negotiation of identity in diasporic literature: a case

RUBIKON Volume 3 / Number 1 February 2016

NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY IN DIASPORIC LITERATURE:A CASE STUDY ON AMY TAN’S THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES AND

LESLIE MARMON SILKO’S CEREMONY

Ken Ruri [email protected]

Abstract

Negotiation of identity has become an important issue because its never-endingprocess always relates to conflicts, differences and similarities. Chinese Americans andNative Americans are two distinct diasporic communities amongst other ethnic group inthe U.S. As minorities, they experience prejudice, discrimination and exclusion frommainstream American culture and society. This research aims to reveal the negotiation ofidentity of Chinese Americans and Native Americans which is reflected on theirliterature. Literature is seen as the record of diasporic experience of both ethnic groups.

This research is qualitative conducted under Post-Nationalist American Studies.Post-colonial, hegemony and representation theories are used to help the process of dataanalysis. The primary data is taken from The Hundred Secret Senses written by Amy Tanand Ceremony written by Leslie Marmon Silko. The secondary data are taken frombooks, journals, and internet sources.

The finding of the research shows that Chinese Americans and Native Americansnegotiate their identity by choosing or combining competing values. The construction ofidentity is done through the reenactment of ethnic root and the adaptation to mainstreamAmerican cultural values. Sense of belongingness, history and socio-cultural backgroundbecome the determining factors of identity negotiation. In brief, they construct hybrididentity to survive and to counter American hegemony. Compared to Native Americans,Chinese Americans are more blending to mainstream American culture. However, bothnovels depict their hybrid identity.

Keywords: identity negotiation, diasporic literature, diaspora communities, hegemony, hybrid identity

Introduction

The United States of America is one ofmany countries in the world with veryheavy migration and diaspora issues, andeven Kennedy (2008) stated that, “theUSA is a country established byimmigrants” (p. 1). Additionally, Bradbury& Temperly (1998) explicated that,“America is a nation that is profoundlymixed ethnically, geographically, socially-sustained and changed by constant wavesof immigration from an ever changingrange of sources” (p. 20). In short, theUSA is the meeting point of immigrants

and diasporic communities from all overthe world each having a social and culturalbackground. This statement marks thatmigration and diaspora issues have beendeeply embedded in US society since theestablishment of the nation.

Each diasporic community indeed has theirown cultural products mirroring eachidentity, culture and experience, such asmusic, dance, literature and other works ofart. Of those cultural products, it isdiasporic literature that can easily be foundin bookstores, libraries, or even on

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television. This literature can be studied todig out immigrants’ experiences. Thequestion that can be raised is how can aliterary work be regarded and studied todig out the experience of diasporicsocieties if it is fiction? Although a literarywork is considered fiction, it has mentalfacts that are developed from their thought.Their thought is without a doubt theproduct of what they experience asdiasporic societies. Therefore, diasporicliterature is the embodiment of diasporicsocieties’ experiences and thought. Hence,the theme of diasporic literature usuallylingers on the issues of immigration anddiaspora themselves such asdiscrimination, cultural differences,stereotypes, struggle to gain success inAmerican society, and identity negotiation.The literature itself mirrors a particulardiasporic society experience. This studyaims to reveal the negotiation of identity intwo diasporic communities through theirliterature, particularly novels. TheHundred Secret Senses written by AmyTan, a Chinese American and Ceremonywritten by Leslie Marmon Silko, a NativeAmerican, will be used as the objectivematerials of this research.

Chinese-Americans are one of manyimmigrant populations that seek theirfortune in the U.S. Chinese-Americansrepresent the second largest racial minoritygroup as well as the oldest Asian-American group in the U.S. The firstwaves of Chinese migrated to the U.S. inthe early 18th century “to make theirfortune in the California Gold Rush”(Chang, 2004, p.4). However, their dreamswere replaced with the reality of buildingthe transcontinental railroad as indenturedlabors, as well as being victims ofprejudice and discrimination because of

their ‘bizarre’ physical features and oddcultural traditions. Being indentured laborsreceiving extremely small wages, it wasimpossible for them to return to China sothey had to work hard to earn a living.However, Chinese diasporic communitiesnowadays have become one of the mostsuccessful immigrant communities in theUnited States so the term “modelminority” (Chou & Feagin, 2014, p.1) isattached to them.

