Crafting Identities between Cultures: A Holistic Study of Jade Snow Wong
Open Access
- Author:
- Marshall, Anna
- Graduate Program:
- American Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 02, 2020
- Committee Members:
- John Rogers Haddad, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
John Rogers Haddad, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Anthony Bak Buccitelli, Committee Member
Charles David Kupfer, Committee Member
Siyu Liu, Outside Member
Anne Ayer Verplanck, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Jade Snow Wong
Asian American Studies
Fifth Chinese Daughter
No Chinese Stranger
Transnational American Studies
Ethnic Studies
Holistic Study
ethnographic portrayals of Chinatown
postwar ambassador
legacy in Asian American Studies
race and ethnicity
folklore and folklife
gender and family
transculturation and globalization
and festivals and folklife
festivals and folklife
Co-existence between nations
Chinese American literature
Jade Snow Wong as a Ceramist
Jade Snow Wong as a writer and an artist
Legacy of Jade Snow Wong
Jade Snow Wong as a pioneer in Asian American Studies - Abstract:
- This dissertation offers a holistic study of Jade Snow Wong, including her memoirs, artistic creations, ethnographic portrayals of Chinatown, service as a postwar ambassador in Asia, role as a transnational pioneer, her family life, and legacy in Asian American studies. By analyzing a large corpus of never-before-examined archival manuscripts and interviewing with her family, I argue that Wong strategically crafted a bicultural identity. She sought a balance by alternating her roles between a private self with her family and friends, and a public self as a writer and an artist. Wong’s conviction to create an understanding of Chinese traditions among Americans propelled her to illustrate Chinese culture and art to Americans during a time when Chinese were negatively represented in American popular culture. Concurrently, Wong also adhered to traditional Confucian principles in her relationships with her family. Therefore, by viewing the cultures of the East and the West with different lenses, Wong strove for harmony by straddling two divergent worlds with her separate and integral personas.