캐나다화예작가협회(加華作協) 단편소설의 특징과 의의― 캐나다 화인화문문학의 의의와 과제

Abstract

Since its establishment in 1987, Chinese Canadian Writers’ Association (CCWA) has been promoting the development of Chinese Canadian’s Chinese-language literature through various activities such as publishing anthologies, despite economic pressures and other difficulties. CCWA’s collections do not carry a large quantity of short stories. Despite their rather small number, themes and styles of the stories vary greatly. The variety derives from the writers’ diverse background, which include mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and others, as well as due to their dissimilar writing career and life trajectories. In addition, the variety reflects Canada’s inclusive policies and social atmosphere toward ethnic minorities. Most of the CCWA writers are first generation immigrants, and many of the short stories directly or indirectly reflect the writers’ experiences upon their arrival in the new area. Most stories are set in Canada, and in many cases, they engage with the lives of immigrants. In particular, many of them take a closer look at the phenomena of “太空人家族”, or the astronaut families. The stories tend to revolve around conflicts and within these families, breakdowns, and the question of women’s self-reliance and independence. CCWA short stories reveal particularities of Chinese Canadian’s Chinese-language literature. For example, many of these stories feature the transformation of Chinese Canadians into “true” Canadians, which reflects how, unlike overseas Chinese in other areas, Chinese Canadians have become relatively well-adapted to the hosting society. This theme of transformation is especially salient among writers that immigrated to areas with less radical differences from their places of departure, or those who have already spent substantial amount of time in Canada. Most importantly, CCWA short stories capture a new form of transnational migration. Unlike past migrants who had little or no hope of returning to their origin, many of the new migrants mobilize more diverse resources while constantly moving between their points of departure and destination, as well as numerous stops in between. Many of the CCWA short stories portray these migrants and their nomadic mindset, where they consider nationality as a means rather than an end in itself. CCWA short stories clearly show that overseas Chinese-language literature is a minor literature vis-à-vis the English and French ― dominant Canadian mainstream literature. At the same time, it is a minor literature vis-à-vis Chinese language ― oriented Chinese literature, such as those of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Given its positionality, overseas Chinese-language literature has the potential to challenge mainstream literature and even redefine the field of literature. Above all things, it may shed a different light on the field of world literature as part of the newly shaping transnational migrant literature.