从“金山客”到美国人:评《吃碗茶》中主人公的文化身份重塑

Becoming Americans: A Probe into Cultural Identity Reformation in Eat a Bowl of Tea

与诸如《女勇士》和《喜福会》那样的华裔美国文学名著不同，雷庭招的《吃碗茶》于1961年出版之初并没有引起轰动。迄今为止，美国学者往往关注它所体现的封建父权以及唐人街令人窒息的封闭社会所造成的人性扭曲，而国内学者则被它包含的“亚裔感性”、群体主义价值观以及语言特色所吸引。本文拟运用英国文化学家斯图加特·霍尔关于文化身份／认同的理论，对其主人公的文化身份重塑以及同化过程作一探讨，旨在挖掘该经典作品深邃的思想内容和无穷的艺术魅力。

Unlike such Chinese American literary masterpieces as The Woman Warrior and The Joy Luck Club, Louis Chu＇s Eat a Bowl of Tea did not enjoy immediate popularity upon its publication in 1961, So far critics at home and abroad have focused their attention on different aspects of this novel, ranging from its ＂Asian American sensibility＂, its collectivism and its distinctive language features to the patriarchy and insularity of Chinatown life, By employing Stuart Hall＇s theory about cultural identity, the paper argues that part of the reason for the rediscovery of this classic in 1979 is due to the cultural assimilation process undergone by the protagonists of this novel. An attempt is hence made to dig out the novel＇s thematic value and artistic merits.