More 'Here' Than 'There':Reconsturction Of Diaspora Identity In Jasmine And Rootless Flower

As the outstanding diaspora authors,American Indian Bharati Mukherjee and Korean Chinese Xu Lianshun have created lots of diasporic works to reveal diasporas,life and confused identity issues in the mixed culture sphere.These two authors separately delineate the protagonists,predicaments and reconstructions of identity in Jasmine and Rootless Flower.This paper mainly analyzes the similarities and differences of diasporas,and the subversion of otherness to illustrate identification strategies in multicultural contexts,which probes into diasporic fused and negotiated identity patterns.The paper mainly is divided into five parts to represent.The first part consists of the introduction about the authors and novels,the theoretical frames of this thesis,which are Stuart Hall's vector and Homi K.Bhabha's hybridity,literature review,and purpose,significance and method of this paper.The second part unfolds similarities between these two novels and the reasons of similarities,which manifest the current situation of diasporas.There are three similarities,the marginalization of the cultures represented by protagonists,the psychological reflections of diasporic instable identity,and the initial aim to keep cultural uniqueness.Then latter part is related to two aspects for reasons,including the troublesome with the mobilized surroundings and collective community pursuit.The third part analyzes about the differences and the reasons of differences.Besides,the differences are also threefold in the aspects of the route of diasporas,mobility,the hybridity of identity and the images of interlaced otherness in identification.Due to such situations,the protagonists' identification awareness has altered and the diasporas make sense of the rupture of the continuity vector during their identification process.Comparatively,it goes on the illustrations about the reasons for differences.It unfolds from the historical influence and social aspects to shape diasporas choices and values for their identification.The fourth part analyzes the reconstruction of diasporas identity in Jasmine and Rootless Flower.During the identification,the diasproas hold awareness of identification route——more 'here' as the destination than 'there'.Initially,it illustrates the subverted images of otherness--the helped to the redemptive role in Jasmine,the despised to bloodline undertaker in Rootless Flower--to present the importance of it.Through awareness on discontinuity vector and the subversion of otherness,the diasporas manage to find the suture and shape the adaptive identification patterns,which are the liberal realization for American dream in Jasmine and the 'apple-pear'pattern in Rootless Flower.Last part is the conclusion.By analyses about reconstruction of identity in these novels,the paper emphasizes on the negotiated and adaptable identification patterns.Therefore,it is significant for diasporas to get awareness to deal with identity issues and adapt into more suitable environment and sphere in multicultural contexts.