While Chinese have been excluded anddiscriminated against in U.S. society, theyhave been able to survive and have becomeone of the most successful immigrantgroups in the U.S.A. In contrast, there is adiasporic community which seems to bedeclining and never far from a poor andmiserable life. That community is NativeAmericans. Since the European conquest,Native Americans have been victimizeddue to their culture and way of life whichis considered primitive. It means that untiltoday, Native Americans, despite their longtenure in America, are still the object ofprejudice, discrimination and mockery.Moreover, their life in reservations today,with minor facilities and technology,makes them even more excluded fromAmerican society. They have become theforgotten, the “vanishing race”, the“poorest of the poor” (Parillo, 1985, p.217). In brief, their existence in U.S.society is not admitted.

As mentioned earlier, diasporiccommunities as ‘others’ must positionthemselves in American society by takinga position, by negotiating contrasting andcompeting cultures. In the contemporaryU.S. with its diverse diasporic societies,the quest of identity becomes extremelycrucial. As a crucial and universal issue,

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Ken Ruri Nindyasmara — Negotiation of Identity in Diasporic Literature

identity quest becomes the central theme indiasporic literature. Following andresponding to the changing of Americansocial, political and cultural nuances, thediasporic writers from each diasporiccommunity produce diasporic literature,for example Ceremony and The HundredSecret Senses, which are part of the genreof contemporary American fiction.

Both novels are chosen to be the materialobject because of the same essence whichis the quest for identity embedded in thecharacters behavior building the storyline.Both novels have the same strong degreein delivering the émigrés and the Natives’cultural heritage and how it mingles withAmerican cultural values. These ethnicgroups are interesting and important tostudy because both ethnic group sufferfrom harsh discrimination but the Chinesehave become as successful immigrantswhile the Natives, in contrast, aredenigrating. Since each of them come fromdifferent cultural backgrounds, theconstruction of each identity must bedifferent from each other and relates totheir survival ability in American cultureand society. Furthermore, the result ofidentity negotiation becomes the counterdiscourse of American hegemony. Due tothese reasons, this research aims to explorethe attempt of identity negotiationexperienced by Chinese American andNative Americans as seen in Ceremony andThe Hundred Secret Senses. From theperspectives of American Studies, thestudy of Chinese-Americans and NativeAmerican along with their literature isincluded in the issues of migration anddiaspora. The issues of migration, diasporaand imperialism are covered by Post-national American Studies.

Since the issues of diaspora andnegotiation of identity cannot be separatedfrom each other, the study is conducted toreveal the identity negotiation experiencedby Chinese Americans and NativeAmericans as seen in The Hundred SecretSenses and Ceremony and to find out thedetermining factors of identity negotiationand the survival aptitude of bothcommunities.

Methodology

This research is qualitative research inwhich the interpretation is based on what“they [the researcher] see, hear, andunderstand” (Creswell, 2009, p. 212). Thisresearch is also inductive research underthe paradigm of Post-nationalist AmericanStudies. There are three processes in thisresearch. The first step is collecting data.The primary data are taken from TheHundred Secret Senses and Ceremony. Thesecondary data is taken from internetsources, academic journals, books, and anymaterials related to identity negotiation.Therefore, the primary data and secondarydata are read simultaneously to gain adeeper understanding of the topics. Thesecond step is to make a categorization ofthe data collected based on the culturaltradition of both diasporic communitieswhich is then connected to the context ofhegemony, postcolonial studies andrepresentation. The third step of theresearch is analyzing the data. To analyzeand interpret the data, descriptivequalitative approach within the paradigmof constructivism is utilized. Creswell(2009) points out that “Interpretativeresearch, with the inquirer typicallyinvolved in a sustained and intensiveexperience with participants… inquirersexplicitly identify reflexively their

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biases, values, and personal background,such as gender, history, culture, andsocioeconomic status (p. 214).

