Author: Lamei Wei

Advisor: Shirley Tang

Abstract:

This paper used cultural studies methodologies to study cultural citizenship, in the historical context of Asian America immigration to the U.S., though the examples of two Chinese American Novels Flower Drum Song (by C.Y. Lee in 1958), Eat a Bowl of Tea (by Louis Chu in 1961) and three Chinese American films, one Hollywood production, Flower Drum Song (1961), and two independent films-Dim Sum: A little Bit of Heart (1985) and Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989)-by Chinese American director Wayne Wang.

Cultural citizenship was first used in the 1980s by Latino scholars to describe the fact that resort to ethnic cultural activities greatly empowered the Latino communities throughout the U.S. Further studies also found the concept "cultural citizenship" has been used by almost all ethnic minorities from over a hundred years ago, nowadays, and in the future.

Cultural citizenship in this paper is considered as an extension of a person's, especially an ethnic minority's formal citizenship. When a formal citizenship fails to guarantee equality and the right associated with citizenship, cultural citizenship becomes a powerful weapon for the disadvantaged.

This paper tried to discover the cultural citizenship in some Chinese American cultural products-two novels and three fields. Through the analysis of these this paper argued Chinese Americans have also used their cultural citizenship in history-their unique American identities, their belonging to the American national community. Food, clothing, cultural traditions and customs all become contesting sites for a person's identity. This paper held the view that Chinese American as an identity is on the whole American, like any other such hyphenated identities, such as Mexican American, Irish American, Italian American, Euopean Ameriican, etc. The identity is a blend of two cultures, impossible to separate one from the other, and thus became a unique American identity. So these Chinese Americans in the novels and films discussed in this paper are eligible for inclusion in the national community.

Finally the paper calls for attention for the phenomenon of "cultural citizenship", especially in the case of ethnic minorities.