The idea of cultural identity, particularly the sense of cultural belonging, might seem fairly simple at first since it is immediately associated with the attributes of the culture in question. However, after entertaining the idea of defining a cultural identity, one will realize the complexity of the notion and the challenge of avoiding referring to stereotypes as the means of explaining cultural identity as a phenomenon (Croucher et al. 72).
In her essay “How to Be Chinese,” Celeste Ng examines the complexities and challenges of retaining one’s cultural identity in an entirely alien cultural environment, thus, questioning the role of the community as the identifier and prerequisite of one having a cultural identity. By combining the use of metaphor, a unique style, and several other literary tools such as alliteration, Ng amplifies her argument by making the setting and characters more relatable.
Remarkably, applying the cultural Identity Theory to Ng’s narrative, one will realize that, being deprived of the chance to reconnect with her community, the leading character becomes particularly vulnerable to the stereotypes perpetuated in American society regarding Asian people and their culture. Ng even points out that the tendency to resort to stereotypical perceptions of themselves as a shorthand to convey certain ideas can occur in Chinese American people as well by mentioning the realities such as a Chinese restaurant in the middle of the U.S., a Chinese Barbie, and other cultural elements (Ng par. 2).
Thus, while recognizing the role that the specified cultural signifiers have for Asian American people in their attempts to retain their cultural identity, Ng also demonstrates the urge to introduce immediate change to prevent the rest of the Chinese legacy of her family, as well as her own one, to dissolve in the mainstream American cultural environment.
Therefore, Ng’s story transforms into an existential search for the cultural characteristics that would allow her leading character to reconnect with the elusive nature of her culture, which is becoming increasingly thin in the overwhelming context of the American cultural environment. The perpetual pursuit thereof rings in every sentence of the story, particularly when Ng asks her friend to say something, literally anything, in Chinese (Ng par. 9-12). While this dialogue might seem casual and nonchalant, it, in fact, screams of the urge to reconnect with one’s roots, therefore, becoming the pivotal point in the narrative where the Cultural Identity Theory regains its meaningfulness (Hills and Atkins 195). Specifically, Ng’s attempt at talking her partner into speaking to her in Chinese reveals the long-lasting need for reviving Chinese culture alongside other community members.
The plight for reviving the Chinese cultural tradition and the despair that the character develops as she fails to do so are expressed quite powerfully with the help of the literary devices used by Ng. For instance, despite representing the characters that belong to the Chinese American heritage, the story features little to no Chinese language in it. One could assert that it would have been easy to incorporate the elements of the Chinese language to make the story feel more authentic (Yeboah-Banin et al. 4).
However, the narrator avoids including any attributes of Chinese culture in the body of the text. Instead, every cultural signifier included in it, from Barbie to the “Titanic,” is either profoundly American or thoroughly divorced from any cultural context. The specified literary approach to the style of the narration allows Ng to convey the sense of emptiness that she experiences as she watches her culture being slowly washed away.
However, while the short story does not contain references to Chinese culture that lie on the surface, it conceals a range of metaphors that help to convey Ng’s message to all readers, their culture notwithstanding. Creating nuanced and powerful images for rendering her state of emotional confusion and need to locate her true self, Ng makes her story emotionally resonant for all of the readers, even if they have a rather vague idea of the challenge that Chinese people have to endure in the U.S. cultural setting (Heng 837). For example, Ng creates a token character, Winston, who is supposed to embody a stereotypical American man.
The use of the specified character as a metaphor for a Chinese man who has adapted to the U.S. cultural setting to the point where his ethnic and cultural identity has nearly dissolved is particularly important.
It helps to juxtapose Chinese culture with the American one, emphasizing the rift that has been created between the two. The polished and culturally unremarkable image of Winston represents an average acculturated and culturally uprooted Chinese American, a warning for Chinese immigrants striving to keep their culture alive. In turn, applying the Cultural Identity Theory lens to Ng’s character interacting with Winston, one will recognize the same wistful idea of the lack of personal and emotional connection due to cultural differences (Odinye 2). Specifically, even though the protagonist creates new friendships successfully, she still needs the support of the nearly nonexistent community that has become increasingly fragmented over several decades.
