A Study Of Lin Yutang's Intercultural Communication Strategies In The Importance Of Living From The Perspective Of Orientalism

This thesis employs the theory of Contact Zone and Orientalism to effect the analysis and discussion of Lin Yutang's writing strategies employed in The Importance of Living from the perspective of intercultural communication.There is a fundamental dilemma faced by every intercultural communication practitioner in postcolonial era,to deconstruct the prevailing Western-centric episteme so that the communication can be facilitated on an equal footing between East and West.The thesis considers the pragmatic strategies in The Importance of Living as exemplars to inform intercultural communication practitioners in achieving this aim.The thesis conceptualizes Lin Yutang's complex upbringing into contact zone,establishing a dynamic description of the formation of his cultural identity,and considers The Importance of Living as an autoethnography.Through a discourse analysis of the book,the thesis acknowledges The Importance of Living is self-Orientalizing but considers this a pragmatic compromise made by Lin Yutang due to the prevailing power imbalance.But Lin Yutang is wise enough to employ a strategy of "re-Orientalism" at both rhetorical and thematic level,successfully introducing his readers to a foreign culture while simultaneously effecting subtle but penetrating critiques of the West.