Cultural Memory And Identity Construction In Fae Myenne Ng's Bone

Since the Twentieth Century,both in the East and West,“memory” has become one of the hottest topics and a really symbolic phenomenon in the cultural study of our times.Among different kinds of memories,“cultural memory” is not just a clue to trace the past,but more importantly,it provides the researchers a cultural perspective which follows,to take root the past,based on the present,future-oriented principles at the same time.In recent years,Chinese American literature,as one of the important ways to disseminate Chinese culture,especially in the background of “The Belt and Road Initiative”,has attracted more and more attention around the world.It has become a non-negligible branch deriving from the study of memory and culture in the postcolonial context.Fae Myenne Ng's novel Bone,through specific characteristics,detailed description,contradictions or conflicts and so on,reproduces the whole struggle course of Chinese Americans.Meanwhile,it reflects the change of Chinese Americans' ideological concepts of cultural identity and ways to explore identity models.Based on Jan Assmann's Cultural Memory Theory,this study applies the qualitative method to analyze the importance of cultural memory to the construction of Chinese Americans' identity.This study mainly explores the following questions:(1)What is the deep meaning of the cultural metaphor “bone” in the novel as the most important cultural memory image?(2)What are the specific embodiments of cultural memory in time,space and culture dimensions in Bone?(3)In the communication between Chinese traditional culture and American mainstream culture,what role does cultural memory play in building harmonious identity for Chinese Americans?The following major conclusions can be drawn in this study.First,Grandpa Leong's lost bones reproduce the background of Chinese American immigrants.The pigeon bones that Mah eats,on the one hand,reflect the hard living state of Chinese American women affected by the feudal tradition,and on the other,also provide new possibility for the construction of Chinese women's identity.Ona's broken bones have witnessed the loss of living space of Chinese immigrants under multiple pressures.Second,in the time dimension,cultural memory,as the historical foundation,has become the origin of group identity.In the space dimension,the places carrying memory provide space support for the generation and continuity of memory.In the cultural dimension,cultural memory becomes the epitome of a generation's pursuit of American dream.Third,cultural memory can be used as a tool for Chinese Americans to establish a harmonious personality of “the other” and to build up a new image on the basis of “Be Global,Act Local”.It is an innovative attempt to interpret Bone based on Jan Assmann's Cultural Memory Theory.Besides,it is another innovative point to combine cultural memory and the identity construction of Chinese Americans,which plays an important part in the study of Chinese American identity.This thesis selects Bone as the research object,and explores the role of cultural memory in the construction of Chinese Americans' identity through the analysis of characters' utterances,plot development,symbolic metaphor,etc.in order to have a positive effect on the study of Chinese American literature and to contribute to the further promotion of Chinese culture.