Creswell’s explication affirms thatdescriptive qualitative approach is closelyrelated to interpretation. This interpretationis conducted under Post-nationalistAmerican Studies concerning onrepresentation, U.S. hegemony andPostcolonial paradigm. The representationtheories are used to examine and evaluatethe diasporic literature as the primary data.The use of representation is to connect themental evidences found in the novels andthe reality of diasporic communities inU.S. society. These theories are employedcollaboratively to discover and reveal theanswers to research questions.

Findings

Both Chinese-Americans and NativeAmericans negotiate their identity bychoosing, selecting, and combiningcultural values they encounter as thediasporic communities in the U.S cultureand society. Both novels show that thediasporic communities construct theiridentity through the reenactment of ethnicroots and by adapting to mainstreamAmerican cultural values. Thereenactment of ethnic roots is donethrough sustaining spirituality,strengthening social relations andpositioning diasporic women in Americansociety. The adaptation of Americancultural values is done through someprocess that takes more than one or twogenerations.

Compared to Chinese-Americans, NativeAmericans are more obvious in thereenactment of ethnic roots and identity.Native Americans more clearly reject

American values. For Native Americans,the reenactment of ethnic roots meansreclaiming the tradition of the past whichexisted before the European conquest.Meanwhile Chinese-Americans are moremoderate, meaning that they do notentirely reject mainstream Americanvalues. Most Chinese-Americans combineChinese values and American values butfew of them still adhere to their ethnicidentity.

In sustaining spirituality, ChineseAmericans only use the concept of ethnicbelief and combine it with rationality.Native Americans try to return back to theessentials of their ethnic beliefs. It can besaid that in the realm of spirituality,Chinese Americans are more hybrid thanthe Natives. This blending as a result ofnegotiation of identity is interestingbecause “It is significant that theproductive capacities of this Third Spacehave a colonial or postcolonialprovenance… but on the inscription andarticulation of culture’s hybridity”(Bhabha, 1994, p. 38). This is also similarwith what Clifford states; that diasporicconsciousness is “entirely a product ofcultures and histories in collision anddialogue” (Clifford 1994, p.319).

Sustaining spirituality in both diasporiccommunities functions as the survivalmechanism in rational society. Spiritualityattached to irrationality is used to countermainstream American values. Thus, theexposure of ghost narratives, reincarnation,storytelling about witchcraft, huntingpractices, food and chants as traditionalways of healing are presented in Chineseand Native American literature to showWestern perceptions about them such asthat they are irrational, unscientific,

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primitive, pagan, uncivilized, and exotic.These attributes function to indicate thatdiasporic communities are the ‘Other.’ Itcan be said that even literature shows thatthere is a White domination toward thediasporic communities as pointed out byGandhi (1998) as “Colonial textuality inSaid’s terms produced the ‘Orient’ can,thus, be read as a rehearsal for militaristicand administrative domination” (p. 143). Itlegalizes that the use of ethnic heritagewhich is undermined by the Whites is tovoice out the diasporic experiences, theWestern domination towards diasporiccultures and societies. It can also be saidthat the diasporic communities are beinghegemonized by mainstream Americanculture and societies.

However, by sustaining spirituality, thediasporic communities are able to counterthe hegemony. That is why spirituality ofChinese-Americans and Native Americansalso become the mark of identity of eachdiasporic communities. In other words, thisliterature becomes the counter discourse ofdiasporic community. The diasporiccommunities as ‘Other’, as subaltern, asthose who are thought to be submissive toWestern power, in fact, are able to voicetheir experiences, able to resist and counterthe dominant power of the West throughtheir discourse. This is the same with whatSpivak (2006) stated, “subaltern canactually speak” (p. 35).

