A Study Of Identity Reconstruction In Sour Sweet From The Perspective Of Homi K.bhabha’s Hybridity Theory

Timothy Mo,is a contemporary Chinese British writer who can be compared with immigrant writers like Ishiguro,Naipaul and Rushdie.However,in sharp contrast to other hotly discussed Chinese writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan,the domestic scholars’ discussion on Timothy Mo and his works seems too rare.Most of Mo’s works focus on the psychological state of the Chinese diaspora,and his writings center on the physical and psychological dislocations that the Chinese community suffers in the immigrant environment.Sour Sweet is one of his representatives,and it revolves around two plots.One is the life suffering of the Chens in Britain and the other is the development of the Triad.Commonly,the diaspora has three choices when facing new cultural environment: cultural resistance,cultural adaptation and cultural assimilation.Different choices represent different psychological mechanisms,and will produce different behaviors,which will further affect life endings of the characters.Throughout the existing researches on Sour Sweet,there are almost no discussion based on Homi K.Bhabha’s hybridity theory.After analyzing the identity dilemmas encountered by the characters in the novel,this thesis,under the guidance of hybridity theory in Bhabha’s postcolonial thoughts,discusses how the characters solve the identity crisis and complete their identity reconstruction.This thesis mainly consists of three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction introduces the background information of this study,including the introduction to Timothy Mo and his works,literature review,theoretical overview and research significance.The main body is divided into four chapters.The first chapter discusses the identity crisis the characters face when they come to Britain and the crisis causes.The identity crisis is mainly reflected in the Chens’ life.The identity dilemmas,such as gender dislocation,difficulty in maintaining the native culture and inability to integrate into the British culture,make the Chens’ life in Britain awfully difficult.In addition,it also probes into the identity crisis from the perspectives of patriarchy,cultural differences and racial discrimination.The second chapter analyzes the characters’ ambivalence state in their identity reconstruction.When the adherence to the native culture is impacted by foreign culture,Chen,Lily and Mui make three different choices: cultural resistance,cultural adaptation and cultural assimilation,among which,Lily,who holds the balanced and open attitudes towards the cultural conflicts and ambivalence state,achieves the most successful identity reconstruction.The third chapter focuses on the important role of mimicry strategy in identity reconstruction.Mimicry is always taking place around ambivalence.When the characters experience the ambivalence state of cultural choice,no matter what their choice is,it will be accompanied with the use of some mimicry strategies.Diet mimicry,behavior mimicry and thought mimicry are the three most prominent mimicry strategies in this novel.The fourth chapter is concerned with how the characters reconstruct their identities through cultural negotiation in the Third Space.Chen and Lily gradually accept their dislocated gender roles,different races coexist in harmony and two cultures begin to communicate.The Third Space is an important field for identity reconstruction.Only by transcending binary opposition and actively engaging in cultural negotiation can hybrid identity reconstruction be successfully completed.The conclusion points out that in this globalized age,the diaspora does not need to make an either-or choice when in cultural identity dilemma.Culture is flowing and different,not fixed and opposite,and what they should do is to know and understand the cultural difference and make use of it for themselves.