Segmented Assimilation and Performance in Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker
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This study contends that Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker is a contemporary narrative that reflects the unchanging view of Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners in the United States. Henry Park is on a personal quest to become a “native speaker” by mastering the use of the English language only to realize that this is a futile endeavor. Henry’s quest and eventual realization in regard to his identity, both personal and cultural, is a reflection of segmented assimilation and that his acculturation is a performance of the socially constructed roles created for Asian Americans by the dominant white society. Henry fails to see that there are two versions of America; an America of “dreams” and an America of “experience.” Unlike his father, who understands the America of “experience” from a working-class immigrant’s perspective, Henry pursues his acculturation from a naive perception that the dominant white majority sees him as an equal. The American “dream” of racial equality and egalitarianism are ideas that contribute to his identity crisis. The study concludes that Henry’s inability to distinguish between the two Americas eventually becomes the reason why his assimilation into American society is so elusive and unattainable.
Abstract
This study contends that Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker is a contemporary narrative that reflects the unchanging view of Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners in the United States. Henry Park is on a personal quest to become a “native speaker” by mastering the use of the English language only to realize that this is a futile endeavor. Henry’s quest and eventual realization in regard to his identity, both personal and cultural, is a reflection of segmented assimilation and that his acculturation is a performance of the socially constructed roles created for Asian Americans by the dominant white society. Henry fails to see that there are two versions of America; an America of “dreams” and an America of “experience.” Unlike his father, who understands the America of “experience” from a working-class immigrant’s perspective, Henry pursues his acculturation from a naive perception that the dominant white majority sees him as an equal. The American “dream” of racial equality and egalitarianism are ideas that contribute to his identity crisis. The study concludes that Henry’s inability to distinguish between the two Americas eventually becomes the reason why his assimilation into American society is so elusive and unattainable.
참고문헌 (13)
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