Su Zhen,the charater of the Chinese Canadian author Fang Manqiao’s Midnight at the Dragon Café.This thesis by using the method of text reading and the post-colonialism theory,discusses the influence of language choice and cultural factors on the ethnic identity,cultural identity and the identity of the second generation of Chinese —Canadians,Su Zhen.Based on the three aspects,it explains how her identity is changing gradually until her identity has changed completely under the condition of degradation of her mother tongue—Chinese while mastering English.This gives Su Zhen a new identity by positive or negative culture assimilation.This thesis consists of the following sections.The first chapter mainly analyzes how Su Zhen changes her orginal identity consciously or unconsciously with the proficiency of English,and identity convergence.In this gap between the identity convergence and her own identity,the ethnic identity of Su Zhen began to waver.At the same time,the differences in ethic identity that Su Zhen found in the ethic culture were analyzed,as well as the mixed state of ethnic identity resulting from such differences.The second chapter mainly analyze how Su Zhen sways between Western culture and Chinese culture.It futher explains why she doubts about her identity shocked by the conflicts.In combination with the text,the chapter focuses on the analysis of how the cultural identity of Su Zhen moves from confrontation to integration.Based on Su Zhen’s language choice,the third chapter concludes the reasons of her identity hesitation and cultural identity gap.It sets the identification of Su Zhen under the background of identity study in North American—Chinese literature and digs deeper into the contents and possibilities of Su Zhen’s identity,to figure out Su Zhen’s current situation.According to the texts,this paper argues what kind of cultural strategies Su Zhen takes to avoid conflicts and risks in the gap between the two cultures by considering the current situation of Su Zhen’s identification. |