By employing the theory of Imagology, this work examines four literature workswritten in overseas study movements in modern Chinese history: Wang Tao's shortstories in Songyin Manlu, Lao She's The Two Mas, Bai Xianyong's A Death in Chicagoand Zhou Li's Manhattan's Chinese Lady. While tracing how Chinese intellectuals workthrough the dichotomy of China/West and Tradition /Modernity, this study alsoendeavors to reveal theoretical issues arising from inter-cultural communication andrepresentation. It argues that the literary projection of the west manifests a complex senseof the Chinese self primarily due to the portrayals of western cities and westerners as anembodiment of Chinese understandings of western modernity at different periods. In theLate Qing, the depiction of London in Songyin Manlu only focuses on gunboats, cannons,museums, and factories, because western modernity for the Chinese at the time wassignified by the mighty weaponry of British navy and advanced technology. In the 1920s,however, the portrayal of London in The Two Mas shifts to reveal how Londoners'lifestyle and culture make Britain the most powerful nation in the world, as the Chineseintellectuals advocated the westernization of Chinese culture in order to strengthen China.In the 1960s, the Chinese protagonist Wu Hanhun in A Death of Chicago feels estrangedand sexually seduced in Chicago, subsequently loses his sense of purpose in life andeventually commits suicide, the depiction of which is consistent with similar themes inwestern modernist literature. This is due to the fact that the modernist movement thrivedin Taiwan in the 1960s, and as such, had a large impact on Taiwanese writers. The 1990seraManhattan's Chinese Lady displays spectacles of America's wealth on the FifthAvenue in Manhattan, as common Chinese strive for becoming rich in contemporaryChina owing to the Chinese government's promotion of market reform after 40 years ofpoverty in socialist China. The study concludes that regardless of whether or not theimages of the west presented in Chinese discourse are idealizations, demonizations, orother related cultural determinations, they all manifest a type of anxiety in regard to theChinese Self.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 2002. / Adviser: Victor Mair. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

O presente trabalho focaliza os processos de formação da identidade, observados em narrativas da escritora sino-americana Maxine Hong Kingston. Documentando as contradições e a fragmentação do sujeito, procura-se iluminar os vários sentidos de subjetividade presentes em uma pessoa de origem chinesa que vive nos Estados Unidos na época da pós-modernidade. O quadro teórico utilizado na análise desses processos é construído a partir da crítica sobre o romance pósmoderno e dos estudos culturais sobre a diáspora. Focaliza-se o livro de memórias da autora, The woman warrior – memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts, publicado pela primeira vez em 1976. Desde meados do século XVIII, um grande número de imigrantes asiáticos deslocou-se para os Estados Unidos, trazendo consigo seus próprios valores materiais e espirituais e seus distintos padrões de comportamento. A formação das gerações que cresceram nessa encruzilhada de culturas só poderia ser difícil e conflituosa. Esta dissertação procura descobrir, por um lado, como se efetivam os processos de identificação dos sino-americanos, visto que estão sujeitos a dois sistemas de valor diferentes e, por outro, como se articulam os diversos elementos culturais, tanto na constituição da identidade das personagens como na construção do romance. As narrativas de Maxine Hong Kingston revelam processos de hibridização, característicos de um autor diaspórico. / This dissertation deals with the processes of identity formation as observed in the works of the Chinese-American writer Maxine Hong Kingston, especially in her book The woman warrior – memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts, first published in 1976. The different meanings of subjectivity that can take shape in an American of Chinese descent, encompassing an individual’s contradictions and fragmentation, are analyzed. The theoretical framework is based on critics of postmodernism and on cultural studies about diasporas. Since the middle of the eighteenth century a great number of Asian immigrants moved to the United States, taking along with them their different values and behavior patterns. A person growing up in the intersection of cultures has to deal with conflicts and paradoxes, resulting in identities that are contradictory and fragmentary. This dissertation seeks to unravel, on one hand, the processes of identity formation among the Chinese-Americans, faced as they are by two distinct value systems. On the other hand, find out how the different cultural elements are articulated both in the identity formation of the characters and in the construction of the novel. The narratives of Maxine Hong Kingston reveal processes of hybridization, which are characteristic of a diasporic author.

