A Research On The Cultural Identity Of Macanese Literature

The Macanese is a special group in Macao society . It is "the product of different races, which has continued for several centuries" . It has been called "the product of the dialogue of the two cultures which lasted for several centuries", it is also the "product of the contact and influence between China and the coastal Southeast which has gone through a sedimentary process". Therefore it is one of the biggest characteristics in Macao. The people of the group were born in Macao and grew up in Macao, they have deep feelings and a relationship unable to cut with the place. As they are the natural successors of the Chinese and Portuguese cultures (most of them are the result of the mixed blood of the two nations), their way of life, their thinking and feelings and view of the value have all resulted from the influence of the mixed culture, which has provided a special angle of view to look closely at the living space and the society. The works of the literature from this group has fully demonstrated the this unique feature .As the Macanese has the complicated history and the background of double culture, the writers from this group often confront the problem of their identity especially their cultural identity which widely relates to history, culture, language and race etc. This dissertation tries to expound the deep and intricate problem of cultural identity which emerges in this special literary phenomena, deepening the research of Macanese literature, providing a consultation for the whole cultural identity studies of the Macao literature, as well as an example for the studies of cultural identity in current literary field.The introduction of this dissertation is about definition of Macanese literature and the concept of cultural identity.The first chapter of the dissertation tries to run through the complicated problem of the origin of the special group and expound the cultural background that has produced and developed the Macanese literature.The second chapter will introduce the important writers and their works which are divided in two parts: the first part is about the survey of the Macanese literature before the 20th century based on the important data from Portuguese scholar Batalha ; the second part will introduce the important writers and their works after the 20th century.In the third chapter I am going to approach and analyze the special phenomena of "tancareira bela"(beautiful tancareira) which emerges in the Macanese writers' works. By the symbolic word "tancareira" which is a combination of Chinese and Portuguese, I am going to reveal the meeting and the agreement of the two oceanic cultures, protruding how the Macanese identify their remote Chinese grandmother I will also confirm the interrelation between the phenomena of "tancarera" in the Macanese literature and the historical reality with the material that I have found recently.The forth chapter is about linguistic phenomena of "patoa "(creol) in Macanese literature. By studying why the special language which is almost dying is still used to create literary woks, I will try to expound the symbolic meaning of this linguistic phenomena and how it works as a symbol of the cultural identity of the Macanese community.In the fifth chapter I will discuss the subject of "who am I?" which emerges in Macanese literature, including the affinity with Chinese culture , the identification with the location, the deep feeling of the Macanese writers shown in their works, and the difficult position of identifying themselves with the racial features.The last part of the dissertation will prospect the developments and changes of the cultural identity of Macanese literature in the new historical period and refer to the meaning of study of the cultural identity in Macanese literature.