The Construction Of Identity In The Third Space

Living between the two worlds of the Orient and the Occident, Chinese-Americans, either the early immigrants to the United States or those who were born and raised in America, have encountered identity crises as well as the challenge in the construction of their identities. Homi Bhabha, a famous post-colonial theorist, who is quite well aware of the predicament of the diasporas and ethnic groups, has contrived a series of theories, concerning the post-colonial studies. Undoubtedly his ideas of "the Third Space" and "Hybridity" have provided a blueprint for the construction of the transnational immigrants’identities and at the same given us new perspectives in interpreting ethnic literature.Amy Tan’s first novel The Joy Luck Club has attracted so many critics and reviewers on the topic about the cultural difference, since in this novel Amy Tan demonstrates her effort at the creative explorations on the identity issues. As a member of second generation Chinese-Americans, Amy Tan lives in the spaces of Chinese culture and American culture. Cultural difference that is always in the process of negotiation, inevitably locates Amy Tan in "the Third Space" proposed by Homi K. Bhabha. It is called "third space" that splits her double identity of being a Chinese-American.The Third Space is an intangible, abstract, metaphorical space with no physical dimension. In the third space, two or more entities mix to create a third, indistinguishable category. This mixing is not juxtaposition of entities with boundaries between them intact, but transformation of the results from contact, communication and interaction. The Third Space is not a fixed and closed space, but is open and fluid. It is ready to absorb some new elements at any time and is always in the process of transformation. Thus, Amy Tan emphasizes that one’s identity should not be fixed, but be fluid and advocates that Chinese Americans should seek for a fluid and hybridized identity.After a thorough analysis, the author of this thesis points out in The Joy Luck Club, the diasporas, the Chinese mothers and American daughters in this novel, also negotiate their cultural identities in the third space between Chinese culture and American culture. The minorities build up their identities and speak for themselves in the third space where cultural differences negotiate. In addition, the process of their construction of their identities suggest that the immigrants to the US now endeavor to establish a totally new hybridized identity that belongs neither to the Orient, nor to the Occident, but in-between, an identity that combines the essence of both Chinese and American culture.This thesis comprises five parts. An introduction of this thesis will be given in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 introduces Homi Bhabha and his concepts of third space and hybridity. The body of this thesis from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4 explores the causes of the identities of the diasporas in The Joy Luck Club, and tries to illustrate how the diasporas construct their identities in the Third Space based on Homi Bhabha’s post-colonial theory. The last chapter is a conclusion of the whole thesis.This thesis aims to explore that The Joy Luck Club reflects Amy Tan’s idea of identity construction in the third space and gives a new angle to the research of Amy Tan and other Chinese American writers tentatively.