The Evolving Cultural Identity In The Works Of Chinese American Women Writers

Chinese American writers,living between two worlds,have very unique cultural identities which have to be negotiated constantly in cultural conflicts,and because of this,their perspectives and writings are inherently intercultural.Chinese American literature is thus addressed in this thesis as intercultural literature.Considering the prominent role of the writers in representing Chinese American literature and the huge success of their works,Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior(1976),Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club(1989)and Gish Jen's Typical American(1991)and Mona in the Promised Land(1996)are selected for textual analysis.Based on textural analysis framed in an interdisciplinary theoretic foundation of postcolonial and intercultural studies,this thesis will examine and analyze the two-fold identity evolution in the works of Chinese American women writers: one is the evolving cultural identity of the main characters in the works of Chinese American women writers,and the other is the cultural identity evolution of the women writers as reflected in their representative works.The contention of this thesis is that identity-seeking in the selected works of the women writers generally follows the process of being either Chinese or American and being both Chinese and American.Moreover,Maxine Hong Kingston and Gish Jen's works explore further to reveal identity becoming increasingly intercultural.In this respect,Gish Jen and her works are most representative.The writers' denial of a fixed,singular identity of binary oppositions,and their acceptance of identity as something mobile,fluid,and always evolving to be open for constant changes and renewal may shed more light on elucidating identity in today's world of movements and complexities.