| Being one of the most influential Chinese American writers, Maxine Hong Kingston has given voice to a marginalized community with her three major works-The Woman Warrior, China Men and Tripmaster Monkey, created in different periods of her writing career. Her attempt to sort out what being Chinese American means through the exploration of her own experiences and those of her peers constitutes the central theme of her works.This paper aims at a penetrating study on the theme of identity-seeking by integrating the contents and thoughts carried in her three works. Chinese Americans showing different identity tendencies are analyzed as the basis of discussion. The identity dilemma experienced by Chinese Americans in Kingston's works and factors leading to it are also expounded. Establishment of a distinct identity for Chinese Americans has always been one of the purposes of Kingston's works. By reviewing the immigrant history and the life experiences of Chinese Americans as represented by her ancestry and her family, she has set up new images of Chinese Americans. What's more, by adapting Chinese classics and folk tales to present what she called "American story", she tries to establish Chinese Americans' cultural identity on the basis of Chinese culture in the multicultural American society. |
