Negotiated “Chineseness” and Divided Loyalties: My American Grandson

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the field of cultural studies, the notion of “Chineseness” has been problematised and challenged, especially by overseas Chinese scholars. This article suggests that Chineseness can in fact be viewed as an open signifier that is in a state of continuous construction and negotiation, drawing upon Stuart Hall's theory of cultural identity and diaspora. The article begins with a clarification of the term “Chineseness” and then focuses on the examination of Ann Hui's film My American Grandson (1991). Addressing the transformation of Chinese American identity, the film depicts the opposite to the usual scenario. Instead of a Chinese person being painfully transformed into an “American”, an Americanised Chinese boy arrives in metropolitan Shanghai, bringing with him the classic conflicts and identity dilemma. The conflict between the American boy and his grandfather demonstrates the simultaneous processes of “learning Chineseness” and “unlearning Americanness”. The article concludes that an understanding of Chineseness should shed light on the dialogic relationship between being and becoming, between the past and the present, between homeland and diaspora, as well as between the local and the global.