Self-redemption: The Study Of John Okada's Novel No-No Boy From The Perspective Of Masculinities

John Okada is a nisei writer,the most famous work of whom is No-No Boy.Although it was not popular at first,yet it opened a door for nisei and sansei writers into Japanese Americans literature.And the work varied from other Japanese Americans literature,which revealed the real life of Japanese Americans after the internment.In present-day society,many critics at home and abroad are increasingly attaching much importance on ethnic American literature.Actually,most of the Japanese American characters in No-No Boy led a twisted and desolate life.To them,the heart was separated from the body.As a whole,they belonged nowhere.The thesis borrows the categorization of masculinities by R.W.Connell to analyze the male as well as female characters in the story.There are four types of masculinities,according to Connell,which can be seen in the characters of Okada's novel.In China,less attention has been paid to Japanese American literature,No-No Boy in particular,than the flourishing research on Chinese American literature.Therefore,this thesis tries to explore the issues of masculinities in the novel by using the theory of masculinities with a hope of deepening masculinity studies in literature and provides a new angle for the study of Japanese American literature in domestic academic circle.This thesis maintains that this novel implicitly challenges the social power that suppressed the construction of Japanese American ethnic group.In this sense,Okada attempts to call on the American mainstream society to pay close attention to the living predicament of American minorities,and expresses his hopes of avoiding the recurrence of similar events and realizing social solidarity in the upcoming day.This thesis is made up for four parts.The first part includes an overview of Japanese American literature,a literature review of No-No Boy,and a brief introduction of some important terms of the theory of masculinities.The second part dwells on the main characters' masculinities in No-No Boy.The third part explores the main characters' self-discovery,mainly illuminating Ichiro's struggle for finding his own identity by means of understanding people around him and coming to terms with himself who finally accepts his “no-no boy” status and begins a new life.The last part is the conclusion.Struggling against the pain and the heart as a “no-no” boy,Ichiro got rid of the burden step by step.And it also make Japanese Americans feel hopeful that they will be recover one day.