Crime fiction, as a flexible literary form, can be fruitfully exploited for the depiction, problematization, and construction of alterity, especially by authors who accentuate cultural dialectics and processes of identity-making, as in the case of Chinese-American writer Qiu Xiaolong. After an overview of the features and transcultural significance of Qiu’s Inspector Chen series, I will focus on A Case of Two Cities (2006), in order to describe the narrative strategies adopted to portray displacement and to (de)construct identity. I will specifically analyze the portrayal of intercultural negotiation, the detached gaze on Chinese culture, and the encoding of native knowledge. By doing so, I will seek to emphasize the significance of such devices for the narrative construction, the depiction of the other and the familiar, and their role within Qiu Xiaolong’s artistic project.

A Case of Two Worlds. Identity and Displacement in Qiu Xiaolong’s Crime Fiction

MAGAGNIN, P.
2021-01-01

Abstract

Crime fiction, as a flexible literary form, can be fruitfully exploited for the depiction, problematization, and construction of alterity, especially by authors who accentuate cultural dialectics and processes of identity-making, as in the case of Chinese-American writer Qiu Xiaolong. After an overview of the features and transcultural significance of Qiu’s Inspector Chen series, I will focus on A Case of Two Cities (2006), in order to describe the narrative strategies adopted to portray displacement and to (de)construct identity. I will specifically analyze the portrayal of intercultural negotiation, the detached gaze on Chinese culture, and the encoding of native knowledge. By doing so, I will seek to emphasize the significance of such devices for the narrative construction, the depiction of the other and the familiar, and their role within Qiu Xiaolong’s artistic project.
2021
26
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3724970
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