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This essay aims to investigate constructions of masculinity in Frank Chin’s Donald Duk and Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, comparing them to each other, and scrutinizing them through Raewyn Connell’s framework of hegemonic masculinity. Moreover, it aims to analyze the utilization of popular culture in identity formation within the two novels. Furthermore, it also aims to discuss how these novels can be utilized to discuss masculinity in the EFL classroom. To achieve these aims, the essay utilizes close reading of excerpts from the two novels. The analysis concludes that the protagonist of Donald Duk constructs masculinity with traits from hegemonic masculinity to combat the emasculation he experiences, while the protagonist from Interior Chinatown starts with the same ambition, he then rejects hegemonic masculinity in favor of a more empathetic masculinity. Additionally, both novels utilize representations of masculinity from popular culture as role models for the protagonists’ own identities. Lastly, it concludes that Donald Duk and Interior Chinatown can be of use in the EFL classroom to discuss toxic masculinity and alternative masculinities by highlighting the protagonists of the novels and tying the discussion to its authors, and the students’ own identities and experiences.

Dans le courant du XXe siècle, la scène littéraire de langue française s’est enrichie d’auteurs venus de Chine. Passeurs de langues, de frontières et de cultures, ils érigent, par leurs productions, des ponts singuliers illustrant les défis de la mondialisation. Du roman à la poésie en passant par le théâtre, l’objectif de notre étude est d’avancer une typologie de ce champ littéraire émergent. Englobant les vingt-quatre auteurs qui composent ce dernier, parmi lesquels François Cheng, Gao Xingjian, Dai Sijie, ou encore Ying Chen, l’analyse se fonde sur un concept-référent : la transidentité des auteurs. Par ailleurs, afin de saisir au mieux la complexité et la diversité des productions, la transdisciplinarité des approches – sociologique, littéraire et linguistique – s’avère éclairante. Par le prisme de l’identité culturelle, l’étude interne des œuvres se divise en deux volets : les représentations interculturelles et la poétique transculturelle. Dans une optique de comparaison constante entre les œuvres de chaque auteur, puis entre les différents auteurs, nous rendons compte des caractéristiques récurrentes et opérons des classifications. Ceci permet d’interroger le statut du champ au sein des littératures dites "francophones" et de soulever la question de l’étiquette. Ainsi, par le truchement des auteurs chinois, c’est le statut identitaire et théorique de tout écrivain périphérique dans l’espace francophone que nous cherchons à éclairer. / In the 20th century, French literary scene has been enriched by authors coming from China. Crossing languages, borders and cultures, they erected, through their productions, singular bridges that illustrate the challenges of globalization. Focused on novels, poetry, passing by theater, the purpose of this research is to advance a typology of this emerging literary field. Encompassing the twenty-four authors composing it, including François Cheng, Gao Xingjian, Dai Sijie, or Ying Chen, the study is based on a referent-concept: the authors’ transidentity. For a better understanding of complexity and diversity of productions, transdisciplinarity – sociological, literary, and linguistic approaches – is instructive. By the prism of cultural identity, the internal study of works is divided into two components: intercultural representations and transcultural (of cross-cultural) poetic. With a constant comparison between works of each author, and between the authors, we figure out recurring characteristics and operate classifications. This allows to question the status of the field in the so-called "Francophone" literature and to raise the issue of the label. Thus through Chinese authors, it is any peripheral writer theoretical status in the francophone space that we are trying to explore and enlighten.

La littérature chinoise contemporaine, presque inconnue il y a une trentaine d’années en France, commence aujourd’hui à occuper une place que l’on ne peut plus ignorer. Notre étude, qui présentera d’abord un panorama de la traduction et de la réception de cette littérature en France (1981-2012), s’efforcera ensuite d’explorer en détail des aspects techniques de la traduction : étudier les stratégies mises en place, mettre en valeur les efforts tentés par les traducteurs et analyser des difficultés et problèmes de traduction existants. Une telle recherche descriptive et analytique portera sur six objets de traduction, qui constituent toutes des défis traductologiques : “graphie et dessin des caractères chinois’’, “jeux de mots’’, “proverbes’’, “xiehouyu’’, “onomatopées’’ et “discours direct sub-libre’’, ceci dans le cadre de trente-quatre traductions de sept écrivains contemporains : Mo Yan 莫言, Su Tong 苏童, Yu Hua 余华, Bi Feiyu 毕飞宇, Chi Li 池莉, A Cheng 阿城 et Jia Pingwa 贾平凹. L’exploration des stratégies s’effectuera dans une approche dialectique qui va bien au-delà des dichotomies théoriques opposant radicalement l’auteur et le lecteur. En étudiant convergences, diversités et complexités de pratiques, nous tenterons d’apporter un éclairage sur des facteurs qui influencent ou régissent l’agir du traducteur, et ceci de façon ciblée selon chacun des six objets étudiés. Loin de vouloir dresser une liste des inadéquations, pertes ou erreurs de traduction, ou encore donner des injonctions, nous espérons attirer l’attention sur les réelles contraintes ou difficultés que les traducteurs du chinois rencontrent durant leur travail, et susciter des occasions de réflexion. / Chinese contemporary literature, while almost unknown thirty or more years ago in France, begins to occupy a place we can non longer ignore. In the present work, after presenting a panorama of the translation and the reception of this literature in France (1981-2012), we will try to explore in detail some technical aspects of its translation : strategies used by the translators and the efforts they make when facing translation problems. Being a descriptive and analytical research, it will deal with six translation objects : “spelling and image of Chinese characters’’, “wordplay’’, “proverbs’’, “xiehouyu’’, “onomatopoeia’’ and “sub free direct discourse’’, taking into account thirty four translations of seven Chinese contemporary writers : Mo Yan 莫言, Su Tong 苏童, Yu Hua 余华, Bi Feiyu 毕飞宇, Chi Li 池莉, A Cheng 阿城 and Jia Pingwa 贾平凹. The analysis of different strategies will be done in an dialectic approach which aims to overcome theoretical dichotomies opposing radically the author and the reader. While studying convergences, diversities and complexities of methods, we will try to shed light on factors that influence or govern the choices of the translator, in a targeted manner, according to each of the six studied objects. Far from establishing a list of unsuitable choices, losses and translation mistakes or issuing instructions, we wish to draw attention to the real constraints or difficulties that translators of the Chinese language come across during their work, and offer opportunity for thought.

