Internal Dialogism In Ha Jin’s Representation Of Modern China

A focus of controversy on the Chinese American writer Ha Jin is his representation of China in the novels. On account of relating China in English, Ha Jin is on the one hand praised as “one of the great sturdy realists still writing in a postmodern age” and on the other hand denounced as a traitor “cursing his own compatriots”. To whom Jin’s novels are oriented and what they focus on are the two questions of crucial importance as well as the concern of my research.This paper tries to analyze the image of modern China in Ha Jin’s novels by the application of M. Bakhtin’s dialogism. It argues that Jin’s novel is not constructed as the whole of single consciousness that tends to either beautify or vilify the China image, absorbing a double voice. Dialogue can be detected on the two levels of author and narrator. Meanwhile, this paper probes into the possible causes of this internal dialogism, taking account of Ha Jin’s exile experience, cultural translation and Hybridity.Chapter one, as the first part of this paper, contains the introduction of Ha Jin, his masterpiece Waiting and short-story collection Under the Red Flag, literary reviews, Bakhtin’s dialogism and the research significance. Chapter two on the level of author deals with the possible intention of Ha Jin who is suspected to address the anticipated western audience. Chapter three on the level of narrator points out the self-reflecting consciousness and human concern demonstrated in Jin’s novels, as a contrast to the Orientalist discourse. Chapter four focuses on the causes-analysis of this dialogism. Chapter five as the final part is conclusion.