북미 화인화문문학에 나타난 초국적 화인 가정과 그 의의

Abstract

This paper aimed to examine the unique qualities of Chinese-language literature and befitting frameworks for understanding them by investigating the comparative characteristics of North American Chinese-language literature in the past 20 years from Chinese literature. North American Chinese-language literary authors’ main interests differ from that of Chinese literary authors. They feature aspects of lives that do not exist in the realities of mainland China, or if so, those that tend not to appear in Chinese literary works. One such example is the prominence of topics on domestic life. In North American Chinese-language literature, families tend to divert from traditional models, be in conflict, separated, or restructured. Among such depictions of overseas Chinese families in North American Chinese-language literature, the key features are the emergence and aspects of transnational families who are utilizing transnational networks and doing transnational activities. Overseas Chinese families’ utilization of transnational networks and the fostering of transnational families that are depicted in North American Chinese-language literature are commonly observed phenomena in diverse transnational migrant groups. This critically informs the nature of overseas Chinese-language literature; it is a part of transnational migrant literature, written by overseas Chinese people who themselves belong to transnational migrant groups. Therefore, this paper argues that Overseas Chinese-Language Literature should no longer be identified through its affinity with particular strands of nationally categorized literary genres, such as Chinese literature, American literature, and Canadian literature. Instead, they should be approached from the perspective of transnational migrant literature.