| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 89 === The novels and short stories of Gish Jen, a second-generation Chinese American, reflect her struggle to reconcile her Chinese heritage with her American upbringing. Her identity crisis, the feeling of being foreign and alien to both worlds, provokes her works to deal with issues of identity. After Typical American, she examines the meaning of ethnic identity and cultural diversity in her second novel, Mona in the Promised Land. In the text, Mona Chang switches her identity from Chinese American to Catholic Chinese Jew and experiments with the ideal of multiculturalism at Camp Gugelstein.
American-born Chinese, like Jen, have a sense of being in between two worlds and being excluded from the mainstream society by the dominant group who claim to be the authentic Americans. In this thesis, I read Mona in the Promised Land in terms of the postmodern concept of identity. I believe that Jen tries to empower Chinese Americans to face the identity crisis. Three key concepts operative in her novels are: (1) the switching of identity, (2) multicultural hybridity, and (3) inventing identity. They serve to subvert the fixed identity imposed by the dominant group, to expose the true nature of the myth of authenticity, and to propose the invention of identity.
First, the switching of identity challenges the traditional meaning of identity as all-inclusive sameness without internal differentiation. The postmodern concept makes identity something dynamic. Jen argues for the crossing boundaries and paints an America beyond the binary opposition of Black and White. The switching of identity violates fixed boundaries of gender, class and ethnicity. For example, in the text, Mona Chang switches from traditional Chinese daughter into an American girl and the Chang family moves upward to the upper middle class; and Naomi, a black Harvard student, switches her ethnic identity from black to Chinese.
Second, multicultural hybridity demonstrates American culture is a mixture of many cultures. The purity of the white American identity is questionable because even the WASPs have their different ethnic backgrounds. That the white Americans are the only authentic Americans is subverted by hybridity. In Mona in the Promised Land, Jen investigates the possibilities of multicultural coalition. Camp Gugelstein is a multicultural hybridity.
Third, inventing identity moves beyond essentialism and constructivism. Inventing identity emphasizes the free choice of identity rather than being essentialized as minority group. Each individual asserts his/her invented identity through linguistic claming and through performance. Thus, ethnic groups become empowered to deal with identity crisis. For example, Callie Chang renames herself Kailan, eats Chinese food, and begins the practice of“Chinese [physical] exercise.”
All told, Gish Jen's postmodern identity strategies enable Chinese Americans to face their identity crisis with courage and hope.
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