韓美作家李昌來《母語人士》與《漂泊歲月》中的雙文化成長敘事

Abstract

本論文乃藉由成長小說(Bildungsroman)的觀點來探討李昌來《母語人士》與《漂泊歲月》中韓裔美籍人士的國族認同議題。兩書中的主角，亨利派克(Henry Park)與黑旗時蕗(Jiro Kurohata)，為了在美國得到歸屬感進而選擇壓抑自身韓國性(Koreanness)與自我，並利用同化策略(assimilation)以融入美國主流白人文化。因此，我將在此論文探討主角們的認同危機與其追尋自我的旅程。藉由此分析，我將探討李昌來對韓美認同議題的看法並重新定位韓/亞美人在美國的社會地位，進而提出於國族認同議題中取得平衡以達雙文化並存層面的可能性。全文共分四章。第一章旨在探討韓美文學的變遷與成長小說的特色並藉此導入李昌來此兩小說的基本架構。第二章與第三章則分別探討《母語人士》與《漂泊歲月》中主角的成長教育過程(the process of Bildung)。第二章企圖從語言認同方面切入主角亨利派克的國族認同觀點，在一段自我探尋後亨利不再堅持自己的美籍身份，也不會為了單一美國文化而排斥自身的韓國性。第三章則希望藉由少數族裔模範(Model Minority discourse)與創傷(trauma)的交互影響，帶進主角黑旗時蕗的國族認同議題。最後，於第四章總結全文。透過兩主角的成長教育，李昌來於書中指出韓/亞美人不該以同化為最終目標，進而喪失原民族的文化特色，而是須將韓/亞美人視為一種新的身份，一種能同時包容兩種甚至多種不同文化層面的身份別。

The thesis aims to explore how Chang-rae Lee deploys the genre of the Bildungsroman to discuss the dilemma with respect to ethnic and national identity in his Native Speaker and A Gesture Life. In order to get a sense of belonging, the two protagonists in the novels, Henry Park and Jiro Kurohata, choose to suppress their Koreanness as well as selfhood, and embrace mainstream white culture in America through assimilation. I would like to explore their identity crises and journeys of searching for their selfhood in this thesis. Via the analysis, I delve into Lee’s thinking toward identity, along with his suggestion for Korean/ Asian Americans to relocate their social status in the US. That is, being a bicultural person is very possible for them to solve the dilemma between ethnic and national identity. The thesis includes four chapters. Chapter One investigates the transition of Korean American literature and the features of the Bildungsroman, both of which constitute the framework of the two novels. The following two chapters discuss the processes of the protagonists’ Bildung in Native Speaker and A Gesture Life respectively. In Chapter Two, I attempt to explore Henry Park’s viewpoints about the issue of ethnic and national identity from the linguistic identity. After his process of Bildung, Henry does not insist on the American identity, nor does he reject his Koreanness in order to be a real American. Moreover, he grasps the significance to be what he is. In Chapter Three, I examine the change of Jiro Kurohata’s attitude toward the issue of ethnic and national identity under the interweaving effect of his traumas and the model minority discourse. During the process of his Bildung, Hata gradually realizes the model minority discourse is nothing but an illusion. It is impossible for him to turn into an American with the help of the discourse. Finally, I make a conclusion in Chapter Four. With the Bildungs of the two protagonists, Chang-rae Lee suggests that Korean/ Asian Americans do not need to lose their ethnic culture due to assimilation. Instead, they should regard “the Korean/ Asian American” as a new identity, a kind of identification that contains two or even more cultures at the same time.