Research Proposal: Navigating Cultural Identity and Assimilation: A Study of Worldbuilding in "Interior Chinatown"
Literary studies have paid more attention to the complexity of cultural identity and assimilation in recent years, especially when it comes to immigrant narratives. "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu offers a fascinating depiction of immigrant experiences in America through a deep and nuanced investigation of these themes. This research proposal explores the idea of worldbuilding in "Interior Chinatown" as a lens through which to examine the complexities of cultural identity and assimilation, drawing on Professor Fan's lectures.
The experience of being an immigrant is complex, involving a variety of obstacles and victories as people work through the difficulties of assimilating and adjusting to a new culture. "Interior Chinatown" weaves together themes of hyper-selectivity, stereotype promise, orientalism, and the model minority myth to create a rich tapestry of immigrant narratives, providing a unique perspective on this experience. This research project aims to delve deeper into these themes by examining how characters in the novel construct and negotiate their identities within the framework of their new society.
Goals:
to examine how "Interior Chinatown" employs worldbuilding and how important it is in influencing immigrant stories.
to investigate the ways in which the worldbuilding process in the book is impacted by themes of hyper-selectivity, stereotype promise, orientalism, and the model minority myth.
to investigate the cultural identity and assimilation experiences of characters such as Julian Wang and Willis Wu as case studies within the story.
to evaluate critically the ways that "Interior Chinatown" subverts popular conceptions of immigrant experiences and cultural assimilation.
In conclusion my research project will focus on examining the idea of worldbuilding in "Interior Chinatown" in order to further our understanding of immigrant experiences in modern literature. The study aims to shed light on the complexities of identity formation and belonging in a multicultural society by examining the ways in which cultural presumptions, societal expectations, and institutional structures shape immigrant narratives.
Using a close textual analysis of "Interior Chinatown" stemming from the information that I acquired from Professor Fan's lecture, this research project will take a qualitative approach. Utilizing fundamental ideas like hyper-selectivity, stereotype promise, and orientalism, the research will look at how these themes show up in the novel's worldbuilding.