From a Surrealist City to a Fairyland:An Exploration of Homo Sexuality, Diaspora Experience and Imagined Homeland in Pai Hsien-Yung’s “New Yorkers”

Author: Hsiu-Ping Tseng(Department of Chinese Literature National Chengchi University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 54, No. 2
Date：September 2009
Pages：135-158
DOI：10.3966/207451922009095402006

Abstract：

This article aims to explore the relationship between sexual inclination, diaspora experience, personal identity, and the imagined homeland in Pai Hsien-yung’s two homosexual fictions in “NewYorkers.” As too much has been talked about races and nations while too little has been said about the politics of sexuality in recent diaspora studies, this article intends to fill in this void.It is argued that the two stories were about the elusive relationship between sexuality and national identity. While the personal identities of these estranged homosexuals have changed from“Guests in New York” to “New Yorkers,” New York, once a surrealist city for them, has now become a “fairyland,” a new hometown. “Root” and “Home” were reconnected in a dialectical loop. The construct of national identity was no longer clear and subject to suspicion. Sexuality has become a fundamental questioning of one’s national identity.It is also worth pointing out that although multiple identities may be developed through home-leaving and immigration, boundary crossing, for all its positive meanings, could pose as a danger of crossing the limit. Not only was one’s personal and national identity suffering from this impact in a symbolic level, one’s basic existence might also be threatened. This was a fact that cannot be ignored while negotiating between liquid identities. Moreover, the redemption and purification process of our protagonists in this imagined homeland will be examined and discussed.

Keywords：Pai Hsien-Yung (Kenneth Pai/Bai Xianyong), homosexual, New Yorkers, the imagined homeland, diaspora

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