Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain

While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain (2009) focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised...

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Main Authors: Wen, Lee Ng, Mani, Manimangai, Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SciPress 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/1/Transculturalism%20in%20Tan%20Twan%20Engs%20the%20gift%20of%20rain.pdf
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author Wen, Lee Ng
Mani, Manimangai
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
author_facet Wen, Lee Ng
Mani, Manimangai
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
author_sort Wen, Lee Ng
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain (2009) focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined.
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spelling upm-531542017-10-30T11:12:26Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/ Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain Wen, Lee Ng Mani, Manimangai Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain (2009) focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined. SciPress 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/1/Transculturalism%20in%20Tan%20Twan%20Engs%20the%20gift%20of%20rain.pdf Wen, Lee Ng and Mani, Manimangai and Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam (2016) Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (ILSHS), 74. pp. 1-15. ISSN 2300-2697 https://www.scipress.com/ILSHS/Details 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.74.1
spellingShingle Wen, Lee Ng
Mani, Manimangai
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title_full Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title_fullStr Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title_full_unstemmed Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title_short Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain
title_sort transculturalism in tan twan engs the gift of rain
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53154/1/Transculturalism%20in%20Tan%20Twan%20Engs%20the%20gift%20of%20rain.pdf