The second means in constructing identityby reenacting ethnic roots is done throughsocial relation. Strengthening socialrelations is considered important as a wayof surviving in individual Americansociety. In the social spheres, The HundredSecret Senses and Ceremony represent thatthe attitudes of Chinese-Americans and

Native Americans are similar. Both ofthem give primary allegiance to theirethnic identity which values socialembeddedness rather than individuality.

Therefore, for Chinese-Americans, it isimportant to keep the strong family ties tosupport them. As explained earlier, tostrengthen family relations, the Chinese eattogether and support each other. That iswhy, in the U.S., since the beginning of theChinese first wave of immigration untiltoday, there are many Chinese Americanorganizations ranging from family, clanand kinship organizations that support eachother both mentally and financially. Byhaving family and people from the sameracial and cultural background to supportindividuals, Chinese-Americans are moreconfident to live in the U.S in whichindividualism as White American values isconsidered to be a standard Gramsci(1999) stated that “the tradition of strongindividual personalities in whom thevocation of work had reached its greatestintensity and strength…” (p.601). In otherwords, the exposure of the disagreement ofdivorce, mean that having good marriagesand strong family ties are used to expressChinese diasporic experiences in the U.S.and to build their self-confidence so thatthey are able to survive in Americanculture and society. Besides, it marks thedifference between them and WhiteAmericans so that it strengthens theiridentity as Chinese Americans.

It is rather different to Native Americanswho do not only value family ties. NativeAmericans also value people relationshipswithin certain tribal group. In the Post-colonial context, the concept of family andtribalism in Native American society isindeed considered primitive and irrational

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since for the West, every individual isgiven rights to do anything he/she wants todo without giving special attention toothers. Moreover, the power of reasongiven to every individual underlies thathe/she is able to do anything alone. On thecontrary, in tribalism, individuals must beresponsible for other members of the tribeand believe in the power of the greaterspirit that guides the life of the tribe.

The function of describing such family andtribal life in the novel is to preserve NativeAmerican culture, tradition and worldvieweverywhere they go. It is not to hinder orforbid Native Americans from leaving thereservation to seek a better life becausenowadays many of them live in the cityand mingle with the white people. Thepurpose is to remind them that theirindividual existence is always attached tofamily, tribe and universe since itdetermines their survival. It emphasizesthat as a Native American, a person cannotonly rely on oneself. If they do so, theyhave lost their own existence, because theynegate family, tribe and cosmic existence,whereas individual existence is part ofthose three. By clinging to this belief,Native Americans are able to build theirself-confidence and use it as survivalmechanism in American culture andsociety in which the stereotype of NativeAmerican inferiority and extinction isdifficult to erase. In short, strengtheningsocial relations between individual, familyand tribe is the survival mechanism ofNative Americans when living inindividualistic America.

Hence, it can be concluded that thefunction of strengthening socialembeddedness is as a survival mechanismin an individual society. They strengthen

their social relations by maintaining theirclose relationships with friends, family andcommunities within their tribe, sub-tribeand clan. Diasporic communities areobjects of prejudice and discrimination.They are seen as the ‘Other’ and oftenexcluded from the mainstream Americansociety. That is why, strengthening socialrelations becomes an important thing to doto support each other, spiritually, mentallyand financially. It helps them a lot in livingin the individual society. These socialrelations embody their ethnic identity, theidentity of the East which differentiates itfrom the West. This is essentially the samewith what Geertz (1960) highlighted inReligion of Java when he states, “at theultimate level of experience there is noindividuality because the more advancedone is spiritually, the more one has agenuine fellow feeling for others,…thehealth of society is dependent upon theright relationships between the variousgroups” (p. 333).

