Cultural cross-dressing and the quest for ethnic identity in Gish Jen's 'Mona in the Promised Land'

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Drama, Anthologies
Cover of the book Cultural cross-dressing and the quest for ethnic identity in Gish Jen's 'Mona in the Promised Land' by Anonymous, GRIN Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Anonymous ISBN: 9783640141852
Publisher: GRIN Publishing Publication: August 20, 2008
Imprint: GRIN Publishing Language: English
Author: Anonymous
ISBN: 9783640141852
Publisher: GRIN Publishing
Publication: August 20, 2008
Imprint: GRIN Publishing
Language: English

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Hannover (Englisches Seminar), course: Representations of Chinamerica, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Switching between different cultures, as depicted in Gish Jen's novel Mona in the Promised Land, seems to be the most natural thing to do. However, crossing ethnic boundaries often evokes negative reactions: When Jen's teenage protagonist Mona converts to Judaism, her parents do not exactly approve of this decision. As Chinese immigrants to the United States, Ralph and Helen Chang used to call themselves the 'Chang-kees', indicating both their desire to be fully accepted into American (i.e. 'Yankee') society and their awareness of being 'racially different and, therefore, un-American' (Lee 47). Although in fact it is part of Jen's first novel Typical American (1991), the 'Chang-kee' pun is also interesting with regards to the sequel Mona in the Promised Land: Here, Ralph's and Helen's daughter Mona is given the nickname 'Changowitz', a blending of Chang and the common Jewish name ending '-witz'. Both 'Chang-kee' and 'Changowitz' indicate an affiliation with different cultures at the same time, which is precisely what Jen's novel deals with. While Ralph and Helen Chang had to struggle with racial barriers during the 1950s and early 1960s and wish to be respected as assimilated self-made Americans, their daughter Mona embraces the idea that 'American means being whatever you want', putting individualism first (Jen 49). This self-granted freedom of cultural choice seems to stem from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the 'dawn of ethnic awareness', which also happens to be the dawn of Mona's adolescence (Jen 3). As Sollors recalls, 'ethnicity truly was in vogue in the 1970s' (1968, 21). Accordingly, Mona and other characters in the novel engage in discovering numerous aspects of their ethnic identities. Chapter 2 approaches the concepts of ethnicity and Americanness as well as several issues related to these terms. Here, I will refer to scholars such as Werner Sollors and Herbert Gans, who have made significant contributions to the field of ethnic studies. I will argue that Mona in the Promised Land with its recurring theme of cultural cross-dressing fits perfectly into the setting of the late 1960s and 1970s and humorously suggests what many (ethnic) adolescents must have experienced during these times.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Hannover (Englisches Seminar), course: Representations of Chinamerica, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Switching between different cultures, as depicted in Gish Jen's novel Mona in the Promised Land, seems to be the most natural thing to do. However, crossing ethnic boundaries often evokes negative reactions: When Jen's teenage protagonist Mona converts to Judaism, her parents do not exactly approve of this decision. As Chinese immigrants to the United States, Ralph and Helen Chang used to call themselves the 'Chang-kees', indicating both their desire to be fully accepted into American (i.e. 'Yankee') society and their awareness of being 'racially different and, therefore, un-American' (Lee 47). Although in fact it is part of Jen's first novel Typical American (1991), the 'Chang-kee' pun is also interesting with regards to the sequel Mona in the Promised Land: Here, Ralph's and Helen's daughter Mona is given the nickname 'Changowitz', a blending of Chang and the common Jewish name ending '-witz'. Both 'Chang-kee' and 'Changowitz' indicate an affiliation with different cultures at the same time, which is precisely what Jen's novel deals with. While Ralph and Helen Chang had to struggle with racial barriers during the 1950s and early 1960s and wish to be respected as assimilated self-made Americans, their daughter Mona embraces the idea that 'American means being whatever you want', putting individualism first (Jen 49). This self-granted freedom of cultural choice seems to stem from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the 'dawn of ethnic awareness', which also happens to be the dawn of Mona's adolescence (Jen 3). As Sollors recalls, 'ethnicity truly was in vogue in the 1970s' (1968, 21). Accordingly, Mona and other characters in the novel engage in discovering numerous aspects of their ethnic identities. Chapter 2 approaches the concepts of ethnicity and Americanness as well as several issues related to these terms. Here, I will refer to scholars such as Werner Sollors and Herbert Gans, who have made significant contributions to the field of ethnic studies. I will argue that Mona in the Promised Land with its recurring theme of cultural cross-dressing fits perfectly into the setting of the late 1960s and 1970s and humorously suggests what many (ethnic) adolescents must have experienced during these times.

More books from GRIN Publishing

Cover of the book Culture Clash - American Expatriates in Europe in: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun and Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady by Anonymous
Cover of the book Civic Education - Eine neue Form des Lernens für zivilgesellschaftliche Kompetenz by Anonymous
Cover of the book The Influence of Betty Friedan's Work on Her Life and on the Lives of Women in Cold War America by Anonymous
Cover of the book The effects of oligopoly in the US Automobile sector on pricing and development by Anonymous
Cover of the book Management Accounting at J Sainsbury plc by Anonymous
Cover of the book Riots and Revolutionaries - How did civil America make progress on its Road to Independence? by Anonymous
Cover of the book Appointment and Nomination of Supreme Court Justices by Anonymous
Cover of the book Resistance in James Kelman's 'How Late It Was, How Late' by Anonymous
Cover of the book The Role of the Entrepreneurs in Rural Development - New Zealand -Tourism by Anonymous
Cover of the book Can Market be Truly Global? by Anonymous
Cover of the book Feminism of Woman Teachers in the First Half of the 20th Century by Anonymous
Cover of the book LNG - A Review of Current and Future Markets by Anonymous
Cover of the book Investing in e-commerce for jewellery retailers by Anonymous
Cover of the book An Estimation Procedure for Parameters in Segmentation by Anonymous
Cover of the book Trainspotting - Analysis of the german translation of the chapter 'Strolling through the meadows' with the model of Juliane House (Translation Quality Assessment) by Anonymous
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy