On The Path Of Cultural Identity Confrontation And Adhesion

As a Chinese American playwright,David Henry Hwang has already well established his own reputation in the American theatre circles,and in his masterpiece,M.Butterfly,he has challenged “Orientalism” by shaping Song Liling's vague gender identity,subverting the image of the stereotyped Chinese people in Americans' mind.In addition,as a severe attack on racial discrimination,cultural hegemony,and power politics in Western society,it shatters the dream of Western imperialists to dominate,control,and invade the East,and thoroughly overthrows the colonial discourse of the Western imperialists.This thesis attempts to discuss the path of cultural identity confrontation of those main characters and their adhesion,through a close reading of the play text,M.Butterfly,together with cultural research procedures.First and foremost,the author traces the roots of Chinese American literature and its development,and makes a brief introduction of David Henry Hwang and his play,M.Butterfly.Also,the constructing of the theory of cultural identity is introduced and the domestic and overseas study on M.Butterfly is stated in a well-planned way in this chapter.Next,the author illuminates the conflicts between the different cultures of Chinese and Americans,and confrontation in terms of cultural identity by analyzing the images of the heroes in the text.In the meantime,gender and race,two significant elements of cultural identity,are well deconstructed,and the cultural identity of Chinese Americans is reestablished with the analysis of costumes' characterization in play theories.Last but not least,the author discusses and analyzes in chapter four,how David Henry Hwang worked to see breakthroughs in Chinese Americans' cultural identity in M.Butterfly.This study,based on the analysis of the text of M.Butterfly,aims to delve into how cultural identity,epitomized by Song Liling and Gallimard respectively,has evolved from confrontation into adhesion,and draws a conclusion that cultural identity is not just unchangeable,but also it is a combination of innate choice and acquisition.Cultural identity,in this sense,could be mobile under certain circumstances.Particularly in the irreversible trend of globalization,the national identity and cultural identification of the dispersed ethnic groups may be dual,or even multiple.Most significantly,M.Butterfly has opened a way for people to think and discuss about cross-cultural issues and cultural identity of Chinese Americans.