A Study On The Construction Of Cultural Identity Of Lisa See In Snow Flower And The Secret Fan

Lisa See(1955-)is an active contemporary Chinese American writer and she demonstrates her efforts at the creative explorations on Chinese elements.Published in 2005,Snow Flower and the Secret Fan as her representative novel is well shown her obsession of Chinese culture.Since the publication of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,a great deal of academic attention has been paid to the book about foot binding,laotong relationship and nushu culture.But studies which thoroughly analyze the novel from the perspective of cultural translation are few.In the context of post-colonial theory,the thesis views that Lisa See's cultural writing is a kind of cultural translation and her translation is closely interrelated to her cultural identity.Through cultural translation,See constructed her hybrid cultural identity.After a meticulous reading of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,this researcher has found that Lisa See constructed her hybrid Chinese American cultural identity by eliminating language colonization and creating hybrid language through cultural translation.The study,under the background of post-colonialism,seeing Lisa See's cultural writing as a translation,aims to investigate Lisa See's construction of her hybrid ethic identity.This thesis is made up of three parts,namely an introduction,a three-chapter main body and a conclusion.The first part starts with an introduction of Lisa See and her representative book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.Then it presents a literature review of the author and the novel,followed by thesis statement of the study.It also explains its relevant theories of cultural translation and cultural identity construction and defines the key terms—Power and Discourse,Orientalism and hybridity.It ends with an account of the thesis structure.The main body contains three chapters.Chapter one analyzes Lisa See's participation in constructing her cultural identity of “Chineseness” by explainingher motives and Chinese culture elements introduction.Chapter two focuses on Lisa See's American cultural identity.The last Chapter,depending on chapter one and chapter two,focuses on the construction of Lisa See's hybrid cultural identity.The conclusion presents the findings of this study.Firstly,Lisa See's cultural writing is a kind of cultural translation under the post-colonial background.Secondly,by translating Chinese elements,the author opens a window for the western readers while her unconsciously meeting for the readers' expectation leads to her Chinese description a kind of Oriental tendency.Finally,through her unique cultural translation,Lisa See finishes her cultural identity construction as a hybrid Chinese American writer.The significance of this study is twofold,namely academic significance and practical implication.For the first part,this research will enrich the study on Lisa See and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.For the practical implications,this thesis explores Lisa See's cultural translation,and points out that the author can not completely eradicate the influence of Orientalism,and predicts the direction of mutual respect,assimilation and compatibility among heterogeneous cultures.