The importance of social relations is, thus,one of the central Eastern values which arestrengthened by the diasporic communitiesin U.S. society. The Chinese give emphasison people relations as the foundation ofcompassion and humanity, while NativeAmericans put greater stress on thewholeness of the relation betweenindividual, family and tribe as therequirement for balancing the cosmos.These ethnic-based social relations helpthe diasporic communities to build self-confidence so that they are able to competewith their White counterparts.Furthermore, it marks their difference fromthe Whites, in literature as well as in reallife that it strengthens their identity, asChinese- Americans or as NativeAmericans. Essentially, this is what is

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actually underlined by Brah (1996) that“diaspora space is the point at whichboundaries of inclusion and exclusion, ofbelonging and of otherness, of ‘us’ and‘them’ are contested” (p. 209). Due to thefact that both Chinese-Americans andNative Americans in the realm of socialrelation give primary adherence to theirethnic tradition, it can be said thatprincipally their sense of belongingregarding social embeddedness is morerelated to their ethnic tradition than it is formainstream Americans.

The third means in negotiation of identitythrough the reenactment of ethnic roots isby repositioning the status of diasporicwomen in order to pursue gender equality.Both novels are written by diasporicwomen. Both novels show that diasporicwomen are strong, hardworking, anddiligent but also motherly and caring. Theanalysis reveals that in repositioningdiasporic women’s status, Chinese-Americans rejected mainstream Chineseperspective that undervalues women asweak, dependent and fragile. Instead, theychose to define their women status byclaiming rare Chinese sub-ethnic valueswhich see women’s status as equal to men.On the contrary, Native Americans exhibitNative American perspectives in seeingwomen as respectful human beings. Theysee that honoring women is as important ashonoring Mother Earth. The function ofthis reenactment is to erase the stigma thatdiasporic women, particularly Chinese-American and Native American women,are seen as weak, unable, and inferior toWhite men, White women and others intheir own community. Both of thesediasporic groups position themselves inAmerican society by attending higher

education, by participating in un-domesticspheres and having well-paying jobs.

What can be highlighted from Chinese-American and Native American women’sstatus in society is that they rejectpatriarchal systems attached to Americansocieties. In this regard, ChineseAmericans reject mainstream Chineseperspectives about how to treat women.They select rare Chinese culture whichsees women as hard workers to build theiridentity as Chinese-Americans who viewwomen as warriors. In contrast, NativeAmericans reject the Western patriarchalsystem and give primary allegiance to theirethnic tradition in honoring women toconstruct their identity as spiritual andnon-violent. Both Chinese-Americans andNative Americans reenact their perspectiveof women as hard workers, warriors andagents of survival and existence to buildtheir self-confidence and to construct theiridentity as diasporic communities, whosewomen are able to stand for thecommunities’ survival in American cultureand society. The reposition of diasporicwomen status is to pursue equality.

The reenactment of ethnic roots throughsustaining spirituality, strengthening socialrelations and repositioning diasporicwomen’s status are important to buildingthe self-confidence of diasporiccommunities. Having been rejected andexcluded from U.S. society drives thediasporic communities to develop aninferiority complex. By reenacting ethnicroot, they are able to expel the inferioritycomplex and restore self-confidence. Inaddition, ethnic roots which are consideredirrational, underdeveloped, and uncivilizedby the mainstream American society areused as counter discourse. Through ethnic

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roots, they strengthen their identity asdiasporic communities, which differs themfrom the Whites. In the realm of literature,it is also used to define the identity ofdiasporic literature that distinguishes themwith mainstream American literature. Inshort, ethnic roots reenactment is thereaction of diasporic communities towardsAmerican hegemony. It can also be saidthat it becomes the means of fightingagainst the hegemony through literature.

While the reenactment of ethnic root isused to define their identity as diasporicpeople which are different frommainstream Americans, being adapted andintegrated in American society is also toconstruct their identity as Americans,which distinguishes them from theirancestors. In encountering mainstreamAmerican cultural values, diasporiccommunities do not directly and easilysucceed. There is a process that must befaced by them. The initial process inencountering mainstream Americancultural values is resistance. The followingprocess of adaptation is negotiation.

