近二十年來，由亞裔美國導演自導的亞美電影大量問世，有關於亞美電影的研究也方興未艾。此類電影的量產不只為美國文化增添了更多元的樣貌，也為弱勢族裔（以華裔而言）取得新的發聲位置。本文主要探討的影片為王穎早期的《尋人》與《喫一碗茶》，藉由檢視王穎對中國城種族化及性別化空間之再現，探尋其中華裔男性主體性之再卅建構、文化認同與矛盾、性別等問題意識。 全文共分四章。第一章將華美電影定位在華裔導演自導與華美經驗相關題材的影片上，與早期好萊塢主流（白人觀點）導演的電影裡所呈現的華人形象與社會意涵做一對照。第二章論述王穎在《尋人》中透過男性觀點，試圖以「虛無」（absence）之概念，抗拒東方主義的凝視，同時經由八０年代中國城的空間再現建構族裔面貌。第三章以李磊偉 “Asian abjection” 之概念及Julia Kristiva 所闡釋的 “abjection” 為理論基礎，交互閱讀王穎《喫一碗茶》中介於四五０年代轉型階段之中國城及其抗拒政治。第四章總結王穎早期兩部電影的社會及歷史意義，並評估亞美電影工業的角色及未來趨勢。 王穎早期的影片，以《尋人》與《喫一碗茶》為例，雖具有其一貫的顛覆性，其旨意卻非製造與弱勢族裔與主流霸權的對立。反之，此兩部電影所受到的注目，不只在美國影史中為華裔的自我表述爭取了一席之地，在美國文化中，更具有鬆動主流與弱勢族裔藩籬的象徵意義。 This thesis is a study of how Chinese American male subjectivity, onceemasculated under the hegemonic culture, is re-constructed on the silver screenthrough the Chinese American male’s point of view by drawing example from WayneWang’s Chan Is Missing and Eat a Bowl of Tea. Methodologically, I will illustratehow Wayne Wang manipulates the genderized and racialized spaces of Chinatown asthe site of resistance through cinematic representation, and pay close attention to theproblematics of Chinese American male subjectivity, cultural identity, ambivalence,and gender issues. Chapter one provides a historical overview of the cultural stereotyping, mainlycontingent on how the mutation of US-Sino relations affect cinematic representationof Chinese in Hollywood film industry, which serves as an antithesis to AsianAmerican filmmaking and my readings of Wayne Wang’s films. Chapter two argues that articulating from the negative space, an empty center ofthe film in terms of Chan Hung’s absence, Wayne Wang’s Chan Is Missing enablesboth the Chinese American and mainstream viewers to re-think their ethnic Self, theirposition and subjectivity through the narrative of negative space. Meanwhile, thepolitics of absence and the diversity of Chinese American representation in the filmsimultaneously propose an alternative way of viewing that seeks to resist OrientalistGaze. Chapter three employs Julia Kristiva’s theoretical frame of “abjection” andDavid Leiwei Li’s concept of Asian Abjection as ways to access the institutionalizedghettoization of Chinatown. I will argue that Wang’s film that “abjects” the NewYork Chinatown deserves particular attention, for such abjection not only rendersChinatown an abject in the United States but also signals, in Julia Kristeva’s term, aself-abjecting act that is part of the shaping of Chinese American diasporic identity.Chapter four is the concluding chapter that evaluates Wayne Wang’s earlyChinese American pieces and his later works with an attempt to sort out the trend andproblematics of Asian American filmmaking.
