Date of Award

4-25-2025

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Department

Department of Chinese Studies

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

Dai Xiaohua is a prominent contemporary Malaysian Chinese female writer and esteemed cultural advocate. Over the course of a literary career spanning more than three decades, she has made substantial contributions across various genres, including prose, reportage, non-fiction, fiction, and social commentary. Her works have garnered numerous awards and recognition within both Malaysian Chinese literary circles and the broader global Chinese literary community, securing her a sustained position at the forefront of literary criticism. In addition to her literary achievements, Dai Xiaohua has been committed to advancing Malaysian Chinese literature, fostering dialogue between the Malaysian Chinese community and other ethnic groups, and promoting cultural exchanges between Malaysia and the international community. Her contributions in these areas are significant and far-reaching. Due to her complex life experiences and the distinctive historical context in which she operates, Dai Xiaohua has encountered challenges associated with navigating multiple identities. This research aims to offer a comprehensive examination of Dai Xiaohua’s literary oeuvre and cultural activities, elucidating the historical development of her identity consciousness and analysing the construction of her multiple identities. Furthermore, this research seeks to explore the backgrounds and causes of Dai Xiaohua’s national identity, Chinese ethnic identity, Hui identity, and cultural identity dilemmas. It also assesses the measures she has adopted to address these challenges and investigates her process of constructing a unique identity model to achieve a cohesive sense of identity recognition. To thoroughly analyse Dai Xiaohua’s multiple identities, this research employs a combination of methods, including literature collection, textural close reading, inductive analysis, comparative analysis, and biographical analysis. The research draws on identity theory, particularly the concepts of diaspora and cultural representation, as well as the notion of “hybridity” found in postcolonial literature, to provide a holistic analysis of Dai Xiaohua’s literary and cultural contributions. The findings demonstrate that Dai Xiaohua’s identity formation process is intricately intertwined with her literary endeavours and cultural activities, each aspect reinforcing and enriching the other. The complexities arising from her multiple identities have resulted in a state of identity anxiety. Nevertheless, from her vantage point as a Malaysian Chinese writer and cultural ambassador, she actively seeks pathways to identity recognition, constructing diverse identities across multiple dimensions and ultimately achieving recognition of her multifaceted identity. In turn, this recognition furnishes Dai Xiaohua with a profound reservoir of creative inspiration and theoretical exploration, thereby shaping her distinctive literary style and her broad, inclusive cultural perspective.

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Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, 2025.

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