This thesis aims to scrutinize how Bai Xian-yong白先勇constructs the history of those “Chinese Taiwanese” through Taipei People《台北人》. In this book, Bai presents the dilemma of the diasporic life the “Taipei people” confront. The change of place, space and social status create tremendous impact on these people. When encountering new environments, they have to endure the suffering of the loss of identity. This thesis examines how they manage to adapt and resist Taipei life through a diasporic perspective, and tries to prove how they regain their self-identity and their sense of belonging in an alien place.
This thesis is divided into five chapters. The opening Chapter seeks to provide a brief introduction to the historical background of Taipei People《台北人》, the diasporic element, the importance of Bai Xian-yong白先勇, and the overview of Taipei People《台北人》. Chapter Two separates the characters into three groups, and analyzes their mental status. Through different mental states, this Chapter tries to demonstrate the differences of their capabilities on the adaptation of diasporic life. Chapter Three examines this work by way of the gender perspective, and discusses Bai’s sympathy of male characters on the basis of feminism; in other words, this chapter aims to identify how gender discrimination affects the life of the “Taipei people.” Chapter Four explores the process of the loss and regain of identity in some of the stories. In Conclusion, the main concept of each chapter will be reiterated to show that the adaptation of diasporic life has an absolute relationship with the loss, search, and regain of the self-identity. Significantly, the adaptation of life for diaspora is a “gendered” process.
