Devouring imagery and sense of identity in the 'Oriental' immigrant novel: Joy Kogawa's 'Obasan', Albert Swissa's 'The Bound', Fae Myenne Ng's 'Bone', and Eli Amir's 'Scapegoat'

This dissertation examines four immigrant novels. Two of their authors are Asian North Americans, whereas the other two are Hebrew writers, whose families moved from Arab lands to Israel.;My thesis explores how the devouring imagery within these novels configure into the marginalization of the so-called Orientals within the heterogeneous societies of the United States, Canada, and Israel. In the four novels there is striking imagery evoked by the younger generation of "Oriental" immigrants who see themselves devoured by their elders. Profoundly identifying with slaughtered animals or a slaughtered tree, members of the second generation saw their own slaughter by unsympathetic parents. The phenomenon of a marginalized minority group which turns in on itself is to be seen in conjunction with the ferociously devouring socioeconomic forces with which the parents of the immigrant family contend. As politico-economic power over resources and institutions is held by people of European descent, the Oriental immigrants confront the exigencies of survival amidst dearth of means combined with social humiliation.;Focusing on devouring imagery which outwardly foregrounds intergenerational conflicts, I reconstruct the perceptions and worldview of those deemed "Oriental." Following the thoughts and observations, as they are exposed in the novels, I trace the sources of both their resistance and conformity to the notion of assimilation into the "melting pot" and more recently the "salad bowl". The interplay of desired assimilation with concurrently desired ethnic preservation provide for the tension that is ingrained within the response to devouring societal forces. As the younger generation see themselves cannibalized by their parents, that devouring imagery comprises effacement and sacrifice. These concepts are likewise found in the process of incorporation of ethnic groups that stand for Otherness within the larger society.