A Study On The Theme Of Bildung Of Chinese American Fiction

Bildung (growth), an everlasting topic for Human species and for literature, is also a dynamic theme in Chinese American literature. With reference to theories of Bildungsroman, this dissertation chronologically studies the theme of bildung in Chinese American fiction written in English from the cross-cultural perspective. With an eye on the global diasporic context of the twentieth and twenty-first century, this study explores how the growing-up Chinese Americans have undergone self-construction to build up their own identity, and why they are situated in an otherized, or marginalized growing environment, in order to understand how Chinese American writers express themselves through the theme of bildung. This dissertation has categorized three basic bildung patterns in Chinese American fiction: Bildung of socialization---growth through inheriting and readjusting the traditional bildung pattern of socialization by following the chronicle order of narration; Bildung of ethnicization---growth by retracing the Chinese American ethnic history, which has been silenced by American mainstream society, and the family history, which existed in bygone China; Bildung of individualization---growth through exploring into the inner depressed memories and by releasing the imprisoned self. The three patterns represent and elaborate the characteristics of the "bildung" theme in Chinese American fiction at large, thus helping Chinese American writers build up their own system of discourse distinct from that of the American mainstream, and find a voice of their own.