Mo Yan莫言, de son vrai nom Guan Moye管谟业, est l’un des écrivains chinois contemporains les plus célèbres mais aussi l’un des plus traduits en français. Son enfance rurale inspire ses premières réflexions sur la littérature et son royaume de lettres. Mêlant le vrai au faux, le réel au fabuleux, son œuvre, profuse et originale, suscite des travaux critiques considérables tant académiques que médiatiques, notamment depuis son obtention du prix Nobel de littérature en 2012 à Mo Yan. La présente thèse porte sur l’œuvre de Mo Yan en France : la traduction, la diffusion et la critique. Ainsi, s’agit-il non seulement d’une investigation sur l’imaginaire de la Chine, mais également d’une investigation littéraire. Cette étude, à la fois monographique et comparatiste, s’appuie principalement sur les créations les plus retentissantes en France : Le Clan du sorgho rouge (1986), Le Pays de l’alcool (1993), Beaux seins, belles fesses (1995), Le Supplice du santal (2001), Quarante et un coups de canon (2003), La Dure Loi du karma (2006), Grenouilles (2009)... / Guan Moye, better known by his pen name Mo Yan, was born in Gaomi County in Shandong province in 1955. The pen name "Mo Yan" means "don't speak" in Chinese. Mo Yan is one of the most famous Chinese contemporary writers in France, and his works have been widely translated into French. His childhood in Gaomi County inspired his first conception of literature and is, to some extent, the portal through which we enter his realm of letters. The unique style of his works attracts many academic and media criticism, and even more after winning the Noble Prize of literature in 2012. This dissertation intends to study the translation, publication, criticism and reception of Mo Yan’s works in France. Besides a literary study, the dissertation also focuses on the imaginary of China. The research is monographic and comparative, based on his several best-known works: Red Sorghum (1986), The Republic of Wine (1993), Big Breasts and Wide Hips (1995), Sandalwood Death (2001), Pow! (2003), Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006), Frog (2009)…

This thesis examines three aspects of the commentary edition of the Chinese vernacular novel Shuihu Zhuan written by Ming Dynasty literatus Jin Shengtan (ca. 1610-1661), analyzing three of the most innovative features that the commentary brings to our understanding of the novel, and what Jin Shengtan desired for the reader of his commentary to understand. The first chapter looks at a series of techniques that Jin outlines in the preliminary "How to Read" section of the commentary (dufa), where the techniques are shown to be very similar in focus and style to the literary theory of narratology as written about by Gerard Genette through a sample comparison of five of the techniques with varying characteristics of narratology. The second chapter looks at how Jin Shengtan constructs the image of the author, Shi Nai'an, through both his interlineal commentary (jiapi) and his preliminary chapter commentary (zongpi). We see through this analysis that Jin Shengtan has gone against the tradition of shu er bu zuo -- a Confucian tradition that relegates the position of the author to the background of his work -- and has brought the author into a position of prominence through his construction of the image of an unparalleled genius. The third and final chapter looks at the idea of "heroism" (xia) and how Jin's commentary reworks the way many of the primary characters of the novel and their heroic actions are seen and interpreted, focusing especially on the characters of Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, Song Jiang and Li Kui, where we see that Jin's commentary focuses on parallels between the heroes such as Wu Song and Lu Zhishen in the first portion of the novel, while switching to a more juxtapositional perspective in the latter half of the novel through Song Jiang and Li Kui. / Graduate / 0305 / 0332 / mblsm00@gmail.com