An Analysis Of Ichiros Identity Searchfrom The Perspective Of Lacan’s "Three Orders"

No- No Boy, the masterpiece of a Japanese-American writer John Okada was first published in 1957. Since the mid-1970 s the novel has received great public acceptance and attracted an increasing number of academic researches. This book tells the psychological development of a no-no boy Ichiro Yamada, and tries to explore how the ethnic members find their own position in the American society through their identification with the American multi-culturalism.This thesis applies Lcan’s Three Orders—the Imaginary, the Symbolic and the Real in analyzing Ichiro Yamada’s process of identity search to reveal the causes of his identity crisis as well as his way of conquering it. In the Imaginary, under the restriction of the “other”, Ichiro is shaped into a Japanese boy. All his behaviors should abide by the Japanese codes. It answers why he becomes a no-no boy. With his entering into the Symbolic, Ichiro tries to identify himself with the “Other” to accomplish his second identification—the Symbolic Identification. However, his pursuit of the completeness in the Real makes him be unwilling to give up his desire towards the “mother”, who is a representative of Japanese culture and ideology. It leads to the failure of his Symbolic Identification and traps him in the Imaginary. The failure in his Symbolic Identification leads to his identity crisis. After he has realized the impossibility of the Real, Ichirogives up his desire towards the “mother” and restarts his identification with the “Other”.Unlike the first time, he changes the “Other” from the American mainstream white culture into the American multi-culturalism, and identifies successfully with it. The success of his Symbolic Identification—the identification with the American multi-culturalism makes him enter into the Symbolic successfully and become a real social being. Through this process, his identity crisis has been conquered.This thesis draws the conclusion that Ichiro’s identity crisis comes from his failure in his Symbolic Identification. The success of the settlement of Ichiro’s desire towards his “mother”, who is the representative of Japanese culture and ideology, can be the key factor in solving his identity crisis. This thesis instills some new spirit in the study of the novel, and puts forward a new point of view.