Memory and Identity in Contemporary Chinese-Australian Novels

This book explores the significance of transnational memory and identity in Chinese-Australian literature by closely examining representations of these two concepts in selected texts. It argues that diverse forms of memory such as collective, individual, cosmopolitan, and transgenerational memory exert influence on the formation of identity in Chinese diasporic writings and offers unique observations on how different types of memory influence the reading of literary texts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2023
Publisher: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers

This sophisticated and empathetic study explores a suite of important Australian literary works from the Chinese diaspora. Using memory studies to trace connections and contiguities, Dr Chen maps an emotionally charged literary network that is compelled by the past to confront the future. The result is a richly revealing exploration of transnational literary identity and complex forms of belonging and attachment across time and place.

If memory is the broken mirror of history, diasporic memories are intricate mosaics of multitudinous pasts: personal, collective, national, cosmopolitan, cultural and political. Reading Chinese Australian literature as a mimesis of memory, Beibei Chen offers invaluable insights into the entanglement of past and present and its effect on diasporic identity.

Inspired by the «transnational turn» in global literature, this book explores the significance of transnational memory and identity in Chinese-Australian literature by closely examining representations of these two concepts in selected texts. By attending to diverse forms of memory such as collective memory, individual memory, cosmopolitan memory and transgenerational memory, this book offers unique observations on how different types of memory exert influence on the formation of identity in Chinese diasporic writings and tackles the complexity of reading literary texts in light of theories of memory, sociological studies and psychological analysis.

Weight: 274g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789974386
Edition number: New ed