From Orientalism To Post-Orientalism:the Path To Reconstruction Of Chinese

As a leading figure in the most prosperous period of American drama history in1980s, Chinese American playwright David Henry Hwang is the first Asian American playwright in history who won Tony Award for Best Play by virtue of his famous play M. Butterfly. Since the publication of his first play FOB, David Henry Hwang has worked out over thirty scripts for stage plays, films and TV shows, which have gained wide acclaim and several awards. His works are full of charm in displaying the East-West cultural collision and Chinese American’s pursuit for their real identity, which enables his works to compose an indispensable part of Chinese American literature and contemporary American literature.Many of Hwang’s plays try to overcome Orientalism and seek for the real Chinese American identity. Orientalism represents the West’s stereotyped impression on the East, while Post-Orientalism advocates mutual communication on an equal basis. It’s because of the trend from Orientalism to Post-Orientalism in Hwang’s writing career that the fluidity of cultural identity has been fully displayed.This thesis makes a detailed study on Hwang’s three representative plays FOB, M. Butterfly and Golden Child written in three different periods in order to analyze the author’s unremitting effort to overcome Orientalism and reconstruct real Chinese American cultural identity. At the same time, based on the author’s ever changing process of personal thinking, this thesis will demonstrate Hwang’s evolving understanding of Chinese Americans’cultural identity, so as to manifest the great contribution Hwang has made to the research on Chinese American literature, East-West relationship and Chinese identity under the multi-cultural background. This thesis is divided into five parts. Hwang’s three plays are analyzed based on Orientalism and Post-Orientalism theories.The first part firstly briefly introduces the writer and the history of Chinese American literature and China-themed drama on Broadway, which provides historic backdrop and is helpful for research on Hwang’s plays. Secondly, a literature review is made about the author and his works, pointing out the research significance of this thesis. Thirdly, the theoretical foundation Orientalism and Post-Orientalism is introduced.The second part discusses resistance against Orientalism in FOB. FOB is Hwang’s first published play that portrays conflicts between Chinese and American cultures, prejudice in American mainstream society towards the Chinese, and collision within Chinese ethnic groups. Through depicting these conflicts, the author attempted to call for American society’s attention to Chinese ethnic group, and emphasized the importance of Chinese traditional culture to break Orientalism and reconstruct Chinese Americans’authentic cultural identity.The third part analyzes the subversion of Orientalism in M. Butterfly. M. Butterfly a peak in the author’s path to break Orientalism and a transition from Orientalism to Post-Orientalism. Through re-composition of the western classic opera Madam Butterfly, this play successfully subverts the West’s stereotyped impression on the East, expressing that only by sincere invitation and equal communication can the East and the West eliminate their mutual misreading and dualistic relationship.The forth part discusses the transcendence of Orientalism in Golden Child. Golden Child transcends Orientalism, and objectively portrays the two cultures’impact on Chinese American cultural identity based on equality of Chinese and western cultures in the Post-Orientalism context. It consequently achieves integrity of Chinese and western cultures.The fifth part summarizes the previous chapters. This chapter points out Hwang’s varying thinking on Chinese American authentic cultural identity in FOB, M. Butterfly and Golden Child. Such variation corresponds with "Cultural Fluidity" advocated by the author. It is because of Cultural Fluidity that Hwang is able to explore out a way of reconstructing authentic Chinese American cultural identity in today’s multi-cultural world, which provides helpful reference for solving identity issue of other minority ethnic groups.