Cirrus@Austlit

'This essay elaborates on Ouyang Yu's novel The English Class (2010) from the perspective of bilingualism, and demonstrates how this text tackles the dilemma of Chinese migrants as they face choices in language and identity. In the context of a mobilised world of migration, diaspora and globalisation, forms of memory and perceptions of language are dramatically changed. Both language and memory cross borders in the process of migration.' (Introduction)

'Born in 1886 to an English mother and Chinese father, William ‘Billy’ Sing and his two sisters were brought up in Clermont and Proserpine, in a rural part of Queensland. Sing’s father was a drover and his grandfather was a Shanghai gold digger. Sing was a sniper of renown during Gallipoli war, his life has been remembered in both literary works, social media and an ABC TV mini-series, The Legend of Billy Sing. However, Billy’s Chinese ancestry, failed marriage and haunted war memories had not been fictionalized until Ouyang Yu published his novel, Billy Sing, in 2016.'  (Introduction)

'随着全球一阵又一阵的移民潮,语言和记忆也跨越边境,流亡异国.很多理论家,社会学家以及人类学家都曾经对语言和记忆的流动性从不同的视角做出过解释,近年来,双语主义与移民身份,跨国境记忆与归属感都逐渐成为了文化研究和移民文学研究的热点.基于上述背景,该论文将从语言,记忆和身份三个视角分析欧阳昱的长篇小说《英语班》.小说集中反映了以京为代表的移民群体的三个困惑:我是谁;我为什么在这里;我的文化根基在哪里.京对于两种语言的矛盾,反映了他对于自己文化身份摇摆不定的定义.这部小说通过京的语言习得和移民经历,显示了生活在两种语言和文化中的移民群体所面临的种种矛盾和尴尬境地.'

Source: CAOD.

'Chinese Australian literature, as one significant part of cultural production in Australia, has been researched from various angles. Present research has shown interests in the representations of the images of Australian or Chinese characters in Chinese Australian writings; representations of cultural citizenships, cultural translation, gender issues and racism; as well as the issue of canonizing Chinese Australian literature as an independent category. Though present research has explored in depth on many Chinese Australian literary works, there are still gaps to fill. Based on the nature of Chinese Australian literature, more research should be done from the angles of memory. As a branch of diasporic literature, Chinese Australian literature writes extensively on the representations of memory, which will be a new research perspective in future studies. By using "memory" as a novel perspective, the study of Chinese Australian literature will not be confined by the "fixed" and "clichéd" notion that it is only able to tell the Western readers about the misery suffered by their Chinese characters, rather, it is a literature fitting into the larger scope of transnational literature and needs a broader sense to understand its topics, contents and aims.'

Source: Abstract.

'This thesis argues that one of the main characteristics of contemporary Chinese Australian literature in English language is its heavy focus on memory and identity. In order to prove this claim, the thesis analyses five English-language novels written by Chinese Australian writers from the period 1990-2010.'

Source: Thesis abstract.