Cultural Distinctiveness in Monocultural Poetic Space: A Cross-Continental Analysis of the Poetry of Louise Ho and Rita Wong

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dc.contributor.advisorJoseph, Clara A. B.
dc.contributor.authorLau, Isabella Sidney
dc.contributor.committeememberCamara, Anthony
dc.contributor.committeememberLiu, Qian
dc.date2023-11
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-06T19:34:29Z
dc.date.available2023-07-06T19:34:29Z
dc.date.issued2023-06
dc.description.abstractThis project examines selected poems written by Chinese Australian-Hong Kong poet Louise Ho, and Chinese Canadian poet Rita Wong. The point of convergence in the works of these poets is that both Ho and Wong are the prodigies of an East-West cultural clash. The works of Ho and Wong represent a cross-cultural, cross-continental diasporic experience that is shared by the Hong Kong population, as well as second-third generation immigrants of Canada. The identity crisis faced by the Hong Kong community is one that is often overlooked by postcolonial scholarships. After a 100-year colonial governance under British rule and a forceful turnover to the Chinese P.R.C. government in 1997, the identity crisis in postcolonial and post-handover Hong Kong is an existential agony in which the Hong Kong community is doubly entrapped, not merely in the dual nationality of British and Chinese, but also in an internal division within the culture itself as claims to narrative authority and cultural authenticity are central to the power dynamics between Hong Kong and Mainland China. Similarly, the existential agony faced by the second-third generation descendants of Chinese immigrants in Canada is one that delves in the uncertain space between the dominant white, Anglo-Saxon culture and the native home culture. North American cultural critics of Asian descent like Shu-Mei Shih, Rey Chow, Rita Wong, and Roy Miki, have all expressed concerns over the preservation (or lack thereof) of Asian cultural and language heritage in the predominately white literary space. The proximity between the Hong Kong population and second-third generation Chinese immigrants is that they are minority communities that struggle with preserving a culture-in-disappearance. In this light, my project intends to explore the following queries: How do these Chinese Canadian, Chinese Australian-Hong Kong poets carve out a space for identity validation and self-expression in the Anglo-Saxon poetic space? How do poets like Louise Ho and Rita Wong – themselves the prodigies of an East-West cultural clash – reconcile between their multifaceted identities? How do Ho and Wong reaffirm their self-identification through poetry?
dc.identifier.citationLau, I. S. (2023). Cultural distinctiveness in monocultural poetic space: a cross-continental analysis of the poetry of Louise Ho and Rita Wong (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1880/116707
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41549
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgary
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectxenophone
dc.subjectRey Chow
dc.subjectRita Wong
dc.subjectcultural disctinctiveness
dc.subjectLouise Ho
dc.subjectChinese Canadian poetry
dc.subjectNorth American disapora
dc.subjectcultural validation
dc.subjectHong Kong poetry in English
dc.subject.classificationLiterature--English
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Language and Literature
dc.subject.classificationLiterature--Asian
dc.subject.classificationLiterature--Canadian (English)
dc.titleCultural Distinctiveness in Monocultural Poetic Space: A Cross-Continental Analysis of the Poetry of Louise Ho and Rita Wong
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglish
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudentI require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application.
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