However, at the heart of the story’s expressivity and its masterful application of literary devices lies the simile. Ng utilizes comparison to its full extent, allowing the reader to observe the nuances of Chinese and American cultures that would not even register on the radar otherwise (Kuijpers and Hakemulder 622).
Simile occurs in Ng’s short story so frequently that it becomes the glue that holds the narrative together, allowing the main character to relate the elements of the alien culture to those that make sense to her: “’And I said, you know, I don’t think m-m-m really m-mm, but it’s like m-m-m.’ Parts fall out of the conversation like paper snowflakes you cut out in kindergarten, mostly holes.” (Ng par. 9). Thus, Ng creates a relatable character with an understandable dilemma of dissolving into American culture without effort or fighting endlessly to keep the remnants of her Chinese culture without even knowing if she can succeed.
From the cultural Identity Theory perspective, the conversation above is also quite meaningful since it represents the power of a community as the entity capable of preserving culture and traditions. Namely, the fact that Ng’s protagonist does not even have to name a specific issue that she discusses with her friend shows the power that a culture-based community has for an individual. Creating the presence of a group identity serves as the source of strength and a massive support system (Ali and Mujiyanto 38; Ashworth 3). In turn, since the protagonist’s community is very scarce and fragmented, the conversation above becomes particularly desperate despite its neutral subject. Thus, the short story provides an important insight into the current sociocultural setting of the U.S. and the challenges that the Chinese community is facing in it.
Finally, the use of anaphora, namely, repetition, as a literary device allows Ng to end her narrative in a powerful and emotionally resonant manner. Specifically, the connective “that” is carried through most of the concussion instead of complete sentences, creating a sense of wistfulness for the state of being culturally uprooted: “Don’t explain that she’d always wanted a baby but never found the right man”; “That when she came to China to pick you up she had horrible stomach cramps,” “that when she first picked you up in her arms” (Ng par. 50). Creating a cadence of sentences, the specified literary device allows Ng to introduce a rhythmic pattern that, in turn, leads to an effective and thought-provoking ending: “Say, ‘Good thing my mother acted fast’” (Ng par. 50).
As a result, the story becomes emotionally resonant with the readers, while also legitimizing the analysis that Ng introduces in order to examine the challenges of maintaining the cultural identity (Schleifer and Vannatta 12). Moreover, the specified approach allows introducing a certain sense of rhythm into the story, which amplifies the message and makes it more obvious to the reader (Thus, the application of anaphora helps to make the text unique while keeping it easy to perceive for the readers.
By dissecting several examples of the experiences that Chinese American people have had in the U.S., Ng challenges the notion of a personal cultural identity being tethered to a certain community, thus, representing a critique of the Cultural Identity theory. “How to be Chinese” demonstrates the possibility of connecting to one’s culture in circumstances that do not allow one to reconnect with one’s community. Thus, Ng suggests that a cultural identity extends beyond the scope of a certain community and, instead, stretches to embrace one’s cultural legacy and the unique experiences that accompany it.
Works Cited
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Ashwoirth, George. Language and Literature for the IB MYP 4 & 5: By Concept. Hachette UK.
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Heng, Tang T. “Voices of Chinese International Students in USA Colleges: ‘I Want to Tell Them That…’.” Studies in Higher Education, vol. 42s, no. 5, 2017, pp. 833-850.
Hills, Rodney C., and Paul WB Atkins. “Cultural Identity and Convergence on Western Attitudes and Beliefs in the United Arab Emirates.” International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol. 13, no. 2, 2013, pp. 193-213.
Ng, Celeste. “How to Be Chinese.” Gulf Coast, n.d. Web.
Kuijpers, Moniek M., and Frank Hakemulder. “Understanding and appreciating literary texts through rereading.” Discourse Processes, vol. 55, no. 7, 2018, pp. 619-641.
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Schleifer, Ronald, and Jerry B. Vannatta. Literature and Medicin:e A Practical and Pedagogical Guide. Springer, 2019.
Yeboah-Banin, Abena A., and Emmanuel Silva Quaye. “Pathways to Global versus Local Brand Preferences: The Roles of Cultural Identity and Brand Perceptions in Emerging African Markets.” Journal of Global Marketing, vol. 1, 2021, pp. 1-20.