immigrantsincreased dramatically, American government began to make laws to limit it. In1882,the Chinese Exclusion Law was issued by the American government and in thefollowing60years few Chinese got the chance to immigrate to the USA. However, the20thcentury was a new era for Chinese immigrants, because the Chinese ExclusionLaw was abolished in1943and the immigration of Chinese to the USA resumed. Sincethe20thcentury, the survival of Chinese immigrants in the USA has been a focus ofscholars both in China and the USA. While most previous studies focused on theinfluence exerted by the dynamic American immigrant policies on political, economicand social life of Chinese immigrants or on the impacts brought by Chineseimmigrants to American society, this thesis attempts to explore the survival of20thcentury Chinese immigrant families in the USA from the perspective of acculturation.Built on the theories of John Berry’s Inter-cultural Model of Acculturation andBourhis’ Interaction Model of Acculturation, this thesis puts forward the core researchquestion: how did the Chinese immigrants deal with the acculturation process? Seekinganswer for the question above, the author employs the method of case study. Bystudying the film Red Doors, an overview on the family life of the Chinese immigrantsin the USA will be showed and their struggles and final success on their way toAmerican dream will be known. Red Doors is an American film directed by Georgia Lee (李绍琪), asecond-generation Chinese American and the script of the film is based on Lee’sfamily life. It tells the story of the Wongs, a dysfunctional Chinese immigrant family inthe suburb of New York. By exploring the conflicts between members of the Wongs,the causes of family conflicts and the ways to a happy ending in the family, the authordraws the following conclusions. First, there was no universal acculturation strategyemployed by Chinese immigrants and four main acculturation strategies adopted bythem were integration, assimilation, separation and marginalization; second, since the1940s, in a relatively favorable immigrating environment, the Chinese immigrantshave had the freedom to choose the acculturation strategy they preferred, and most ofthem have taken the integration strategy, which has helped them retain the originalChinese culture and accept American culture; third, integration was the most adaptivestrategy because the Chinese immigrants who took this strategy can keep closerelationship with their Chinese community and at the same time get along well with themajority of their white colleagues in workplaces and social interactions.