Linguistic and Cultural Worldview of Modern Bilingual Chinese American Writers

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Svetlana Korovina1, Anna Pushkina2, Liudmila Krivoshlykova3, Anna Ilina4

 1, 2, 3, 4Faculty of Philology, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, (RUDN University), Moscow, Russia. Email: svetlanakorovina@list.ru

 Volume 12, Number 1, January-March, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n1.18

Abstract:

The article deals with Chinese inclusions in the novels by modern Chinese American writers E. Tang and M.H. Kingston. In the process of the study different types of bilingualism are taken into consideration. Being bilingual representatives of the second-generation immigrants both E. Tang and M.H. Kingston can evaluate the level of linguistic and cultural assimilation of the Chinese in the multinational environment. The research is focused on the ways linguistic and cultural worldview of bilingual authors is reflected in their works. To reach the goal of the research the continuous sampling method is used to collect the data. Though in most cases the authors explain or translate inclusions, we find it important to track the origin of the inclusions under study. The analysis has shown that the majority of Chinese inclusions illustrate such basic cultural values as family circle, forms of address, cuisine and etc.  Inclusions in the texts prove that root culture and newly acquired one peacefully coexist in Chinese community in the USA. The results indicate that inclusions employed by the authors in the novels reveal their personal emotional attitude to the characters and prove that their bilingualism and biculturalism help to bridge the gap between different cultures and nations.

Keywords: Bilingualism, inclusions, Chinglish, linguistic worldview, cultural identity