Surviving in the City: A Comparative Study of Qiu Huadong's The City Chariot [Cheng Shi Zhan Che] and Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen

• Author / Creator

  Xiang, Ran

• This is a comparative study of a Chinese novel and a Canadian novel, which share similar theme of depicting young artists migrating from the country to cities. The purpose of this research has been to explore how the migration process affects the identities of the artists and how they negotiate their identities in the new urban environment. From juxtaposing these two texts, I want to argue that consumer culture has transformed the migrants’ perspectives and values, leaving them in an “in-between” situation as they are unable to fully identify with either home or the city and are thus forever haunted by the sense of homeless. Therefore, in order to negotiate the hazards of everyday life and to assert their sense of belonging in a complex urban setting, they use sexuality and ethnicity as “points of alignment.”

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Qiu, Huadong,--1969---Cheng shi zhan che
  • Highway, Tomson,--1951---Kiss of the fur queen
  • Cities and towns in literature
  • Highway, Tomson,--1951---Criticism and interpretation
  • Artists in literature
  • Qiu, Huadong,--1969--Criticism and interpretation

• Graduation date

  Spring 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3WD1F

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.