Homeland Lost And Regained:A Study Of World And Town From Postcolonial Perspective

Gish Jen(1955-)is a contemporary Chinese American female writer,whose novel World and Town captures a small and remote town populated by a mishmash of ethnicity,including Chinese American,Cambodian American,Hungarian American and WASP.On one hand,they are troubled by the loss of their homeland;on the other hand,they struggle to get accustomed to the new environment where there is continuous confrontation and negotiation among various cultures.Based on Homi Bhabha’s theory of postcolonialism,the thesis explores immigrants’ loss and reconstruction of homeland in the era of globalization.After experiencing loss of homeland and confronting different cultures,people of various ethnic,religious and cultural backgrounds choose border-crossing,self-marginalization or quest for acceptance to face uncertainty and diversity in their lives.The thesis,thus,investigates whether a small town can serve as “the third space” characterized by cultural hybridity to help people overcome a prevailing sense of loss of homeland.Jen observes not only the external world where people are experiencing confrontation with changes but also the internal world where people try to figure out who they are.The thesis points out that Jen attempts to illustrate her understanding of ethnicity and to challenge readers to think about the hazard of stereotypes.It argues that Jen’s conception of a world of independence and interdependence echoes the trend of globalization,which contributes to the development of Chinese American literature and world literature.