The resistance towards American values isexperienced by older generations ofChinese immigrants and the NativeAmerican Elders who still tightly hold onto their ethnic cultural origin. Thisresistance is also the embodiment of thefailure in adapting to American culturalvalues. The later stage of adaptation isnegotiation. In this process, the diasporiccommunities begin to realize theimportance of American values as asurvival mechanism. The motivation foradapting to these values cannot beseparated from the history of immigrantsand colonization. This shows that Chinese-Americans as immigrants have an easier

time adapting. On the contrary, NativeAmericans as the victims of the U.Simperialism needs more time to adapt.Both novels reflect resistance andnegotiation towards mainstream Americancultural values.

Adapting to American values is a way ofachieving financial success and equalopportunity. It is achieved through thestruggle to become fluent to speak English,attending higher education institutions,enjoying material comfort and gainingequal opportunity. By being able toachieve these four things, diasporiccommunities become highly valued inAmerican society. It enables them to lessenor erase their traumatic experience ofbeing excluded and discriminated againstas inferior races. Besides, it also buildstheir self-confidence in living in U.S.society and makes them feel that they arealso part of American culture and society.The capability and strong willingness inadapting to mainstream American culturalvalues also develops their sense that theybelong in the U.S. It marks their identity asAmericans. In short, their identity is nolonger stable and rooted in pure ethnicitybut in a series of processes.

Both novels demonstrate the experience ofdiasporic communities in relation withEnglish language as the product ofAmerican culture. If the exposure of theimportance of English in The HundredSecret Senses is used to show theacceptance of how important English is forChinese Americans to achieve financialsuccess, the exposure of the importance ofEnglish in Ceremony is used to describethat the ability to speak English fluently isimportant for Native Americans. It is alsoto present that finally Native Americans

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are able to negotiate the western educationsystem.

In the realm of literature, Native Americanliterature now uses English. There aresome words that use Native Americanlanguage only to give emphasis to specialmeanings related to cultural beliefs, but allthe narratives are written in English. Thisfinding proves what Ghandi (1998) statesthat “the language used by these writers’sets up, albeit inadvertently, an implicithierarchy between imperial structure/language/ culture on the one hand andindigenous process/practice/ experience onthe other”. This shows that NativeAmericans now are more assimilated toAmerican culture” (p. 175). What can beunderlined is that there is a hybrid identityas stated by Gilroy (1993) that the identityof diasporic people cannot be separatedfrom their experience in the homeland aswell as in the host land. This shows that allliterature which is produced within themeeting of competing cultures, the cultureof the dominant and the culture of theoppressed signify hybridity as described byAshcroft et al (1989) that “all postcolonialliteratures are cross-cultural” (p. 39) or“postcolonial text is always a complex andhybridised formation” (p. 110). Thus, thehybrid identity drive the diasporiccommunities to form a hybrid literature.The literature produced by them is part ofthe diaspora experience [which]… isdefined, not by essence or purity, but bythe recognition of a necessaryheterogeneity and diversity; by aconception of “identity” which lives withand through, not despite, difference; buthybridity (Hall, 1990, p.244).

For the immigrants, the motivation inachieving success cannot be separated

from their first motivation to leave theirhomeland in seeking for better future in theU.S. For the natives, the motivation to bemore open and adaptable to Americancultural values also improves their poorand miserable condition caused by U.S.imperialism. American cultural valueswhich focus attention on achievement andstruggle of the individuals become thedriving force of diasporic communities tostruggle for success. These values arerather different from Eastern culturalvalues, as the East places social statushigher than individual achievement. InEastern culture, if a person has high socialstatus he/she inherited from his/herparents, he/she is more honored than thosewho struggle hard and achieve somethinggood individually. On the contrary, aperson is honored because of his/herstruggle and achievement. From theanalysis of the data, it can be concludedthat the chance of Chinese Americans toachieve financial success is bigger thanNative Americans since Native Americanstend to adhere to inner success or spiritualrather than financial success.

