The art of parody

the long version

Maxine Hong Kingston's use of Chinese sources is both controversial and intricate. This study, grounded in a crosscultural perspective, systematically analyzes Kingston's employment of Chinese sources and teases out a basis for a coherent, unifying reading of her three major works. It discusses how Kingston's bicultural heritage enables her to observe life from the vantage of double consciousness, and how this vantage helps her travel freely across cultural boundaries to parody and play with both Chinese and American traditions in order to find a unique voice in her search of identity.