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13= 4 An Identit y Switch 5 : A Critiqu e of Multiculturalis m i n Gis h Jen's Mona in the Promised Land1 Chih-ming Wang With th e publicatio n o f Typical American i n 1991 , Gish Je n attracted muc h publi c attentio n an d ha s sinc e bee n hel d a s an important ethni c writer i n the Hterary realm of Asian America.2 A second generation Chines e America n herself , Jen i s ver y perceptiv e o f immigran t experience an d extremel y witt y i n her accoun t o f Asian American life . Mona in the Promised Land (1996 ) i s he r secon d novel , which i s a seque l t o he r 1991 debut . Rather tha n focusin g onYifen g Chang , the Chines e immigran t of th e lat e 1950s , Mona in the Promised Land provide s a close-up o f th e lif e of Mon a Chang , th e second-generatio n (first-generatio n American-born ) daughter o f th e immigran t family , wh o i n he r teen s desire s t o switc h he r identity from Chines e t o Jewish.3 B y dramatizing th e ide a o f identity switch , Jen cleverl y present s u s a multicultural feas t tha t set s ou r notio n o f cultura l diversity an d ethni c identit y spinning . Mona in the Promised Land i s a novel abou t difference , a n inserte d an d asserted difference . Settin g th e stor y i n a multi-ethnic communit y i n whic h multiple culture s ar e haUe d a s equaU y valuable , Jen take s ethni c differenc e as both a n insertion an d assertio n i n the US multiculturaHs m tha t emphasize s participatory, rather tha n assimUiationis t o r separatist , politics.4 A s most Asian American writer s woul d do , Jen take s 'American' a s a fluid concep t — tha t is, develope d alon g th e trajector y o f th e US' s incorporatio n o f variou s territories throug h time , via whic h black , white, yeUow, and re d a U become typical America n — t o rebuk e th e Anglo-Saxonis m dominan t i n th e 140 Chih-ming Wang discourse o f America n identity . Grante d th e Asia n American' s clai m o f America i n th e cultura l logi c o f multiculturalis m tha t i s alread y explici t i n Typical American, i n he r secon d nove l Jen adopt s a mor e adventurou s an d playful attitud e o n th e identit y issu e an d th e multiculturalis t logic . She asks : what woul d happe n i f one trie s t o tak e a step furthe r beyon d th e claimin g America mov e t o creat e a multi-lateral flow o f ethnicity ? I f it i s fine fo r a Chinese t o be American, as Mona asks , would i t not b e as great for a Chines e American t o becom e Jewish ? Whereas th e character s i n Typical American underg o variou s change s without negatin g th e ethnicaU y Chines e par t o f thei r selves , Jen seem s t o suggest i n Mona in the Promised Land tha t identit y i s no t som e fixed , impenetrable, immutabl e entit y tha t ha s a n origi n t o b e discovere d bu t a wUlful creatio n o f usable signifiers tha t would emerg e an d transform throug h time an d space . As Anthon y Gidden s ha s theorized , 'Self-Identit y i s no t something tha t i s just given , as a result o f the continuitie s o f the individual' s action-system, but somethin g tha t ha s t o b e routinel y create d an d sustaine d in th e reflexiv e activitie s of the individual' (52). In Jen's narratives, self...

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