Seeking Cultural Identity For Contemporary Chinese Americans

Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement of African Americans in 1960s, the notion of multiculturalism and later postcolonial studies came to dominate the American cultural trend, which recognized and celebrated cultural and ethnic diversity inherent in U.S. society. It lays a sound foundation for the development of Minority American Literature including Chinese American literature.As far as the study of Chinese American group and literature is concerned, the question of "what it means to be a Chinese American", or more specifically, how to update the American Dream, to seek identity during the process of cultural adaptation and assimilation, to construct identity in this global and multicultural context have always been largely explored by Chinese American writers including Gish Jen.Gish Jen (1955-) is a contemporary American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Typical American (1991) and Mona in the Promised Land (1996) are two of her representative works which describe the experiences of first-generation Chinese immigrants and their children in America and their exploration of cultural identity.Using Stuart Hall's conception of fluid cultural identity and postcolonial theories as guidance, Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land as text, this thesis intends to discuss Jen's effort in exploring the construction and reconstruction of the cultural identity for contemporary Chinese Americans in the American society as members of an ethnic group. It proposes that cultural identity is not a fixed essence but of fluid nature. When assimilating into the new American culture, Chinese Americans should respect their native cultural heritage and try to bridge the two cultures through dialogue and communication.Jen uses her fluid identity formation to her advantage, demonstrating her authority and power as cross-cultural navigator and demonstrating the transformative power of her identity fluidity as a tool for agency, affirmation, and power. She renegotiates the terms of power in Western society and seizes the most powerful and transformative role available: the role of storyteller as a Chinese American writer.For Jen, identity fluidity is not a condition that divides. Rather, it illuminates the past and binds all that seemed cracked apart. Through her works, Jens successfully creates a third space, where her characters, armed with the privilege of identity fluidity, fight for a space of their own. From this position, the margins are the center, and the power of definition belongs to the once-marginalized. In creating this space, Jen acknowledges and encourages the rightful place of ever-refreshing identity reformation for each individual in contemporary multicultural American society.