The Dubious Quest for the Ancestral Homeland: Asian Immigrants' Struggles for Assimilation into American Society in Julie Shigekuni's "A Bridge between Us"

10.29778/NTUCH.201112.0007

Wen-Po K. Ko

Asian Americans ； Tradition ； Japanese ； Cultural heritage

臺東大學人文學報

1卷2期（2011 / 12 / 01）

205 - 222

英文

As a popular theme in Asian American authors' works, Asian immigrants of the first few generations in the United States, haunted by their ancestral homeland, still cling to their home traditions. This paper examines the ties and tensions between four generations of a Japanese American family, as well as the theme of their quest for the ancestral homeland, in Julie Shigekuni's ”A Bridge between Us”. Settling down in the New World under the influences of their home culture, most of the major characters in the book feel more or less nostalgic for their roots. But their yearning for the spiritual and cultural home in Japan is dubious, for they also strive to leave their Japanese heritage behind in order to assimilate into American society.