Due to the transcultural and transnational differences between China and America,identity issues have always been a part of the struggles of Chinese Americans,especially the second-generation ones.In recent decades,Chinese American ethnic and cultural identities have become two major aspects of Chinese American studies.However,of all these related studies,few have systematically read and interpreted second-generation Chinese American life writing and focused on how they negotiate their cultural and ethnic identities over time and place.This dissertation is based on the analysis and interpretation of nine second-generation Chinese Americans’ life writing（primarily autobiographies and memoirs）.With a focus on the identity issues,this research intends to show how secondgeneration Chinese Americans’ own perceptions of their selfhood are constrained and shaped by the in-betweenness caused by their Chinese family life and their American living context in different historical periods and over different regions of America.The ultimate goal of this dissertation is to find strategies and patterns that different Chinese American life writers use to negotiate the meanings of their identities,especially their Chineseness and Americanness,which have been formed and transformed over time and place to establish a more stable identity.The analysis of the nine authors’ different life situations shows that the second-generation Chinese Americans are constantly experiencing the formation and transformation of identities,depending on the period of time during which they live,the people with whom they interact,and the places where they live.The in-betweenness in their life experiences lead to their constant negotiations among the identities such as "Chinese," "American," "Chinese American," "banana," "honorary white," "ABC," "FOB," "fake foreign devil," "model minority," " rotten banana," "Asian American," etc.They have to negotiate these identities imposed on them by external forces over time and place in order to find a sense of belonging;they also need to negotiate the two internal identities—Chinese and American—which have been reflected dynamically in their racial,cultural,linguistic,national,familial,and individual states of being in order to achieve an inner balance between their heritage and their current life.By reading life writing that covers second-generation Chinese Americans’ life experiences from the early twentieth century to the present and from the American West,Mid-west,South,and Northeast,inside and outside of Chinatown,and even across the Pacific Ocean to China,this dissertation examines the diversity and dynamics of the identity issues among this group of life writers,aiming to set up a new paradigm to understand the transnational and transcultural significance of being Chinese American and to render some helpful suggestions for future generations to negotiate identities in a constantly changing world.
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