Financial success and material comfortcannot be separated from the history of theestablishment of the U.S. itself. These twovalues are the embodiment of whatAmericans called “upward mobility”(Poter, 1954, p. 53). Every person has anequal opportunity to develop his/herpotential and must struggle hard to achievesuccess. If a person struggles to movetoward a better position, they contributesomething valuable to the society. Fromthis, it can be concluded that the Americansociety they now belong to, will alwaysmove upward, if everyone struggles forsuccess. It shows a sense that everyonedoes contribute to the development and

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progress of American society. If thecountry is prosperous, then the citizenswill be prosperous as well. This builds astrong feeling of belonging in the U.S.

To sum up, both of diasporic communitiesconstruct their identity by also embracingmainstream American cultural values.However, there is a process in adapting tothose values. The initial stage of adaptationis resistance. The depiction of resistancetowards American values shows that thefirst generation of Chinese immigrants andthe elders of Native Americans still want topreserve their cultural origin. For them,embracing American values means thedestruction of their ethnic heritage.Meanwhile, the later generation ofimmigrants and the Native Americanyounger generations perceive thatintegrating to mainstream American valuesis important for their survival. Beingintegrated into American society andadapting its customs means building theirself-confidence and making them feelAmerican. In addition, it is significant toembrace those values to revitalize theircultural heritage. Their effort inpersevering their cultural heritage byembracing mainstream American valuesshows that they are American diasporiccommunities. Thus, adaptations toAmerican cultural values are also part ofidentity construction since this process isalways continuous and ever changing, asHall (1990) pointed out, “Cultural identityis a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of‘being’…. It is not something whichalready exists…they undergo constanttransformation….they are subject to thecontinuous ‘play’ of history, culture, andpower” (p. 225).

The strong willingness of Chinese-Americans in adapting to mainstreamAmerican cultural values often drivespeople to define Chinese-Americans as‘model minorities’. They become theminorities that are able to meet Americanlife standards. In contrast, NativeAmerican emphasis on preserving andrestoring their cultural values leads peopleto see them as the “poorest of the poor” or“the vanishing race”. This definitioncannot be judged as the result of identityconstruction of both Chinese Americansand Native Americans. If the notion ofmodel minority or vanishing race isconnected to the analysis, it can beconcluded that it is only part of prejudiceand discrimination. We cannot judge allChinese Americans as model minorities orNative Americans as the vanishing race.What can be highlighted from the analysisin constructing identity through diasporicliterature is that they are adapting toAmerican culture and integrating toAmerican society as a survival mechanism.The existence of diasporic literature alsoembodies the construction of diasporicidentity, as Chinese or Native and asAmericans.

Conclusion

To sum up, the negotiation of identity ofChinese Americans and Native Americanswhich is reflected in The Hundred SecretSenses and Ceremony is done by selecting,choosing or combining, competing andconflicting cultural values. It means thatthere are some values that they reject andsome other values they accept. Bothnovels depict that the reenactment ofethnic roots is more exposed, while theadjustment to American values is alsoshown but is not emphasized. In other

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words, both Chinese Americans and NativeAmerican celebrate their ethnic identity.However, they also appreciate and acceptsome American values. It shows that theiridentity is a hybrid identity which is alsoconstructed from their hybridconsciousness. It is this diasporic identity,a hybrid identity which makes themsurvive in American society. In order tosurvive, they must preserve their ethnicheritage and at the same time adjust toAmerican culture and society. This marksthe diasporic literature characteristic thatmakes them different from bothmainstream American literature and pureethnic literature. It can be said thatdiasporic literature is the symbol ofdiasporic existence, the sign of diasporicsurvival in the U.S. culture and society andthe product of cultural hybridity defininghybrid identity. What can be underlinedfrom this research is that the existence ofdiasporic communities in the U.S. blurredthe Americanness of America. The U.S.identity will not be as exceptional asbefore. The endless process of identitynegotiation of diasporic communities inthe U.S. marks the viability of the Post-nationalist Era.

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negotiation of identity in diasporic literature: a case

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