美国唐人街文化表征的历史流变研究

A Study on the Historical Transmutation of American Chinatown's Cultural Representations

唐人街是美国华裔文化的核心符号,是彰显美国多元文化的重要代表。从排华时代、民权时代到多元文化主义时代,唐人街的文化意义在华裔族群与白人主流社会争夺表征权的过程中不断地被建构。种族主义是唐人街定型化表征的根源,不同时代的唐人街表征实践始终受制于白人至上主义的意识形态,甚至连倡导文化包容的多元文化主义也未能脱离种族主义的话语逻辑,致使美国华裔的他者性从未被消解。文章借助斯图亚特·霍尔的文化表征理论,梳理美国唐人街文化表征的历史流变及其背后的权力政治,以期揭示美国种族主义的本质,为理解“后种族”语境下唐人街的文化意义和华裔文化身份提供一个独特视角。

American Chinatown has long been considered as a prominent symbol of Chinese American culture and an embodiment of American cultural diversity.From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Civil Rights movement to the era of Multiculturalism,cultural meanings of Chinatown have been continuously constructed as the Chinese American community competes for representational rights.The stereotyping of Chinatown's cultural representations can be attributed to racism,and Chinatown's representational practices in different eras are subject to the ideology of white supremacy.Even American multiculturalism,which aims to promote cultural inclusiveness,has failed to shake off racist discourse,thus the otherness of Chinese Americans has never been dissolved.Applying Stuart Hall's theory of cultural representation to investigate American Chinatown,this article explores the respective power politics underlying its different cultural representations.It is conducive to exposing the essence of American racism as well as providing a unique perspective to investigate Chinatown's cultural significance and Chinese American's cultural identity in the “post-racial” context.